TIPS FOR LOWERING COST OF LIVING
You can cut down food bills by no longer buying sweets, biscuits and chocolate, things which do not contain vital vitamins and minerals, and only buy nutritious food which is economical to buy, tasty and filling. You could probably cut down how much you eat and eat less and it might be a good idea anyway for the sake of your weight and health. Instead of buying the very best cuts of steak and grilling them why not try buying much cheaper braising steak, marinating it over night and making a casserole? It is just as tasty, just as nutritious, easy, quick and much cheaper.
Your home is full of electrical appliances which cost money to run. Ask yourself if you really need these items working all the time or if some can be switched off or put on stand by sometimes. With items such as a washing machine get into the habit of only using it when you have a full wash, changing the temperature and length of programme to a shorter cooler wash, and saving money on electricity each time you use it. Instead of drying the washing in the tumble dryer after you can hang it on an airer to dry in a warm room or over radiators in the winter time, or hang it out side on a line during the nice weather in the summer.
When shopping at the grocery store switch to own label brands. Things like milk, cheese, tomato ketchup all taste quite good whatever make you buy, and a lot of the more expensive brands are only expensive because of the huge amount they spend on advertising.
Everytime you go to buy something or spend some money on something ask yourself….. do I really need to spend on this? If the answer is yes then ask yourself…. Is there a way I can do this cheaper? If you do that now after a while it becomes habit and you will automatically always do things the cheaper wiser way without giving it a second’s thought.
Make staying in the new going out. Instead of always going to expensive bars and restaurants invite friends over and have a great evening at home with some home made pizza, pop corn, marshmallows, burgers and dvds. You do not need to spend a lot of money to have fun. You could take it in turns to arrange an evening around your place so that one evening everyone comes to yours and other evenings you go to theirs, so you still get out and have a change of scene and good company.
Do you really need that membership to the gym? If so maybe you can change to a gym that is cheaper? Or buy some equipment to use at home instead.
Do you really need to use a car every time you go out? Do you need the car you have or can you swap it for one that is cheaper to run?
Next time you fancy a holiday ask yourself if you can really afford to go where you plan, or maybe it is wiser to go somewhere cheaper, or go a few months later when it is cheaper, or not go for so long.
There are lots of things you can do to cut the cost of living, either because you need to be a lot more careful with your money or because you want to be able to save for the future or something special.