Do you call yourself frugal, cheap, thrifty, savvy shopper, bargain hunter; or conversely are you a spendthrift trying to change your ways? Do you find yourself saying "in this economy" often? Are you affected by the recent economic downturn? Have you or a spouse been laid off, or have you chosen to cut a salary and stay home with children? Are you saving for a big purchase? A new car or home in your future? Mired in credit card debt, student loan debt, or being buried by the cost of gas and groceries?
Many people have many different reasons for wanting to try to save money on their day-to-day expenses. Whatever your reason is, I'd love to help you in your quest. Believe me, I've been there. My husband and I rapidly went from two incomes and a small house payment on an even smaller house, no children, very little debt, buying whatever we wanted whenever we wanted to one income, larger house AND still paying on the other home, and a small baby. The change in our lifestyle was dramatic.
I navigated the bargain waters, searching here and there for ways to cut our costs. Some things are obvious:
* Less eating out
* Cut down on luxury items
But it all just boils down to this: DON'T spend money on anything if you can help it. For every expense, ask yourself two questions: Do I NEED it? Can I afford it?
There are two main attitudes that a true bargain hunter has to adopt in order to embrace this new lifestyle. First, our country is full of conveniences. We are the generation of instant gratification. In order to truly live frugally, we have to get used to delayed gratification. Is this really a bad thing? Often, we find those
things we thought we wanted aren't really all that useful or necessary. How many kitchen gadgets lie collecting dust and taking up space in your drawers? How many movies sit in your entertainment center, their only purpose now being fine motor practice for your toddler and more clutter?
On the flip side of the coin, we need to do think ahead, plan ahead, and buy ahead. You heard me, we are going to be spending some money.
So many people live only in the now, and this attitude is what gets people into trouble. How often do you find yourself four days from payday with nothing to eat in the house, no gas in your car, and no money in your account? Do you use the credit card to pay for those things because it's an emergency, promise yourself you will make an extra payment to make up for the spending? Do you write a check, hoping it will stay out of the bank till the deposit makes it? How often does the bank "mess everything up" by putting checks through when there's not money to cover all of them, then charging a million fees, putting you further behind? How often do you go to a check cashing place to get a payday advance, often paying triple-digit interest? A lot of these can become an endless cycle. You spend so much extra in order to cover for your overspending--yes, that's what it is--that you keep getting further into the hole.
My intent is to show you how to save money on items you use every day, how to get many things for free, and how to keep your spending under control. Read along daily while I do my best to help with methods I use daily.
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