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You're sitting around the kitchen table going through the bills and asking yourself, "Where does all the money go?"
You have a good job and you don't think you live extravagantly. How do you get control of those finances and end the month ahead? Here are some tips
Use Grocery Coupons
You can get grocery coupons in your local newspaper and also from the Internet. Many grocery stores put items on sale the same week that the coupon comes out in the newspaper. If you are not using coupons at all, starting to use them can easily save a family of four $40 a week.
Stay Away From Fast Food Restaurants
These outlets are efficient, but you can avoid them if you plan ahead. Eat breakfast at home rather than on the way to work and bring your lunch. If these small steps save you only $3 a day, that means $60 a month.
Review Your Long Distance
Thanks to deregulation, the price of the carrier must pay to provide a long distance call has plummeted in recent months. Not all carriers are passing on the savings to customers, however. Look for one that is and you'll save quite a bit if you make a large number of calls each month.
Shop Where They Have The Good Prices
The local mall may not be the best place to shop. Consider closeout stores such as TJ Maxx and Marshall's, online shopping (both merchants and auctions), classified ads, thrift stores, and other sources.
Review Your Energy Usage
Energy costs have risen quite a bit lately in some locales and there is no reason to believe those increases will moderate. Therefore, paying attention to energy usage can help your bottom line mightily.
Start by trying to use less heating and air conditioning. Setting your heating thermostat 4 degrees cooler or your air conditioning thermostat 4 degrees warmer can cut your heating and cooling costs by 40% in some locations. Change your thermostat by one degree and see if it works.
Check with your energy company for ideas on conservation. Most are anxious to see us use less energy and some even offer rebates and special plans. These help.
Along the same lines, pay attention to where you buy gas for the car. Prices vary widely.
Review Your Credit Card Situation
If you have a balance on a high-balance credit card, look into switching to a lower interest card. If you have an 18% card and pay $180 a month, it will take you 10 years to pay off that balance. Switch to a 9% card and $126 will pay that card off in 10 years.
Ads for low interest credit cards are all over the web. Look into them. Be careful, however, about cards with low "teaser" rates that go up at the end of a short term-often three months. They impose huge penalties and higher rates if you are even one day late.
If credit cards are a problem for you, stop using them. You can get a debit card with the Visa logo from most banks which you can use for shopping by phone and online if you need to.
Review Your Insurance
If you haven't looked into your insurance in awhile, that might be worth doing. Prices for insurance vary tremendously. Many websites allow you to compare insurance rates. Just type in "insurance" in a search engine and you will easily find one of those sites.
Watch Those Cash Expenses
You go out on some errands. You stop for a cup of coffee. Later you see a magazine with an interesting article and you pick it up. Later it is hot, so you get a soft drink at the mall.
Those small outlays can add up in the course of a month
If you are tempted to make those small expenses, here are some steps you can take:
Carry only a limited amount of cash. That way you won't be as likely to give in to the desire for a brownie and coke.
Write each of those small expenses in a notebook. Sometimes just having to write them acts as a restraint, especially if you are going to show them to a spouse or another person to whom you are accountable.
Never leave the house hungry. That way you will be less tempted to succumb to the desire for fast food and snacks. And especially, don't leave the house hungry if you are going to see a movie. Snacks and drinks in theaters are highly overpriced.
Take a few minutes to go through this list and your monthly bills. Have some blank paper to figure on and write down what you are going to do to save money. You'd be surprised how much some of these simple steps
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