Cutting back on your spending doesn’t mean a dull or boring life hanging at the house and eating beans and bread. It means taking a different approach to what you consider a necessity of life and finding inexpensive ways to have fun. Try these ideas for how to cut back on spending and still enjoy life.
*Savings
Emergencies happen in every life so, regardless of how much or how little you earn each week, set a little aside for savings. If no emergency happens, you’re just that much richer and on your way with a nest egg for future dreams.
*Repair Refurbish Redo
Instead of buying a new car this year, have your old car painted or tuned up and skip those big monthly payments. Do your furnishings seem a little ho-hum? Instead of buying new furniture, paint your walls and redo your accessories such as bed spreads, throw cushions, rugs and curtains. Better yet, dye them!
When you buy clothing, skip the latest fads and choose classic pieces that never go out style or have a swap party with your friends. Shop thrift shops and consignment stores for great bargains in just-like-new clothes and save your money for new shoes and undies.
*Food
Instead of eating out every weekend, buy steaks at the grocery store and have a cookout in your own backyard. With just a little practice your steaks will rival those at the steakhouse and you will have saved quite a bit of money.
Skip the fast food joints and make your own healthy lunch for work or school and save money as you improve your health. Buy the foods that are in season for big savings and buy cheaper cuts of meat that are just as tender and taste just as good as the expensive cuts when slow cooked in a crock pot.
Buy your holiday hams and turkeys off season when they are cheaper and freeze them. Bake birthday cakes instead of ordering from the bakery and buy chips, cookies and other snacks at the Dollar Store where they are really cheap.
*Utilities
Really think about all the extras on your phone bill like call waiting, call forwarding and two-way calling. Do you really need them or could you get by with just the phone service, which cost much less.
Save water by washing your car on the lawn, which waters the grass and saves water. Sweep your sidewalks and driveway instead of washing them with the hose. Plant drought tolerant grasses and plants. Only wash full loads of clothes and put a quart jug full of water in the commode tank to save each time you flush.
Turning energy ready appliances off at the wall will save you some big bucks in a month. Hair dryers, microwaves, televisions, stereos, phone chargers and computers and printers all use power even when not being used. Install motion sensors outside to keep from burning bulbs all night long and set your thermostat to a reasonable degree and dress to keep warm or cool.
*Vacations
Instead of flying half-way across the country for a vacation, find an interesting and exciting place near home. There are wonderful places scattered all across the country and one is bound to be near your home.
You can relax and have fun without spending a fortune if you use your imagination. For example camping and hiking are both inexpensive and fun ideas for a vacation. Instead of paying for a motel at a theme park go visit relatives and stay with them as you make day trips to interesting places near their home, then the next vacation you be the host.
*Entertainment
Movies every week, golf on Saturday and Sunday, trips to the mall when you really don’t need anything and attending events you can easily watch on television are forms of entertainment that end up costing a lot of money.
Rent movies and have a big bowl of popcorn at home with your family. All the new movies come out on videos soon after they premier and waiting a few months will save money, just as popping your own popcorn will.
Cook up a homemade pizza and have a game night with your kids each week. Work on crafts and other projects of interest to the whole family and skip that unnecessary trip to the mall where you’ll end up spending money you don’t have to spend.
Just as tiny drops of water make up the oceans, small savings grow. These are just a few of the little ways you can cut back on spending and still enjoy life. You will find that you really don’t need to have the biggest, newest or most expensive of everything to be happy.