1. If you have an insurance policy that is giving you about 5% to 6%, take a loan from the policy. The interest for this loan would be about 10%. Invest the loan amount in an instrument like an ELSS (Equity Linked Saving Scheme). You can pay off the policy loan from the profit you earn.
   
   
2. Planning to put your money in fixed deposits? Put the fixed deposits in your parents' names. You know senior citizens get that extra 1% to 1.5% interest.
   
   
3. Don't let those emergency funds lie useless at home or in a savings account. Put them in short term fixed deposits of about six months. If you really need the money before the six months are up, break the fixed deposit. You might lose 0.5% as penalty but you will still make some money.
   
   
4. When making your tax investments, it is wise to go in for a dividend payout scheme. For instance, if you take invest Rs.1,00,000 in an insurance scheme you would get tax benefit for Rs.1,00,000. But if you invest in a dividend payout scheme you will earn the tax benefit as well as the dividend payout that could go up to one-third of the invested amount. But you might want to check the performance of the scheme first.
   
   
5. Leave no 'dead investments'. For example, you bought a shop with the intention of starting a business of your own. Unfortunately that did not work out. Don't wait forever to sell the shop. Give it out on rent in the meantime and make some money on it.
   
   
6. If you going to be putting the same amount every month in your savings account, go in for a fixed recurring deposit scheme to earn interest on the money. You could also go in for a non-fixed recurring deposit scheme if the amount is not the same. The best part about this is you can withdraw money from the account at any time.
   
   
7. Just because you have a home loan of 30 years you don't need to continue paying it for that long. Invest aggressively when the markets are low and use the money you make to pre-pay your loans.
   
   
8. Use your credit card when making bulk purchases. You can accumulate loads of credit card points which can be redeemed for various utility items or gift vouchers too. Similarly when you purchase airline tickets you can reap a three-fold benefit. You get a good deal from the travel agent, air miles from the airline and credit card points too.
   
   
9. Don't ignore offers on products even when it comes to your day-to-day grocery shopping. If you can save Rs.5 every once in a while on a 'Buy 1, Get 1 Free' offer, why not? Also if you have a regular grocery shop, ask if they have a loyalty programme for customers and take that time to process your membership.
   
   
10. Clearing out the junk? Don't give away everything just because you think it is useless. Log on to ebay and auction off your junk. You never know... someone across the country maybe looking for that book or painting. And even if it is Rs.300, you will still be making money.

(With inputs from Kartik Jhaveri, Financial Advisor)