No more excuses! Start saving money now! There are so many different ways to pinch your pennies, but here are a few that will get you started.
1. Bring Your Lunch To Work This is always an easy fix. The fact of the matter is that preparing your own lunch at home and bringing it to work will always save you money. I remember a couple of years ago, me and another colleague agreed to bring our lunches to the office and eat with each other during lunch time. We would sit in my office, or hers, and eat our home-prepared lunch. We went on like this for a few months, at the end of which we ended up saving a few hundred dollars. My colleague went on to purchase her first home, and I am sure the extra cash helped. Now don’t get me wrong….I understand that in the professional world business lunches are key networking opportunities. During these times, going out for lunch may be necessary. My suggestion is that you bring your lunch to work at least 4 times during the 5 day work week, and use the remaining day for power lunching. Try it for a week and let me know how much you save!
2. Eat Your Dinner At Home Just as you bring your lunch to work to save money, you can also prepare your dinners at home to obtain the same result. Again, eating dinner outside the home or ordering take out can still be an option, just not all the time. If you want to save a few pennies, try preparing dinner at least 5 days during the week. The remaining two days are fair game!
3. Call the Cable Company Am I the only one who has a ridiculous amount of cable channels that I don’t even watch? So why do I continue to pay top dollars for channels I don’t even know exist? I asked myself these questions a while back, and couldn’t come up with a reasonable explanation…I was ashamed. So I took inventory of those channels we watch in my household, called the cable company, and downgraded. My savings? About $20 per month!
4. Change Your Cell Phone Plan A couple of years ago, I started looking for ways to cut back on my cell phone usage. Why? Because the bill was way too high! Every month, I exceeded my allotted minutes and text messages, and ended up paying much more than I anticipated when selecting the cell phone plan. I came across an unlimited plan that allowed me to do any and every thing I wanted with my phone for as long as I wanted for a low monthly fee. Needless to say, I immediately switched to that plan. A few months later, a friend of mine told me that our mutual cell phone service carrier recently unveiled a different plan with a better deal! So what did I do….I switched to that plan! The moral of this diatribe is that you should always stay abreast of new deals offered by your carrier that could save you money. The first step is to assess your current usage, and then see if your carrier offers a less expensive option. My savings in the end amounted to about $50 per month. Not too shabby!
5. Check Your Gym Membership Many gyms offer great membership deals at the beginning of the year. After all, losing weight is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions. If you are already a member of a gym, check to see if you can take advantage of the New Year’s specials, which is typically less than your current rate. I recently took advantage of my gym’s deal, and will save $5 per month. It’s definitely worth a try.
6. Make Your Grocery List While In Your Kitchen I cannot tell you how many times I went in the supermarket, and purchased items that I already had at home. You see, I went to the supermarket, and couldn’t remember whether I had a particular item at home. Solution? I began making my grocery list while standing in the kitchen. This allowed me to check to see if I already had the items on my list. It ensures that I will not purchase items that I do not need….hence, savings! I win!
7. Sell It On EBay We all have an abundance of items in our home that we do not use, nor do we intend to use them. As the old saying goes, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. So list your items on EBay, and turn them into extra cash. I do it all the time!
Make it happen Divas!
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