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Adopting a Frugal Lifestyle: How it Pays Off

August 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Adapting your lifestyle to be more frugal can be daunting. You don’t want to lose out on things you love, and you may not know what to cut from your budget. However, adopting a frugal lifestyle can save a lot of money—and you don’t have to sacrifice too much if you sacrifice wisely.

Downsizing

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In many instances, less is truly more. For example, if your family owns several cars, try to go down to one. You’ll save on the cost of car maintenance, car payments, and more. Downsizing an SUV to a smaller car will allow you to pay for less gas. And once you’ve determined the car, look for affordable car insurance—it will save you even more.

If you can’t completely eliminate something from your lifestyle, go smaller. You may be able to afford a bigger house or car, but you can probably survive with a smaller one. Making adjustments to your monthly expenses will ensure you will live comfortably, and have more to save.

Change Your Eating Habits

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Adopting new habits will not only save you money, but also help you eat healthier. This, in turn, will save more, as staying healthy saves time and money going to the doctor. Eating out less is one place to start. It’s much cheaper to buy groceries, and you can plan out and keep tabs on what you’re spending more easily. Likewise, pack a lunch when you go to work to stave off the temptation to grab a bite in a restaurant or fast food joint.

Consider Coupons

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It’s not like you can just stop grocery shopping. But that doesn’t mean you can’t spend less on what you were already planning to buy. Coupons make it easy to save on the stuff you really need. Organization is key. Make a list of everything you need. Check through newspapers and online to see if there are coupons available. Also, be sure to take advantage of the Web. Newspapers are still the biggest source of coupons, but the Internet has a wide variety of offers. Apps, will also help you find bargains. Look for apps that allow you to put in your zip code and then alert you of nearby bargains. Finally, know your store’s policy. Many stores will match competitors’ coupons, opening up a wider opportunity for you to save.

Benefits of Frugal Living

Finding accessible options, like affordable car insurance and clipping coupons, will allow you to keep what you like, and still save. Frugal living allows you to spend less than you earn. In turn, you can save, invest, or work off debts. This gives you more life options. The less you spend, the less you’ll need to earn. So you can work less, take breaks, and retire earlier—you can mold your life the way you want.

You can still buy everything you need when you adopt a frugal lifestyle. You’ll just save money doing it. What do you do to live frugally?

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How to Survive a Recession

November 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
And the sun sets on yet another week. Weekend'...
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A recession is not only hard for a country, it’s hard for all citizens living in the country. In a recession income may drop or become non-existent, unemployment raises and business may close or reduce hours and staff. What can you do as an employee or employer in this difficult time? Here are a few tips to get through these tough times.

The first step in surviving a recession is to sit down and examine your budget. Find areas that you can decrease your spending, without impacting your lifestyle too much. Cutting back on cable packages or buying shoes only sale won’t affect your day to day lifestyle too much. Stop going to dinner out and invite family and friends to your house instead; reduce the activities that your children are in and have play groups at your home; and, donate less to charity if you are in debt yourself.

Use the money that you cut from your budget to fund emergency account. Emergencies are broken cars, emergency room trips and leaky roofs. Plan to make your emergency account have about two months of living expenses in it, that way if something happens to you, there is a cushion if you need it. After the emergency fund is set in place, use the extra cash to start paying off debt. Start with smaller ones and get them paid off first, then start paying off the larger ones next.

Only after you have set up emergency funds and paid off your debt should you be considering purchasing a new car or going on a vacation. If you have thousands of dollars in debt it is unreasonable to even think that you should go on a vacation or make a large purchase. It is also okay to decline giving money to your church or local charity. If you cannot put food on your own table, you shouldn’t have to worry about putting food on a stranger’s table.

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The Secured Credit Card

November 17, 2010 By Leave a Comment
First 4 digits of a credit card
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If you have had financial problems you have almost certainly been turned down for a credit card at one point or another. You have applied thinking you would have no problem and then you were turned down. In their rejection they probably issued you an opportunity for a secured credit card.

This is a great opportunity to get your credit score back up and get your credit back in good standing. Here’s how and why they work for you. It’s all about getting your credit back. The way it works is that you agree to do the secured credit card. This company then let’s you know what your limit minimum can be. For many they start at 250 dollars. This means that you have to write them a check for that amount.

What the bank does is it puts it into a safe and secure account that you cannot touch and the bank will not touch. Then you are free to use your account with that money limit. You can charge gas, a meal out, clothes, anything you could use a major credit card for. Now, at the end of the month you are given a bill and you are required to pay the minimum or in full just like any other card, but it doesn’t come out of that account. However, if you decide that you want to default on the card for any reason, the bank has full rights to take the initial money they got from you to cover their losses. It’s part of the way that this business is done.

The other thing to remember is that if you are good with the card you will be rewarded. Sometimes when you have been good they will give you the money back completely or just increase the limit without requiring more money into the account. It’s a great system and something that can help your credit significantly.

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Keeping Out of Debt on Big Moments

November 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment
Deficit and debt increases 2001-2008
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There are a lot of things in life that can put you in to debt. It doesn’t often take much, but when it comes to the big events it’s an easy opportunity to fall deeper into debt. Planning a wedding can be an easy way to fall deeper into debt and if you aren’t looking out for your own bottom line you could end up filing for bankruptcy after the wedding. Here are some tips to avoid wedding debt.

Budget

You have to set out a budget from the start. No matter what. If you have parents who are generous enough to help you out you have to make sure you know from the very beginning how much or to what degree they are willing to help you. Don’t feel like you are doing anything wrong by asking them to be direct with you. You need to know because it will help you immensely in the long run. Once you know, know what it is that you can contribute and that will be your bottom line. Don’t spend any more than that.

Videographer

This is the example of one of the many things involved in a wedding that could be cut from the budget. You have to have a talk with your spouse and decide what is really important. If you can’t do that then you have bigger issues. Don’t let there be anything that you are buying if you don’t both really want it and see a need for it. This could save you a lot of money out of your budget.

Guest List

Who you invite means who you have to pay for. A lot of people think that a guest list means people who will pay for their plate but you cannot count on that. Invite people that you are willing to pay for and look at their money as a bonus. Thinking this way will keep your wedding very cost effective.

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