Turn unused stuff into money. If you have a gift you haven't used or that shirt you bought and never wore, take them back to the store. You might not get full price, but some is better than none.
http://www.whatisguide.net/031...

Here's how austerity should work:

Cut the pensions of all politicians and government employees and cut salaries as well.
Trimming the budget should begin with our elected public officials and their offices, not our teachers, policemen, and firefighters.

Most politicians are already privately wealthy (and the rest steal while in office) so why should the taxpayers continue to be required to fund their retirement?

Absolutely NO raises for any government employees while we are operating at a deficit. These people are responsible for this mess, they should be the first to suffer for it.

Absolutely NO cuts in service to taxpayer's or cuts to public service employees (like teachers, police, firefighters) should be allowed until the government sector has owned up to its responsibility, and done the lion's share of the necessary budget trimming.

I think having a energy saving refridgertor should be added to the list also and then that to make sure your refridgerator always has food/w/e in it as a empty fridge can take up more energy to cool off for some reason. If you always have a problem with build up of ice... that effects how much energy the firdge has to use also so it's good to defrost the fridge every now and then too.

Money Saving ideas

Haha @ schmucks suggesting yet another motor vehicle tax or bullshit ticket.

How about, we TAX bicycle riders for using roads we pay for and make sure they have insurance so next time some bicycle fuck bumps my car because he could not squeeze in between and fucks up my paint he can pay for it instead of speeding away like a coward.

And if they don't have insurance, you throw them in jail and fine them $500 on the spot.

There, thank me later.

If a bicycle ruins your paint job, you shouldn't be driving in nyc; other cars parallel parking have done way more damage to my car than any cyclist ever has.

Requiring cyclists to register their bikes, though, is not such a terrible idea. Pay $50 for some sort of ID tag. The insurance deal, though, is trickier because I doubt any insurance company wants to deal with this. But, if bicycles were registered, then their owners could be trackable and held liable for any damage.

As is, if a cyclist is pulled over for running a red light, etc., and they don't have a state ID (driver's or otherwise), the cops can seize your bicycle and bring you into the station for whatever. Also, any traffic violation on a bicycle will show up on your record and can affect actual car insurance rates, depending on the company (Geico ignores all non-driving infractions).

Do you really want to play the "who is the biggest traffic scofflaw" game? Because pedestrians (myself included) win that one hands down.

For every bicyclist running a red light, there are probably 100 people jaywalking. Of course, I'm pulling these numbers out of my ass, but I think you know I'm right.

I completely agree with you, but I was responding to the point that cyclists can do damage; not as much as a car, but they can hurt someone more easily running a red light than a jaywalker can (I am also pulling this out of my ass, though it seems likely).

But, I do think the city, if it really wants to make money, could start enforcing laws against jaywalking as well.

The problem with really really enforcing all moving violation laws (be they cyclist, car, ped.) is that the city would make a ton of money initially and then get used to the surplus and then have to start setting quotas for the budget even after (if) behavior improves.

I'm going to have to disagree with you on this one. For some reason the people of NYC think that it's OK to walk 5-10 ft into the crosswalk without looking AND when there is a "no walk" signal. I just don't get. No other place I've lived is like this. I cannot count the times that I've been biking (I got rid of my car when I moved here) and, even though I have the green light, people will walk out in front of me - either in the crosswalk (against the sign) OR just walking across the middle of the street WITHOUT LOOKING!!!

I crosswalk - almost every day, but I look to make sure there isn't any traffic before I do. Bottom line is that if you are breaking the law (jaywalkers included), you are at fault if you get hit.

get rid of the borough presidents for starters...

THANK YOU!

If they could enforce the hand held phone ban while driving they could raise millions and lives wouldn't be in danger.

Taxi drivers alone, like 4 i just saw on a 5min walk, ALL on phones, would help bring in a nice chunk of $$.

If they really wanna get some good ideas, they should offer an incentive.

For example, a reward equivalent to 1% of one year's money saved if an idea is implemented. Save the city a million dollars, take home ten grand (thus saving the city $990,000). Everybody wins.

I don't know about saving money, but they could make a ton of money by enforcing existing traffic laws for cars, cyclists and pedestrians. I know parking tickets are an easy moneymaker (especially since agents don't need to be full cops with guns), but there's more money out there, and it will make the city safer.

I was thinking the same exact thing. That, and ticketing the plague of litterers constantly attempting to drown the sidewalks in trash.