Excellent post. There is so much waste in the average workplace, anything you can divert from the landfill is a benefit to all. Wasted food and paper accounts for a lot of it. Don't forget file boxes: my office gets paper in these excellent heavy cardboard boxes just the right size for files Keep in mind that just because something is headed for recycling doesn't mean it's ready to be retired so easily. People in my office throw returnable bottles and cans straight into the recycling bin because it seems like "too much trouble" to take them back to the store. I asked myself if I am really so cheap as to fish out 5 cent bottles, and it turned out, I am! After a while people started leaving them to the side for me--I take them home and return to the deposit station every month or so. (I felt embarrassed enough by this one to turn the profits into the coffee fund, but that's anyone's choice.) A reused bottle requires a lot less energy than one that is smashed, washed, and melted down to be made over again.

Oh yeah--I never buy a newspaper or trade magazines. My office subscribes to a local paper, a national paper, and several journals. I read them on coffee breaks. (And again, the savings to me is a savings to the landfill--one less paper for the trash.)

My workplace has frequent "Lunch & Learn" events- and most of them provide lunch. I like to get the credit for getting the additional knowledge from the meeting- plus free lunch.

Also- I take note of days that big meeting or conferences take place on our floor. They have catered lunches brought in and always order too much. I am on the ready to get a free lunch out of the deal.

The floor where I work also has frequent "food days"- where people bring in potluck. Some groups of people buy in together to get pizza or wings or other catered foods. These food days often have tons of left overs- and I too have my plastic bags ready to bring home.

We also have tons of office supply waste- chiefly 3 ring notebooks. These are often left in big piles once no longer needed for people to scavenge. I have recently reorganized my sewing and embroidery patterns by using these free notebooks. Sometimes, the notebook piles will get swept up and given away to schools in our city.

I am also good at knowing who brings in their morning paper- by noon time, I can just borrow it to read at lunch.

You shouldn\'t steal office supplies, but if you\'re using supplies when you work at home you should try to get them from the office rather than pay for them yourself.

Coming in early, sponge bath in the office lavatory instead of showering at home saves both on water bills and energy bills. Brushing your teeth at work instead of at home probably saves as much money as the suggestion about charging your devices at work.

Often, your workplace will give you a discount on products that the company sells, or that a sister company sells. For example, Raytheon employees used to get discounts (and possibly still do) on Amana products. You can get good discounts on large-ticket items. Ask your HR department.

Sometimes, people don\'t recycle their bottles cans. You can collect returnable cans in the office for change.

You shouldn\'t steal office supplies, but if you\'re using supplies when you work at home you should try to get them from the office rather than pay for them yourself.

Coming in early, sponge bath in the office lavatory instead of showering at home saves both on water bills and energy bills. Brushing your teeth at work instead of at home probably saves as much money as the suggestion about charging your devices at work.

Often, your workplace will give you a discount on products that the company sells, or that a sister company sells. For example, Raytheon employees used to get discounts (and possibly still do) on Amana products. You can get good discounts on large-ticket items. Ask your HR department.

Sometimes, people don\'t recycle their bottles cans. You can collect returnable cans in the office for change.

I got a few chairs from the office because they were getting rid of all the old chairs to switch to new high-tech adjustable chairs. The old chairs are still quite sturdy though and I've been using those at home.

I also forgot to mention free promotional swag that gets doled out (pens, pads of paper, magnets, what have you). I am the queen of getting my share of these. Recently, our logos changed and it was a bonanza of free stuff. My kids are set for years in regards to pens and pencils (unless the pen ink dries up).

We also have inservices from different pharmaceutical companies and care companies (I am a nurse). Another area of stuff coming my way. Once we were given a glucose meter and supplies as swag to learn how to teach our patients to self test. I kept the case the meter came in and use it everyday for craftwork on the bus to & from work. I gave the meter away on Freecycle.

Like Rob, I wanted to leave a word of caution on an otherwise great post:

Be careful with charging your electronics at work!

If you are in a position to deal with sensitive information, your workplace may have rules prohibiting this, and severe reprocussions. For example, I work for a bank (it's one of the largest banks in the world, but nontheless...) and we are absolutely not allowed to charge anything at work; no cell phones, ipods, computers, pdas, NOTHING, even devices that may be necessary for health reasons (just reading the manual here). Why? Fears of identity theft. It's pretty easy to download someone's personal information onto your own device. We've had several very good employees lose their jobs because they just charged their cell phones at work. So while it's a great idea, and I wish I could do it, just make sure you're careful that your workplace doesn't have a policy against it!

In my workplace, I get the usual free stuff that everyone mentioned above. Here are a few more...

Almost everyone of my coworkers drink coke or pepsi. I collect all the bottle caps for coke reward points and pepsi stuff points. Also, dr. pepper, ect. It only takes a few seconds each day and you can collect points to get some cool free stuff every few months.

I bring my car trash all the time and throw it out at work. I always keep a plastic bag inside my car and when I head to work, I quickly collect all the trash and than take it into work tied up and toss it. It keeps my car clean.

I work at a salon and I borrow cd's at the end of the day and burn copies of them. Than I bring it back to work. As long as the owner/manager is cool with it, that might be something you can do. Anyone who works at a place that pipes cd played music, you can bring your laptop in there and use it to burn cds.

These are some interesting tips for saving money, which is important to all people no matter what their position or industry. Everyone works hard and would like to see as much of that money as possible, and it’s good to find some creative ways to cut corners (without doing anything illegal or untoward, of course!). I work with entrepreneurs starting computer consulting businesses, and while many of your tips apply to those that work FOR someone on the official payroll, I think some can be adjusted and applied to the self employed as well. Many times when you are in the services industry and working with people regularly, you will get a lot of benefits from satisfied clients that will help you save money, especially when it comes to saving time (which equates to money) by doing things such as having your clients print out legal documents, contracts, reports, etc. that apply to their businesses at their workplaces to help share the load.

Folks: Seventeen year Federal (DoD civillian) employee here. I could tell you stories that would curl your hair. This is nothing, nothing I tell you!

My co-worker who patiently explains to anyone who willlisten that he waits until he gets to work to ummmm, eliminate, as it saves him water and TP.

Charge a cellphone? Maybe I can snap a few pictures of the guy with the powerstrip with phone, camera, iPod plugged in.

Isn't there a big difference between charging a phone with a USB charger (which can obviously be used to move data) and charging a phone using a wall wart charger?

Ahhh, advertising. With this job I get some interesting perks. We often have office breakfast or lunch meetings, or our reps bring food in or take us out. I hardly pay for my food anymore! Like others have mentioned there are always plenty of leftovers!

We are also taken out to parties, sporting events and concerts quite a bit, which helps with the entertainment bills!

And the gifts. Oh, the gifts. I'd say roughly half of my housewares have been given to me as gifts. I've got mugs, dishes, cookie jars, oven mitts, water and wine decanters, gourmet syrups and nibblies, crackers, cheeses, chocolates and more! And enough t-shirts, blouses, jackets, hats, gloves and windbreakers to clothe myself for months. It's excellent if you don't mind a few branded items!

Then there are the discounts... quite often your client will give you some of their products for free, or offer a decent discount on merchandise or services. I always check for discounts before I buy anything nowadays!

These are some of the ways I save money at work... and I have to save to make up for the crappy salary! If you thought advertising was all parties and glam... you'd be 50% right. The rest is slavish office hours and low wages!

Come to work a little earlier, or stay a little later to use the internet for email and some casual browsing or feed reading. That way you can stay disconnected at home, which not only saves you the $30-40 per month, but also allows you to focus on spending quality time with your friends and family at home.