5 Tips to Save Money Now!

If you are anything like me, I am always looking for ways to save money. A lot of people ask why and here are a couple of reasons I give when I answer.... 1. Saving money is important for my families future….retirement, college, emergencies. 2. We like to pay in cash and in order to do this I need to make sure my family is saving money on things we routinely buy {and everything} in order to make this work. 3. Why pay more when you can pay less!! 4. I am frugal, DUH! Ok, so now that we’ve covered some of the reasons let’s talk about the 5 easiest ways to save money now! 1. Take a look at your expenses and cut spending This is one of the main ways to save money right away. Do you have a budget? If not, that will really help you to see where your money is going. Because honestly, it is not about how much money you make, it is about what you do with it after it comes into your bank account that matters. Start by tracking your spending for one month and you will begin to see where you spend your money and where you might be able to trim some fat to save money. For instance, did you know that by cancelling cable or downsizing your account to a smaller tv package can save $50-100 per month? When my husband and I made the switch to cancelling cable we now save $1,200 a year!!! How to we watch shows now? Netflix which costs us $8.95/month and we can watch tons of shows, movies, etc. Oh and www.hulu.com is a great option to use too which allows you to watch tv shows and movies for free. I could continue on and on about ways to cut expenses, but this will have to wait until a later post. 2. Make meals at home Ok, I know this is probably pretty obvious but you would be surprised at the amount of people that eat out away from home at least 3-4 times per week. This may not seem like a lot of money spent but let me show you how easily this can add up…. Breakfast: Coffee $3 Breakfast sandwich $2-3 Lunch: Salad, sandwich or fast food $5-6 for meal Dinner: Fast food, restaurant, or take out $8 per person on average Total per day: $20 for the average person $20 x 3 days= $60/week $60 x 4.2 weeks {weeks averaged out over a year} = $252/month $252 x 12 months = $3,024!!!! Do you see my point?? This is just for one person! I bet if you have a bigger family and both parents are grabbing coffee and lunch away from home, these figures would increase. So, the moral of this equation is, making meals at home can save hundreds and even thousands of dollars a year. The easiest way to begin eating more at home is to create a weekly meal plan and build your grocery list around your meal plan. This way you are only shopping for the items you need and can stock pile on items you know you will use for many meals. I will be talking more about couponing and how to save money on grocery shopping in a later post, so stay tuned. 3. Use coupons for everything Now I will be going into more detail on using coupons for groceries, but today we will talk about using coupons for everything you purchase. You can find coupons online without having to subscribe to companies via email which will help reduce email clutter. Simply google the store or item you are purchasing and see what kind of searches come up. For instance, if I was going to be purchasing photos {I am working on that right now} I would type in Costco photo coupons or Walgreens photo coupons in the google search bar. Links would come up and I would begin looking for coupons, I recommend using www.retailmenont.com which is a reputable website and one where I find lots of coupons for everything I purchase. I have found coupons for clothing, photos, diapers, Hobby Lobby, Joann’s, Michaels, Target, you name it! Seriously before I shop for anything, I look to see if a coupon is available. 4. Budget for fun too! Budgeting doesn’t have to be all about paying bills and putting money towards savings. Make sure you are budgeting money for family fun too! This includes birthday, holidays, entertainment, and trips. I have a budget each month for entertainment that allows us to grab an occasional coffee or dinner out or go to the movies or if there is a fun event we want to go to we can do it because we have budgeted for this. We also plan ahead for trips for the year and birthdays and holidays too. This makes things less stressful and gives you a number…a commitment…you can feel comfortable sticking to. This also helps you pay for things in cash and say no when you know you can’t afford it. Don’t get sucked into paying for things you can’t afford. 5. Consider part-time work or working from home If you are currently working outside of the home, first try saving money where you can in your budget and if you still haven’t cut enough costs to be ahead of the game, then it may be time to consider working another job part-time. This also goes for those of you who are not working at all but want to make some additional income for yourself and/or your family. Working part-time is a great way to make extra money and can be easily done with a few hours a week. I work part-time from home about 10 hours a week and love it! It allows me the opportunity to stay at home with my son, continuing my college education, saving for my husband and I’s retirement, my son’s college, and also using some of the funds for our entertainment spending. There are plenty of part-time jobs that you can do from home. You can learn more about what I’m doing and how I am helping others work from home and become a CEO Mom at my website Become a CEO Mom!