Using money saving tips everyday will be saving you handfuls of change or even a few dollars at a time. Put all these savings into a bucket and your total will be shockingly large by the end of the year. Let’s take a closer look at a few specific ways you can save money.
Do you stop for coffee in the morning? Depending on your coffee order and whether or not it may include a croissant or pastry, you could be spending up to $3-$5 each work day. Based on those numbers alone, you could be saving $780-$1300 each year. Incentive works well when having to cut back. This unnecessary expense is a great incentive to buy your own coffee pot and pack your breakfast to go right from home. Can you think about what you could do with an extra $1000 each year?
Are you a fast food lunch junkie? Do you do it everyday or just a few times a week when the refrigerator is empty in the a.m.? Hard to get out of a fast food place for under $5 anymore, average meals are over $6 now. To start the calculations, we will figure twice a week at $6 each time, you could be saving $624 each year by cutting out drive-through twice a week. We did not count any evening meals with the family or friends, so you can figure in that amount accordingly. There is something to be said about a brown bag lunch. If mornings are too crazy, see what you can put together ahead of time. If you are one to head out for dinner in the evening or call out for pizza, you could be saving another $1000 plus each year.
Ever been to the grocery store without a list or on an empty stomach? How many times do you frequent the grocery store each week in order to pick up this or that? Spending an extra $20 each week on groceries is easily done. Maybe it is a snack to get you by on the way home, or an extra prepackaged treat to fill your brown bag lunch, bring a list of necessary items and eat that snack on the way to the store to save up to $1040 each year.
Food costs alone, from what has been discussed so far, could be saving you an average of $3000 per year. Imagine what kind of dent you could make to your debt with that extra cash! Let’s not forget to use coupons and shop the competitive sales…your savings will climb even more.
Paying down on your debt will save you money in interest. Credit card interest is eating away at most budgeted income all over the world. The interest may be small, but as you can see from above, small things add up fast over time. Stop using your credit cards so the payments you do make each month can begin to lower the balance. Bring down that balance even more and your savings from interest will soar.
Spend some time with your family and create a family savings plan. Let the kids get involved to cut out some extras from their lives. You would be surprised how many items they may be willing to do without. Prepackaged treats and drinks are budget busters, see if they would be willing to pack small amounts into reusable containers. It is a great life lesson for them to begin differentiating between spending money for needs and wants.
You can be thrifty without going completely without. Dedicate your saved amount to help out the family and leave a bit out to splurge and give everyone a treat. Incentives work great to keep everyone on target. You can save thousands on the small stuff we take for granted and don’t think about each day. Your debt does not have to last forever when using everyday money savings techniques.