When money is tight, or you are trying to increase your savings, you may be looking for additional ways to save money, or you may want to start saving if you have no savings. You may need to prioritize saving before paying off your debt in some situations. Often when you are barely getting by, it seems impossible to find additional ways to save money. However, it is times like this when you need to work even harder to give yourself the extra savings you need as a cushion to cover unexpected expenses. It is so important to make saving money a priority. Here are fives ways you can save money even when money is tight.
Another way that you can often find more money is by changing the way that you eat. Many of these changes will also benefit your waistline, though it may take a bit longer for you to prepare your food each day. The best thing you can do is to stop eating out.
If you are eating out every day, you can easily save more than forty to $50 a week, even more, if you are eating out at more great establishments. If you rarely eat out, you can save money by cutting back on the convenience foods and cooking from scratch.
2. Change Your Television Service
One of the easiest ways to find extra money to put towards saving money is to cancel your cable bill. It’s often amazing the amount that people pay to watch television. Usually, the conversation will come up, and people will be complaining about the $100 or more a month bill.
You may want to cancel everything entirely, but if that does not appeal to you consider using Netflix or Hulu+ to get your television fix. The combined services cost about $16.00 a month, and you can put the extra savings in the bank each month.
3. Take Advantage of Online Deals
It can be hard to stick to your budget, especially when you feel like you can never have any fun. It is important to budget money for entertainment costs, but you can save money on these costs by taking advantage of online deals that you can get through Amazon Local, Living Social or Groupon.
The trick for these deals is only to buy the ones that you know you will use and to stop once you have hit your limit for the month. You can score some great deals on everything from massages to dinner for two. You need to be careful that you do not end up spending more than you planned once you are there.
When you are tight, you may have already cut all the extra from the budget that you can manage. A budget like this would have no gym memberships, no cable television, and very little in entertainment. When you are just getting by, you still need to save money each month.
Try finding ways to save $5 to $10 per category in your budget and put that money toward your savings or emergency fund. You can often save another $5 per week at the grocery store by dropping one item off of your list.
If you conserve fuel, you may be able to cut back on the amount you spend on gas each month. Adjust your thermostat so that you are not paying as much in heating and cooling costs. You can nickel and dime your way into savings.
While it may not be practical to pay your rent or utility bills in cash, switching to cash for entertainment expenses and your grocery bill can help you cut back on your spending.
It helps to have a hard limit on your spending, and if you do not fall back on your debit card when you are shopping, you will be more aware of what you are spending.
It may mean making choices at the store to put things back, but it will also help you determine the best way to use the money that you do have since you will be prioritizing the money you spend shopping.
High-interest debt, like credit cards, can eat up your monthly income. You may be surprised at just how much you are paying in interest each month if you are carrying a balance on your credit cards.
Taking steps to pay off your credit cards as quickly as possible will free up additional money in your budget and make it possible for you to do more things with your money. If you want to be more comfortable and save getting rid of your debt is an important step.
Take a look at your overall budget. Is your car payment too much? Can you find a cheaper place to live that is still nice? Could you move in with roommates to save on rent?
These options may be the last steps you take as you look for ways to increase your savings, but they really can help you save a good amount of money on your bills each month.
The lower you keep these costs, the easier it will be to stick to your budget. If you do decide to sell your car, be sure that you handle it correctly and that you buy a reliable older car.