It is time to think out of the box when traditional tips don't help you to save dollars. You’ll have to search for the creative tips to extract extra cash and ignore the usual rules. Read along to know about some tips that may at first seem odd, till you're able to save extra dollars in 2012.

Unconventional tips to save more in 2012

Check out some uncommon tips to squeeze extra dollars from your wallet

1. Say no to automatic banking: You may get stunned to read this tip. After all, automatic banking helps you to pay your bills on time. It probably saves you the late fees and penalties. Nevertheless, the automatic bill payment system makes it quite easy to overlook what you're actually purchasing and spending.

You need to see the bills to know how much you’re spending in real. When you take out cash from your wallet and pay the bill, you realize how many dollars are slipping away from your monthly paycheck. From next time, you'll try to reduce your bills by taking several steps.

2. Mark the shopping day on the calendar: If you're an impulsive buyer who loves to splurge on whims, then stay way from the shopping malls for 6 days in a week. Mark a particular day on the calendar for your shopping endeavors. Visit the stores and complete your shopping on that day.

Try to be little bit organized about your spending. Create a purchase list before hitting the store. You can prepare and update the list during the remaining 6 days. If you prefer to shop online, then list the items on an Excel sheet. Bookmark the websites from where you'll be purchasing the items. Make sure you purchase all the things that are there in your shopping list. This may help to curtail impulsive buys to some extent.

3. Rent instead of purchasing things: If you don't need to use a particular item on a regular basis, then you can rent it instead of buying the thing. In 2011, the annual cost of owning a car (considering one drives 15000 miles in 12 months) was more than $8000. If you need to make frequent road trips, then you can rent a car at $7.75 an hour. This is much cheaper than owning a car.

4. Avoid shopping via cell phone: It has been found in a popular survey that individuals tend to shop more through their cell phones than computers or laptops. The result of the survey reveals that individuals spend 30% more while shopping through the cell phones than that of the normal computers. So, uninstall the shopping applications on your cell phone now.

It is said that people spent around $25 billion on online shopping during the last festive season. If you're one of those people who received hundreds of lucrative shopping deals in your mail and accepted them with a hearty smile, then it is time to have a reality check. It is quite easy to be tempted when you receive good shopping offers in your mails. After all, who does not want to purchase items on discounts?

It is true that the discount offers can help you to save money on certain items. However, they can also exhaust your cash-reserve on useless items. The result of a recent survey shows that nearly 58% of the online shoppers have made purchases because of the marketing mails. Around 8% of the shoppers have purchased things due to the social networks.

The figure proves that the marketing emails and the social networks control your shopping impulses to a great extent. Turn off the email notifications that excite you to spend dollars. Try to avoid following retailers in the social networking websites. This will help you clean your mails and protect your wallet.