last updated May 5, 2008
Saving Money - Ways to Find More Cash in Your Budget
Saving Money? You say you can't - you are already stretched too tight? Nope. We guarantee you can find a few ways to squeeze some extra dollars out of your budget with these tips. You may need this to settling your debts, or helping you to afford the cost of gas. Also read this article on tips to automate your savings plan.
Food Saving Tips
Pare down your food expenses with any number of strategies. Use the ones that will work for you. All of these ideas will save you money, some more than others.
- Eliminate luxury items such as expensive cuts of meat or fish, designer brands, or alcohol.
- Reduce take out lunches to fewer days per week.
- Discover cheaper places to shop for your groceries and personal hygiene items.
- Only purchase items that are on sale or that you have coupons for.
- Learn to use coupons. Trade coupons with family and friends.
- Learn to read the store circulars and team up your coupons with items that are on sale.
- Obtain store rewards cards so that you are eligible for advertised savings.
- Use a cash back credit card for your grocery purchases.
- Purchase only what you can use. If you’ve thrown anything away in the last two weeks, you are overbuying.
Clothes Saving Tips
- If you already own something similar, you don’t need it so don’t buy it.
- Swap clothing with friends and family. After all, how many times have you purchased an item, worn it once or twice, and stuck it in the back of the closet.
- Only purchase clothing when it is on sale. Learn to shop the discounted racks. In most cases, you will save anywhere from 20% to 60% off the original prices.
- Shop at thrift stores.
- Take proper care of your clothing so that it lasts longer.
- Avoid purchasing items labeled “dry clean only,” since this can rack up quite a large expense over time.
Home/Energy Saving Tips
- Practice energy saving strategies such as closing the drapes, localized thermostats, replacing appliances with energy-saving models when necessary, exchanging incandescent light bulbs with fluorescent ones, and lowering the thermostat during the night.
- Complete home repairs immediately before they lead to bigger and more expensive problems.
- Put off home renovations until you can save enough money to cover half of the cost in cash.
- Reduce the cost of services that you currently have for your home. If you can reduce the cost of your telephone or cable services by eliminating special features, try it. You can always add them back on if you find you cannot live without them. If you have a cell phone, do you need a landline as well? Can you pay for your trash removal by the bag instead of a huge monthly fee?
- Here are some more saving energy cost tips.
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