Most of us feel budgets are horrible things. We don’t want to have to figure our budget, live by our budget, or adjust our budget. But if you are interested in living within your means and not racking up credit card debt and exorbitant interest rates or you are attempting to bulk up your savings, setting up and living by a budget can be a “saving” grace.
Consider these 10 budgeting tips. Exercise as many of them as you can, and you will soon see signs of decreasing debt, mounting savings, or both.
1. Evaluate every area where you spend money. This will require you to spend a couple of weeks on writing down everything you spend including your splurges.
2. Look at big items first can you move to a less expensive home, refinance your mortgage, or set it up for a longer term? If you have a good credit rating it might be time to look for a lower rate.
3. Raise the deductibles on your auto and home insurance policies. You’re hedging your bets that you won’t have an accident.
4. Eliminate premium channels on your cable or cancel cable entirely. You can get a lot of movies from Netflix for what you may be paying for those extra channels.
5. Remove optional items such as call waiting and call forwarding on your phone plan. Consider using only your cell phone and cancel your home phone.
6. Save on your utility bill by turning your thermostat up or down depending on the season (or buying a programmable thermostat) and dressing warmer or less so inside your home. Turn off lights and electrical items when not in use.
7. Drive your automobile another year or two instead of purchasing a new car and incurring another car payment as soon as your old card is paid for.
8. Group your errands by location. With today’s gas prices you could save a bundle.
9. Cut food costs by taking your lunch and snacks to work. You might improve your health at the same time you improve your finances.
10. Plan your meals around grocery sales. Buy staple items in bulk and use coupons for savings.
All of these tips may not be for you, but you should be able to find several you can adopt. It will be worth it to you to achieve your goals of lower (or no) debt and adequate savings to cover unexpected expenses.