I've been reading quite a few threads about how people can save money here and there by slowly reducing their expenditures (cutting off $70 cable for $10 Netflix, keeping your car for an extra year etc.) but I've noticed that these same people don't mention real money saving techniques! It's kind of rage inducing when people only give you partial money saving techniques. You could cut your entire cable bill simply by torrenting TV shows and movies! Sure you don't get it as it airs, but you do get it within the week! This could save $70 a month (or $10 a month for Netflix)! You could also ditch Microsoft and go for Linux and save $100 for the software and $400 for the office suite. Or if you absolutely need Windows, you could torrent it as well.
I overheard (over the course of 3 weeks) two different conversations. One saying they were failing classes and that they were going to have to add more to their student loans, and the other that said 'in order to avoid loosing money, I'm going to cheat on my next exam'. Seriously, that's the kind of advice that should be given! Finding different ways to save a lot of money, instead of small techniques like 'stop the AC during the night, you don't need it' or 'cut down on cell phone bills'. Those save you very little in the long run. I am aware that it will, over time, add up, but you could concentrate on bigger fishes and save up a lot more money.
All this being, I don't like hypocrites. Quit telling us 'it's easy!' when you're not giving us the full story. Their either hypocrites or just ignorant, either way, this is sad.