By John
Saving money at home or work is one of the most important functions in almost every individual’s life. There is so much advice available online offering excellent and nitty-gritty tips on how to save money in each area of your life that it’s a puzzle to work out where to start. Here is our view on taking a logical approach to saving money.
A small saving on a big item is likely to be equal to or greater than big savings on small items, right? So let’s work down the scale:
Go for the big ones first
Housing probably comes top of the list. It’s a big decision, of course, but renting can actually be cheaper than owning when mortgage interest rates are high. Or you could consider moving to a tax-free state, and to an area with a low cost of living, meaning out of town, or just moving to a smaller house.
Insurance premiums usually consume a large chunk of your annual income. You should consider all your policies to see if they continue to meet your requirements or if you can renegotiate the terms to get a better rate. It may be that your circumstances have changed since you took a policy out.
You should definitely consider the way you look at transportation if you are serious about saving money. If you have more than one car, can you scale back to one? And can you degrade that to a smaller and cheaper one? The savings you will make on the license fee and cheaper insurance as well as gas come to a tidy sum in a year.
Any annual subscriptions you have need questioning. Do you get full value out of those magazines? Which memberships can you do without? Golf clubs and gyms often have different rates according to usage. Can you find cheaper ones that still fit your schedule? You should also enquire into discounts.
Prudent expenditure
At this stage you need to consider your monthly expenditure to make sure that you are spending money wisely on things you need rather than simply want; buy things at the best possible price while getting value for money; and are using less and wasting less. Again, let’s go for the big items:
- Utilities. You can cut your utilities bills by a significant amount through being energy-conscious. Turning off running water when not using it, switching off electrical appliances when not using them, switching off lights in empty rooms, adjusting heating and cooling thermostats for acceptably comfortable conditions.
- Transportation. You can save money by keeping your car in good running order, doing more basic maintenance jobs yourself, and driving conservatively. Cutting out unnecessary trips with better planning, and walking or biking more will save more money.
- Groceries. Comparison-shopping and coupon-collecting will not only save you a lot of money but will also help you to get the best value for what you pay. You should always shop with a budget and a list.
- Entertainment. Bundling all your internet, cable and TV services with one provider saves money. Drop services you don’t really need or use, like extra channels. Do you need the landline if you have a cellphone? Does your data plan fit your cell usage pattern? The library can provide books, movies and music. You can probably save $60 or so by not eating out just once – that’s worth a lot of scrimping and saving at the grocery store. Make more of your own meals and that includes a baggie for lunch, and make and take your own coffee.
Penny-pinching
There are thousands of ways to avoid spending a penny here and there. These are a few of our favorites:
- Try never to pay the full price for anything. Don’t be afraid of asking for discounts – anywhere.
- Time your shopping. In the evening many food items are heavily discounted – bread, cooked chickens, fruit, vegetables, cheese, salads and more. You can freeze what you don’t eat at once.
- Shop for clothes at sales, auctions and thrift shops. Have shoes repaired rather than buy new ones.
- Find free entertainment locally or stay home and develop your hobby.
- Go meat-free one day a week.
Not all of these tips will work for everyone but the three-step approach to saving money at home is a good starting point to identify areas where you could be saving money.
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