Sometimes I think life would be a whole lot simpler if we went back to the barter system. I know cash or plastic is easier to carry but with barter you cut out the middleman. My bank got sold to a bigger one last winter and I don’t care for some of the rules that are now being instituted. Even though my current bank is in the same place my favorite grocery store is, it’s time to find a new one and I hate it.
This week I am sharing 13 Tips for Tightening Your Budget By Robert Sloan. It’s quite a lengthy article so I am going to break it up over 3 days. He has some practical ideas that might help stretch your dollars and that’s always a good idea!
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13 Tips for Tightening Your Budget
In the current worldwide economic crisis, many people are forced to tighten their budgets. Those with jobs feel a need for less debt and more savings. Those without are adjusting down to unemployment benefits or trying to stretch what resources they have as far as they’ll go. Even those in good shape economically can benefit from tightening their budgets.
So here are some tips in no particular order that may help you shorten your monthly expenses and have more for savings or luxuries that you want.
1. Only spend money you actually have. Don’t use credit cards unless they are completely empty and you can pay the purchase in full within 30 days. Interest on credit cards is so ruinous that if you keep going on minimum payments you can wind up paying for everything you bought four or five times over before going bankrupt. The debt is real but the terms are so ludicrous that if all you do is avoid and eliminate credit card debt, that is the single biggest money saver you can do.
You’ll be surprised at the difference it makes actually living within your means. One less bill a month at a time and then retire the cards in favor of a debit card. Or keep one and treat it AS a debit card. That is dangerous because you could wind up going into debt with an emergency, but if you don’t use it as credit even in emergencies you can still collect the perks and inducements credit card companies use to hook people in.
Don’t try using it as debit unless you really can stick to it. Do NOT think of your credit line as money you have available. Most of the people I know including me, who have made this work, went cold turkey and cut up all the cards before paying off the balance or going bankrupt. If you do this before going bankrupt you can do a lot more with what you have than you thought you could.
2. Cut back or cut out on eating at restaurants unless it’s a business meal that may get you important commissions or a date that may get you a good mate. If you’re already in a relationship, prepare a romantic meal yourself at home with candlelight and flowers, it’s cheaper and more personal. A good restaurant meal can cost as much as a week or even a whole month’s food budget and when it’s over, you have nothing to show for it but the memory of the experience.
Likewise, cut out or cut down drinking in bars. If you enjoy alcohol socially, most bars don’t have much social interaction. They’re just places people sit and drink or cruise for dates. You can have a much better social experience if you purchase a bottle of liquor and for the price of one drink, invite friends over for a party.
Sure, it means cleaning up your home before and after, but it’s also a reason to clean up where you live and make it more livable. Also you have more control over who’s there and what’s going on at a party you host. If you like a weekly drink at the end of the workweek, turning that into a gathering of friends as a regular event can be just as familiar and pleasant as stopping at a bar — and you can rotate who’s buying or hosting.
3. Find hobbies that pay for themselves or make your main hobbies pay for themselves. Any hobby that you’re good at has some potential for income — projects you make can be sold on eBay, Etsy and other online markets, skills you have can be shared by writing online for websites that pay for articles.
Even if your passion isn’t something obviously easy to monetize, you can go to http://www.sitesell.com and invest in an SBI website. The business plan and Site Build It software will turn any passionate interest into an ad-supported topical interest website that usually at least pays for itself and most often winds up making a real profit on the time you’d spend hanging out online writing about your favorite topic.
Other venues for topical nonfiction don’t take the $299 investment of SBI! so you can start in a no-capital way with http://www.ehow.com, http://www.helium.com and other pay for posts sites.
4. Purchase games that you own instead of getting into pay-for-play online gaming. The quality of home games makes them a good bargain for amount of entertainment time you get, but pay-for-play games add another bill to your budget.
5. Bank at a credit union. You will get better service because your “share” account is exactly that — you’re a shareholder in that financial institution and they will cater to you as shareholder as well as customer. Credit unions often offer better terms and are not going to run the ripoffs that a bank whose main interest is stockholder dividends will pull. You get a better deal and better service with less sales pressure to participate in high risk or high interest financial activities.
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(Glenna’s Comment)
There you have our first 5 cheap ideas. I would add to his ideas on buying games that you can often find games at your local library, yardsales, Craigs List or even online. New is not necessarily better. When you are working to incorporate cost saving ideas into your budget, talk to your children. Let them know that all of you have to cut back but that doesn’t mean they can’t have any fun. If they insist that their socializing revolves around a certain online game, find ways that they can make money and pay for it themselves. (ie, What they can sell or do to make money) You might be surprised at their creativity once they realize how important their contribution is.
I’ll share more of Robert Sloan’s cheap ideas in my next post. Meanwhile, if you are curious about him, you can visit his Qondio profile.
Cheap Ideas For Saving Money Part 2
Tags: budget, cheap ideas, cost saving ideas
