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1) Eliminate eating out for lunch-could be
savings of $30-40 per week. Instead grocery shop specials using coupons from your
newspaper. Consider buying off brands of food or buying in bulk at stores like Costco and
Sam's Club. Cook a week in advance and freeze in dinner or lunch size portions food you can
take to work or school with you.
2) Eat out only on weekends for dinner,
preferably twice a month. Take the money you would have spent on an evening out and
begin paying off your credit cards and past debt. Thinking of eating out as a
"treat". When eating out with friends you can politely ask the waiter for a
separate check as you "don't expect your friends to pick up their tab." When in
reality you expect to pay for just your own meal not everyone's.
3) Use market coupons for all groceries.
Even if you don't subscribe to a local newspaper, you can often find coupons on the
internet at brand name websites. Also when you enter a store check around the entry for a
stand with "this weeks specials". Often grocery stores print a "weekly
specials" section that is often advertised in the paper and they put the left over
advertisements in a stand near the check out counter.
4) Reduce cable TV bill: Do you need all
the premium channels? Check first to make sure you haven't signed some agreement with
your cable or satellite company - if you have, breaking your contract could be VERY
expensive. If your contract has expired you might consider dropping all the premium
channels and once or twice a month renting a video or pay-per view movie. Reading a good
book from your local library is often free and even less expensive than a movie.
5) Double check long distance phone rates.
Do you have the lowest plan? Price wars on telephone service keeps changing. Most
plans are pay-as-you-go with no long term commitments. Consider switching to a lower plan,
limiting calls to off peak times or keeping long distance calls short.
6) Have the highest
deductible
allowed on
car and health insurance. Having a higher
deductible will lower your monthly
payments. Take the amount you would have paid with a lower
deductible and put it away for
a rainy day in an emergency fund that you can use if your car breaks down or in the awful
event that you need to use it on your
deductible.
7) Attach a sticky note to each check you
mail in that the amount included over the minimum due is to be applied to the Principle
Balance. Always try to pay a little more than is actually due. Perhaps five or ten bucks
is all you can afford, but every little bit helps reduce your balance.
Angela Oberer © 2008, Oberer is the author of the "Be Well Series". You can send your questions and
comments to her at:
Angela@WordsofWellness.com
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because when you're well...everyone wins!