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Money Saving Tips

Money Saving Tips

Avoid Money Wasters

Although I have written blogs about some big money wasters already, I think it’s important to avoid money wastersemphasize them so that we can avoid them.  There’s no point in wasting money that we work hard for.  Think about it this way, if you waste your money, you are also wasting your time.  Why?  Because the more money you waste, the more time you have to spend working to pay for it all!  Below is a list of just some of the money wasters out there.  There are many more, so watch out for them!

 1.  Eating out rather than bringing your own lunch to work.  Bring some leftovers from last night’s supper rather than spending $5 to $7 everyday to buy lunch.

 2.   Buying food and then letting it rot in the fridge.  It happens to all of us.  But why?  We need to be more aware of what we are buying and make sure that we are eating it before it goes bad.

 3.  Bottled water.  Rather than buying hundreds of bottles and polluting our environment, why not save your money and the environment and drink filtered water brought from home?  At around $1.50 a bottle, if you buy one bottle of water every day, you are wasting almost $550 per year! 

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May 7, 2009
Money Saving Tips

Use Your Coupon Books

Coupon books can save you a lot of money, that is, if you use them! The problem is that so often we buy them to support a fundraiser and then we misplace them only to discover them a year later when all the coupons have expired. I recommend keeping your coupon book handy and visible so you remember to browse through it and take advantage of the savings. If it is small enough, carry it in your purse or keep it in the glove box of your vehicle.

Coupon books are a great way to save money when you are on vacation, too. If you plan to spend a week or two in a specific city and hope to check out the tourist spots and shops, buy a coupon book and use the coupons at restaurants, tourist spots, shops, hotels, golf courses, etc. It will allow you to do more and spend less.

April 7, 2009
Money Saving Tips

Spend Half of What You Earn

save half of what you earnWhen my husband and I got married I was the main wage earner. It was tight but we were able to set up a budget that worked for us. Once we both began working full time, rather than allowing our expenses to significantly increase, we decided to keep our lifestyle almost the same as before. So, even though we could have afforded a few luxuries we decided if we had been satisfied without them in the past then we didn’t really need them. We did eventually purchase a home and that increased our living expenses but outside of that our budget remained nearly identical. As a result, we have been able to live debt free (except for our mortgage) and have been able to make prepayments on our mortgage to decrease the amount of interest we have to pay.

 

With the troubled economy and the increasing possibility of job loss it’s a good idea to step back and take a serious look at what you are spending your money on and consider how you can cut back in order to build up an emergency fund. Even in the best of times, it is recommended that you have from 6 to 8 months worth of living expenses saved. It is possible that you will have to do more with less, so why not start saving now by cutting back on the things you don’t really need?

April 3, 2009
Money Saving Tips

Beware of Vending Machines!

Are you the type of person who needs a pick me up at 2:00PM?  Well, I wouldn’t recommend getting your fix at your work’s vending machines.  First of all, the items are way overpriced, and secondly, most of the options are not exactly healthy.  The worst part about them is that now many of them accept credit cards, making it even easier to waste  your money.  Rather than using the machines, if you insist on still eating chocolate bars, chips, and drinking pop, buy them from your local grocery store instead and just bring them to work with you.  Think of it this way, if you are in the habit of buying a snack and/or beverage from the vending machines every day, you are likely spending more than $50 a month just to support your habit.  Is this what you really want to be spending your money on?  I suggest eating a healthy and nutritious lunch that will give you the energy you need until you get home and to bring some healthy snacks such as a piece of fruit, a granola bar, etc. with you each day in case you do get the urge to eat in the late afternoon.  

March 31, 2009
Money Saving Tips

Bring Your Own Lunch To Work!

If you work outside of the home a great way to save a lot of money is to simply bring your own lunch to work.  To illustrate, if you buy lunch every day and it costs $5.00 – $7.00  on average for each meal, you are spending about $150.00 a month!   In fact, you’re probably spending more than that if you consider all the tax you pay.

 I know it can be somewhat tiresome and annoying preparing lunch in advance, but if your workplace has a microwave, an easy solution is to cook enough dinner each evening so that you have leftovers to bring as your lunch.  Another idea is to cook a large bowl of your favorite pasta, soup, or chili, and then freeze lunch-sized portions.  That way when you don’t have any leftovers you won’t have an excuse to buy food from the cafeteria.  There is also the option of buying ready-made dinners like Michelina’s, although you need to be careful as they often contain a lot of salt and can be extremely fattening!  Even if there is no microwave available at your workplace, you can still prepare a variety of sandwiches, vegetable salads, pasta salads, and wraps.

 There are health benefits to bringing your own lunch, too.  While observing the habits of my colleagues who generally eat from the cafeteria, I have noticed that most order the special – a single dish of fried perogies, a burger, chicken wings, or something else equally unhealthy.  By contrast, when I observe those who bring their lunches, they often have a healthy main dish accompanied by yogurt and at least one piece of fruit.  

 If making your own lunch is a foreign concept for you, I recommend trying it for one week to see how it goes.  After one week, if you decide to continue to eat at the cafeteria, try to at least bring some of your own healthy snacks to accompany your meals and when you order, be sure to choose healthy options.

March 21, 2009