Posted by Lending Club :: March 12, 2009 @ 12:18 pm

Last week, Google launched a Tip Jar, which is a collection of money-saving tips submitted and ranked by the web community. Users can submit tips in a variety of topics and vote tips from others up or down. The more positive votes a tip receives, the higher its ranking within a category.

After only one day in existence, 2,234 people had submitted 1,622 tips and cast 22,985 votes. By the time you read this, those numbers stand to be substantially higher. Tips are limited to 250 characters and can be submitted in the following categories: At Home, At Work, Finance, Kids & Family, Shopping, Food, Cars & Transit, Travel, Eco, Health, Tech, and Miscellaneous. One nice thing about the Google Tip Jar is that people can share ideas that might not warrant an entire blog post. Rather than not cover such topics, bloggers can simply submit a tip. Also, since anyone can share tips, the user base is much larger than just those people who have a blog or website.

Though poor tips may be voted down in ranking, it’s important to remember that Google doesn’t review tips for accuracy or usefulness. So be cautious before implementing those tips that seem risky. The majority of tips are also highly generalized, but even if they just inspire you to seek more information, they are certainly worth a look. Also, since many people who submit tips also list their blog or website, you can often find more detailed information by visiting the submitter’s site.

Many tips are very simple and probably suggest things you already know. A tip like “Pay bills online to save on postage” isn’t going to radically transform your finances, but still has its place on the site. With so many tips available, you can spend quite a while browsing and voting for your favorites. Not only is this a free form of entertainment, but you also stand to learn something in the process.

What’s your favorite tip, and have you submitted any of your own?