As the joke goes; If money is the root of all evil, why should we save money? When we’re running our own business, it’s very important to keep a keen eye on cash flow. Saving money should be right up there on our priority list, together with making more of it.

But we have all heard about how to do it, right? Figure out budgets, set up savings accounts, make sure to earn more than you spend, etc. Boring! So how about we spice up our saving money advice and check out the 10 best ways to save money in the office.

1. Saving Money On Advertising

When posting things like invoices or receipts, be sure to include your advertising material in the same envelope. Including things like newsletters or coupons when sending products out to customers encourages repeat business and avoids expensive advertising. Piggyback your advertising and pay once.

2. Save Money on Phone Calls

Use VoIP for phone calls. This is an internet based telephone and it is cheap to use. It does cost more to implement than a traditional phone, but the running costs are considerably less, especially for long distance calls. It is best installed when you are upgrading a phone system to avoid extra expenses.

3. Save Money on Lighting

Install motion sensors to control the lighting bills. They will automatically turn the lights on when entering a room and off after leaving. Why should we pay for something we are not using?

4. Hire contractors or freelancers

Sign up to Elance where you can find contractors and freelancers who will work for us only when we need them. This would reduce the size of office space we need and the amount of consumables such as electricity being used.

5. Save on Electricity

Purchase laptops instead of desk top computers. Laptops use up to 90% less electricity than a standard PC. Don’t worry about security, a laptop can be locked down with a Kensington lock which prevents it being stolen, but can be removed so you can take the laptop away if needed.

6. Word of Mouth Advertising

Ask clients to advertise for you. They could use word of mouth and tell their customers and colleagues about your services and even write a testimonial for your website. In return, you can do the same for them. Both parties would benefit from the free advertising. It’s a win-win!

7. Work From Home

Rotate staff so that they work from home one day a week or once a fortnight, possibly even in exchange for a small reduction in that day’s pay. This would save on power, phone and wages; they will save on transport, possibly even childcare! Now days we have many ways to communicate via the internet and suitable work can be scheduled to be done on those home days.

8. Share Office Supplies

Create a shared group area for office supplies. By having one area or even just a table in the office dedicated to office supplies, we will avoid repeated expenditure and wasted resources. We would only need to buy one stapler, one hole punch and even only one pair of scissors!

9. Buy Second Hand Products

Buy used products, not new. We can save a bundle of cash by purchasing second hand furniture, computers and even carpet for our offices. Pretty much everything we need can be brought from a dealer, shop, garage sale and even over the internet.

Other businesses are closing down or simply replacing items in their offices with the latest model or design. Make use of their splurging and buy up their things for a super cheap price and our bank balances will reap the rewards!

10. Ask For Specific Advice

Find a business mentor, somebody who has been where you are and done that. Sign up to websites such as LinkedIn and other social media and networking sites or ask around others who are also in your area of business.

A good mentor will often donate their time to share their ideas and experiences with you and be able to take an outsiders view to see other ways of how to save you money in the office.

It would also be really helpful to have our work colleagues on board with our money saving ideas too.

Perhaps we could set up a competition within the office that the person who saves the most money wins a reward, such as maybe working from home once a week or having ten minutes added to their lunch break for a month.

So saving money in the office can actually be fun and rewarding in ways other than financial. But it’s still great to see the money piling up too!