Advice On Saving Money

by xeroblade666

posted on 10/13/2009

Saving money is a hard thing to do

I know that putting money away for a rainy day car be hard in the current economic outlook we are facing. The whole point of saving is to make it through these troubled times but if you don't stretch your money, then this downturn can outpace your savings. This short article will cover how to find that extra money to put away for this and any rainy day.

Going Out- I know that you love to go out with your friends and hanging out but that has to be cut down. You might want to stop doing this all together. Going out to eat is also something you stop if possible. I know these are two things that we all love to do. Sometimes it is the only time we get to treat ourselves. I recommend at the very least, cutting every Friday down to every other week. Take that money you normally spend on going out and place in a savings account, better yet a money market account if you have a very low interest rate.

Transportation- I know this is another one of those touchy subjects that people hate to think about. If you live and work in a midsize to large city, there is public transportation. I am not talking taxi cabs, they just rip you off. I'm talking trains and buses. I know you love your car but it is eating a lot of your income to run and maintain. I would suggest is alternate weeks at the very least, take the money you normally spend on gas and deposit it into that account I spoke of earlier. If you are really close to everything you need, then get a bike. This will save even more money on your part. The other things is that your saving the environment and helping lower gas prices. How you ask? If more took this advice and drove less, the price of gas would drop. It's the simple law of supply and demand.

Shopping- You spend a lot of money at the store shopping for food and clothes. If your wardrobe is over flowing with things, then stop buying for a while. The last thing you need is to be homeless due to you buying a $300 purse. Also on the subject of shopping, you need to start using coupons. They are god's gift to the world. Find places that allow you to double or even triple coupon. Sometimes you can get some items for almost free through this method. Most places have a spot for how much you saved using coupons, take that amount and put it in the bank. Do you see my pattern here? Saving is good, over spending is very, very bad.

Housing- Some people don't understand this one but it's true. We all spend too much on housing. I am not saying by any means move into the ghetto, but many people get places that are really too big. If you take our apartment and house sizes and compare them to say a normal European country, our places dwarf theirs. Sometimes bigger is better but not in this case. If you rent or own, find a smaller place and lose some things. like George Carlin said "We get bigger places because we get more stuff." If you go through your belongings, you realize a lot of your things are not that useful. So downsize, if you rent, that shouldn't be much of an issue. If you own your home, then you might want to just refinance if you can, especially if you have been there for like 10 years or have an ARM loan. Take that savings and, you guessed it, put it in the bank. Also on a side note, if you get a smaller apartment, guess what, it costs less to heat. You just double saved with one move.

Closing
I know this article can't cover all the things you can save your money on, but it is a start. If you follow all the tips given in this article, you will notice you have a lot more saved up and less stress. Heck you might realize that you don't need to work 60 hours a week to live, if it gives you more free time, then by all means do it. Thank you for reading and have a nice day.

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