We have all been told that there is money around the house, but the last time I asked my couch to borrow some, I didn't get a reply. Whether you have searched old purses for a few dollars, tore apart your couch in hopes of a shiny piece of silver or returned an item in your home to get the money back, all of these tactics I am sure have been short lived. We all rang in the new year with hopes of success and financial independence and whether or not the kiss at the stroke of 12 brought any luck, these tips will help you keep a little cash on hand.
Now the way that this is going to work is to actually SAVE the money that you were going to spend. I am going to give you some areas in which you can cut back and save, but the trick is, that the money you are going to save, must be saved, meaning, if you were going to spend $20 on one of the cut back tips, that $20 must be stored in the house so that you can see how easy it is to save. At the end of this trial period, which should be about 30 days, the money saved will speak for itself.
Let us begin in the kitchen... Why do you continue to go to the grocery store with a pantry full of groceries? At one point, when you bought the items, you had intentions of eating them right? So please, do... Go through your cabinets and pick out three to five items that can be eaten this week, either as a meal alone or an addition to another item. Promise yourself that you are going to clear out one shelf in your pantry this month by eating what you have already spent money on. Put these items on your grocery list as what not to buy. Think to yourself, what can I buy to go along with these items. For me, it was the cans of soup (that I must think make a beautiful collage in the cabinet) that I sacrificed and ate, for three days in a row. Did I want to, NO, but did it save me money, YES, and have I learned a valuable lesson, HELL YEAH! Now you ask, how can I calculate what I should save. If you live alone and think the microwave was the best invention since the cell phone, buy three less microwaveable meals and put that $10-15 in your saving jar/box/pillowcase/shoe, you get the point. If you have a family of three or four, maybe it's soup night for the whole family and instead of buying ingredients to make tacos, calculate the cost of what you would buy and put it away. This too works for the items in the fridge. When I go to the grocery store, my fridge is almost empty because I really make an effort to eat what I buy, thus wasting NOT and wanting NOT.
My next tip is the good ole reduce, reuse, recycle. I must admit, I am addicted to diet coke, in any form, bottle, can, fountain, whatever, I love diet coke and I buy the 12 packs whenever I run out. I sometimes have a trash can full of cans and bottles and in some states, I know you have to recycle those items to the green tin. Well for this month, instead of recycling the items in the green tin, put them in a plastic bag and haul them over to the nearest recycle center and trade them in for cash. I took one trash bag full of diet coke bottles, cans, diet coke of course, to the recycle center and got $6. Now six dollars isn't anything to write home about, but that was six dollars for a two person home, only diet coke products and in one month. If you have a large family or you entertain a lot, the beer cans, wine bottles, juice bottles, etc. weigh a lot more and can add a lot more weight to your bag, thus adding more cash in your hand. Why give that those recyclables to the city every month, that's money out of your pocket?!?!?!
Has it been a long time since you and your significant other went out on a date? Were you thinking of having date night? Are you dying to see that new movie that just came out? If you go to the movies every time a new movie comes out, on opening night, maybe you can cut back a little. Instead of going out to date night and spending at least $50 on dinner and a movie, do something a little different. A lot of restaurants have recipes for their signature items online, google your favorite hot spot and see what recipes are online. Instead of going out, you and your spouse can cook the meal together, desserts and all. So what about your movie, you can either rent or in my case, James and I love to watch a show called 'Masterminds,' it's a special that comes on MSNBC, I record those for date night and while we are cooking we watch about two or three episodes, saving money on food, entertainment and gas.
There are tons of little ways to, as the investors say, "watch your money grow," literally, you just have to sacrifice and stick to it. In the month that I put my money where my mouth was, I was able to save $65 dollars on those few tips alone. Another tip that I will share is the cash left over tip. I rarely ever carry cash, but when I do, I can't seem to figure out how a $20 bill turns into a five and a couple of ones. Well when that does happen, the five and a couple of ones are added to my savings jar, change included. I will do that for a few months and before I know it, I have $100 or more in my jar. In these uncertain times of our economy, we have to be prepared for whatever may come. Suze Orman says that people should have at least six months of savings, so, what's in your wallet?
