It’s a great feeling when you get a raise, suddenly there is extra money in your paycheck to put towards your budget. Many Americans can have this experience right now, yet purposely choose not to!
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Little Things To Avoid
Sometimes it seems like we’re being pretty responsible with our money (not buying fancy cars or TVs), yet the budget doesn’t always balance. Usually when that happens, it’s the little things that are making a difference (death by a thousand cuts). Here’s a few tips to avoid the common minor expenses that add up over time.
Getting Your Baby Budget Ready
Guest Post by Jonathan Bernstein, founder of Wizbe.com
Having a baby is an exciting, magical time. It s also the beginning of a lot of changes to your budget diapers, doctors, buying clothes that last 5 weeks. Housing and child care costs are two budget items that usually change a lot when a baby arrives. Reviewing these in advance will give you time to figure out how to fit necessary changes into your budget.
Lessons From The Depression Generation
Do you remember having great meals with your grandma? Maybe she’d have a Turkey and some soup with vegetables fresh from the garden. The odds are this meal cost less to make per person than your average frozen pizza.
Thinking About the Per-Use Cost of Everything
You go to the grocery store and think “Ok, if I buy lunch meat and bread I’ll save on lunch this week, instead of going out”. But to really understand if that’s true, or to quantify exactly how much you’re saving, it’s best to break the purchase down into a per-use cost.
The Cheaper Options
One of the first things most people do when they begin to look at their budget is ask “what can I cut?” or “how can I save money?”. With a little creativity, you’d be surprised how many free or cheap options are for the things most people spend money on.
The Difference Between Being Frugal and Being Cheap
One of the hardest parts about living a frugal lifestyle is fending off the complaints of your spendthrift friends that you are a “cheapskate”. Since most people don’t live within their means, this peer pressure often makes us break our budget. But there is a difference between frugality and cheapness, and I don’t advocate that anyone become a cheapskate.
Saving Money on Groceries
I find Groceries to be the biggest enigma in the American household. No one seems to know what an appropriate amount to spend should be, yet everything thinks they spend too much. Some people can get by on any food, while others find they need to maximize the nutritional value of what they get. Here’s some tips on how we save money.
Spare Change, It’s Still Money
This isn’t exactly a new savings trick, but a quick and easy way to start some extra savings is with your spare change. We all have this stuff floating in our couch cushions, or maybe in a neat pile on the dresser.
