These days, it seems literally everyone is feeling the sting of the recession. In fact, everyone is feeling it, but some of us are hurt by it, while others seem to be raking in the very money that others are losing. Gotta love the free market economy, right?
Well, not quite. Unfortunately, the current state of affairs really is doing a lot of damage to quite a lot of people. And while we hold our breath, hoping the next swing will be up and not down, here are some tips that just might make a difference for you.
1. Small Holes Sink Big Ships
A dead-giveaway, right? Actually, you’d be surprised if not astonished, if you’d know how many people spend way too much money – and they don’t even seem to realize it. On any regular workday, you’re likely to spend up to ten dollars that you don’t really need to. Sure, $1 for a cup of coffee is nothing, right? And fifty cents for a pack of gum doesn’t hurt, does it? And the panhandler on the street, well he probably needs the two dollars you give him. You can’t be bothered to prepare lunch yourself before going to work, so you spend three or four bucks on lunch.
You see where I’m going with this, right? Add up all the little expenses over a week, and you’ll probably be shocked that you’ve spent $50 on stuff you don’t even really need.
2. First Eat, Then Shop
Even if you’ve never noticed it yourself, science has confirmed that if you go shopping on an empty stomach, you buy far more products than you’d need, simply because your stomach tells your brain: ‘Hey, I’m empty! Grab that candy bar and them there chips look pretty good too. Ooh, peanut butter, we need peanut butter.’ It’s biological, and it doesn’t get better with marketing playing cleverly on it.
Try it: go shopping after a meal, and on another day go before a meal. You’ll see that you come home with more than you actually really need or even wanted if you’re hungry.
3. Cook At Home
It seems we’re turning into a culture where ordering ready made food or eating at diners and restaurants is pretty much the norm. There are two problems with that: First, it’s usually not the healthiest food. Too salty, too greasy, and laden with additives: It doesn’t take a math genius to figure out that in the long run, you can expect medical bills simply from eating badly. You don’t think so? How about reduced kidney functionality after 20 years of over consumption of salt? Stuff like that isn’t made up, it’s proven.
A far more immediate problem though is that it’s expensive! It kind of ties in with point 2: Spending 6 dollars to have Domino’s deliver a pizza isn’t much – but if you do that four times a week, you spend $24 that week on just dinner. You’ll find that ones you begin to stock your fridge and cupboards and choosing to cook food, make sandwiches or salads at home, you’ll eat a lot cheaper, and if you do it right, healthier too.
Not only is cooking healthier, it also tastes better, it creates a pleasant family atmosphere and it saves you money. Oh you don’t have time? Well, maybe. For most people though, that’s an excuse. It’s up to you. If you want to save money, cooking at home is a terrific way to do it, so why not try it?
4. Shop Smart
If you run to the corner shop every second day to get some groceries, you’re essentially stealing from yourself. Take you car, drive to Walmart or BestBuy, and stock up. Find the good deals and instead of spending $3, three times a week on a carton of juice at 7-eleven, get those three cartons for $2. That’s three bucks you saved that week. $12 a month. Not much you say? Of course. But do that with all semi-perishable foodstuffs you consume, and you’re likely to save $120 a month, not $12.
5. Rate Your Credit Yourself
Borrowing money has been incredibly easy for far too long. Credit cards, payday loans, mortgages and quick loans from the bank: It’s far too easy to spend money you don’t really own – and you have to pay interest on it. The problem isn’t borrowing money: it’s making it a habit that will really screw up your finances. So you end up getting yet another credit card so that you can keep the other ones afloat, etcetera etcetera.
Debt isn’t bad per se, and it’s often unavoidable. What is bad is running your finances on credit. I’s really worthwhile to sit down and look at how things run with you. Some ideas that will really make a difference:
- Get rid of any credit cards you don’t really need. Often, one is enough. Try to avoid overdrafts: all that interest adds up.
- Keep only the credit cards that don’t cost you an annual fee. Why waste money?
- Keep an eye on your bank account. You pay every time and every day for your overdrafts.
- Pay on time. Cell, rent, insurance – whatever bills you get, pay them on time so you don’t get charged late fees.
- Don’t pay ATM fees. Some banks don’t, but in most cases you pay to use the ATM if it’s not at your own bank.
Tell you what: There’s a darn good chance that just these last few points, even before you sit down and do the math, already tell you that you’re probably wasting a few hundred dollars per year. You don’t think so? Try it: put down some numbers and you’ll see that you can probably save anywhere between $50 and $150 per month, without giving up a whole lot of convenience.
Add to that the other tips in this article and I’ll bet you can save good money, no matter what state our finances are in.
Martin Stellar is a freelance writer for First Choice Loans, a mortgage broker in Perth that specialises in home loans, business loans and other finance. Check out their Guides and Articles section for more info on finance and real estate.