Prices for a lot of things just seem to be going up. Meanwhile, our household budgets are not expanding at all. In fact, they may be decreasing for many people! As consumers, we need to adjust to this reality. It is important to cut back today so we can be financially secure tomorrow.
I checked into a lot of savings opportunities, and really found about 10 ways to save money that I had not thought of before! Not all of them will work for everybody, so I thought I would share the three easiest and most effective tips! I hope they will help you become more frugal without a lot of effort.
Carry cash and not plastic. My fixed bills were pretty stable. My problem was that I tended to spend a lot of money on things I would buy without planning for their purchase. Not of them seemed that expensive at the time, but they really added up over the course of a month. In fact, when I checked my impulse spending, I found that it was a lot easier to get other bills paid off and save money too!
My simple solution may seem a bit drastic to some of you. I set aside my plastic credit or debit cards. Instead, I forced myself to spend cash. I kept one card in my wallet for a true emergency, but otherwise I tried to pay for everything from groceries to shoes with actual paper money! This was an effective way for me to really think about my purchases. I actually had to stop spending when I ran out of money. Replacing the paper bills would take some time!
Turn on the fans. A cheap fan is also cheap to run. But when I have the fan on in a room, it feels much cooler and fresher to me. This means I could set up my air conditioning at a much higher level. When I raised the air conditioner by a few degrees, I found that my bills were about 10 percent less! With the fresh air from the fans, I did not really suffer at all. In the summer, this actually added up to quite a bit of money over the hot months. I live in the sun belt, and it is warm about 6 months of the year.
Plan grocery shopping better. I used to go to the grocery store with no clear plan. I have really saved money by shopping at the right stores for different types of purchases. Of course, you will probably still buy food at your food market! But cleaning products and personal products are cheaper at discount stores. Instead of paying extra for convenience, I planned out different trips for different types of things.
Some large discount stores carry both types of items. These stores can help you because you will not have to make many trips to different stores. Otherwise, try to find the type of stores you want that are close to each other. You do not want to save a few bucks because you are a good shopper, but then waste the money on expensive fuel for your car!
Hopefully, these tips can help you save some money. If you can lower your impulse spending, home emergy bill, and the cost of groceries, you should be able to put aside more cash. Good luck and good shopping!