It All Amounts To The Same Thing

Spending Less and Saving More           

 Unless you have a rich relative or win the lottery, you will find yourself acquiring money the old-fashioned way, by spending less than you earn. Initially, for those in debt this is a new, hard lesson to learn.  It means trimming the fat, so to speak, from your spending habits.  You will have to evaluate and reevaluate ever dollar that you spend so that you may eventually join the LBYM (living below your means) Club.  The following are a few tips to start saving:

 --FOOD:  If you have not already done so, stop eating out. Buy groceries with coupons, get the savings card issued by most grocers and buy and prepare in bulk.  If it cost-effective (you are not single) and you have freezer space, purchase your groceries at a wholesale club. Many employers are offering their employees membership at a discount rate to wholesale clubs as a benefit through their corporate membership.  Cook large meals so that you may take the extra portion for lunch rather than eating or ordering out.  If you are too weary to cook weekdays, prepare meals o­ne of the weekend days and freeze for during the week.  Slow cooked meals, soups and casseroles are not overly time-consuming so you could stick with it. These meals are also inexpensive and nutritious. 

 --SERVICES:  Review all of your services and reduce or eliminate payments anywhere and everywhere you can. If may mean switching phone companies, cell-phone companies, canceling all but basic cable, changing insurance carriers for your automobile, life insurance etc.

 --UTILITIES:  Lower your utility bill by lowering the thermostat in the winter and lowering your air-conditioning in the summer. 

 --CAR:  Join or create a car pool, especially if you live quite a distance from your office.  Use regular unleaded gasoline.

 --SHOPPING:  Do not purchase anything that you do not need. All “recreational” shopping is taboo. If you receive catalogs through the mail, get rid of them immediately.

 --LUXURIES:  Luxuries are a complete thing of the past for now –this means beauty services at the salon (hair, nails, feet), new electronic gadgets or tools that you can do without.

 --OLD-FASHIONED METHODS: Get old-fashioned and take cues from the Depression generation, which means:

 ----Creating the “change jar” better yet make it a dollar jar by emptying out your excess change or dollars daily;

 ----Use coupons, your motto should always be: why pay more when you can pay less;

 ----Go to the library to check out books, cds, dvds rather than buying;

 ----Write checks if you have difficulty keeping up with your purchases o­n your debit-card;

 ----Write down in a journal every penny that you spend for at least o­ne month to see where you could possibly reduce your spending;

 ----Save for your purchases. The older generation generally did not buy anything that they could not outright afford to buy, this will keep you from additional debt.

 By spending less o­n items that you actually need, you will be able to apply more money toward your debts, pay your debts down faster, and eventually apply extra money for your “cushion” in the event of an emergency, and finally save toward your future.  With this goal in mind, it should be easier for you to save.