From bear markets to bailouts, punctuated with politicians' platitudes, there is one thing that's certain - the economy is uncertain. All of us may be finding ways to cut back, spend a little less, save a little more, and we here at TiPb, much like a former President, "feel your pain" (bite lower lip here). Our very own Imperious Leader (Editor Rene Ritchie) has posted a survey in the forums and given all of you a chance to weigh in. Read on for more about this and for a few other ideas to save your $$$!

As you can see from the survey, people are starting to indicate where they feel they can cut back with respect to their iPhone usage and purchasing. Whether it's buying less music, fewer apps, or optimistically pumping money into the economy while "Still Spending Hug, Baby?!", it's YOUR turn to let everyone know what you're doing to save (or spend) your cash.
Here are just a few suggestions you can use to tighten your belt and keep more money in your pocket:
  1. Use Google Maps on your iPhone - you may 'think' you know how to get there, but by taking a few moments to map your route with Google Maps on your iPhone, you could save time and, maybe more importantly, GAS. Give it a try!
  2. Universal accessories - if you have more than one phone (like yours truly), consider buying accessories, like cases, that fit all your phones. Let your accessories pull double-duty to avoid the extra expense of one accessory per phone.
  3. Reduce your texting plan - yes, it may be painful, but try being creative here. If you can reduce your texting plan and substitute messaging services (like AIM, IM+, BeejiveIM, etc.), you'll save money and help others save money too.
  4. Recycle emails - yes, that's right. It's time to be "Green" in cyber-space. Why waste a brand new email when you can just reply with an old one? If we all make an effort and reply to more of our emails instead of creating new ones, then we won't use so much email and our desktop recycle bins can be used for other things!
That’s it for this week’s Tip. If you have a tip of your own that you would like to share with the rest of us, please leave a Comment or you can email me at: brian.hart@tipb.com.

Disclaimer:  Tip o’ the Week makes no guarantee, express or implied, that any tip found herein will be new or particularly useful to the reader (and instead of texting to a person in the same room with you like my teenager does all the time, try a little old-fashioned conversation.)