Ways To Make Hard Earned Dollars Go Further By Living Frugally

Millions of people earn money online from online advertising and referrals to sites such as Amazon.com and eBay.com, by writing articles, creating videos, or selling products. While some people have been creative and active enough online to earn hundreds and even thousands of dollars (or local currency equivalent) per month from their online offerings, the majority of independent online content providers earn much smaller amounts of money, $50 here, $100 there. While it is tempting to view online earnings as “free money” and just go out and splurge on something like a nice meal or new clothes, for those interested in living frugally, there are ways to parlay online earnings to increase their value to your monthly budget or expenses going forward.

The following are ways to spend your hard earned online money in frugal ways that will increase its value to your monthly budget:

- Instead of buying a meal at a restaurant, use the money earned online to buy food staples that you can use to make meals at home or to take to work. Consider what an average lunch or dinner costs when purchased at a restaurant or local eatery in your area, and you will realize that a great amount of money can be saved by buying food staples and making your own food. For example, if a lunchtime sandwich costs $7 in your area, and you multiply that cost by 20 work days per month, that comes out to $140 you are spending per month just to eat lunch. As a money saving alternative, if you use $50 earned online to buy food staples to make lunch for 20 work days per month, you will save $90 per month and essentially turn that $50 earned online into $140 worth of food.

- If you want to treat yourself and buy a meal at a restaurant or some product or service with the money earned online, don’t just go out and buy it for the full retail price, instead use a website that provides restaurant, product, or service coupons at deep discounts. Sites such as restaurant.com offer a wide selection of restaurant coupons at deep discounts (50% or more). Sites such as groupn.com and livingsocial.com offer various coupons for local restaurants, products, and services at deep discounts, often 50% or more. If you use $50 earned online to buy coupons for deeply discounted items (say 50% off), you have saved $50 on the treat you bought yourself and essentially turned that $50 earned online into $100 worth of leisure meals, entertainment, or products.

- Instead of buying another shirt or pair of shoes that will wind up in your closet, use the money earned online to pay for a monthly bill to offset your fixed monthly costs. While it’s gratifying to buy something as a reward for the hard work that went into earning money online, to have a positive impact on your monthly budget, use the money to pay a reoccurring bill or cost, such as an electric bill, a cell phone bill, or an oil change for your automobile. $50 from money earned online paid towards monthly bills is $50 saved in your monthly budget. If you have an outstanding credit card balance, apply the $50 earned online to save on future monthly interest payments.

- Use the money earned online to buy more efficient lighting or home appliances or to better insulate your home to save on your monthly electric and heating/cooling bills. Investing money earned online to lessen your energy usage will save you money every month going forward.

- Use the money earned online to buy vitamins, supplements, or to pay for your annual doctor check up. It is becoming increasingly evident that deficiencies in essential vitamins and minerals are causing more frequent and severe illnesses in people that are lacking necessary nutrients. Using $50 earned online to buy essential vitamins or supplements, such as Vitamin D, can save you a great deal of money and hardship by helping you avoid or lessen the impacts of various common illnesses, such as colds and the flu. Using money earned online for an annual checkup with your doctor can also have a positive impact on your health and life going forward, and save you money over time.

This Hub was inspired by the following Hubs:

• 101 Frugal Living Tips You Need to Know
• Simple Tips for Frugal Living

Please visit these Hubs for additional ideas regarding living frugally and ways to make those hard earned online dollars go further.