ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Tell me some working-methods to save some money from salary

Updated on February 12, 2009

How To Stretch Your Dollar When Times Are Tough

First the question must be asked, are you presently making enough money to pay your bills and keep food on the table with even a small amount of money left over? If the answer is yes, then you can proceed. My philosophy is that there are basic levels of need that must be met, and sadly there are many people out there who are not meeting their basic needs (through no fault of their own). It would be irresponsible under those circumstances to be socking away money for a rainy day while the family's needs aren't being met. One strategy I've followed, when I've had spare cash, is to treat my savings account like a bill that must be paid. So when I sit down to pay out the electric bill, the rent, the water bill, etc., I also have my savings bill. By doing that, I get into the habit of saving money, which will come in handy someday when the transmission dies, or some other major catasrophe.

Another way to free up cash is to set aside your ego. This has proven to be extremely beneficial to my family. A while ago, I started looking around and found several different food pantries in our vicinity, each with a different set of rules. The Salvation Army lets us come in once a month. So does another food pantry serving citizens from my hometown only. Then there's the one the next town over that will serve anyone in the area, and they let us go there once a week!

In time, we've been able to save a lot of money on groceries by finding free sources of food. Please note that I am not suggesting that the well-off do this. Food pantries are there for folks who really need the food, not just those who are too cheap to pay for it. In my family's case, we're by no means the poorest of the poor, but we do fall below the poverty level, mostly because we have a large family. We still buy some groceries at the supermarket, but a lot of our food comes from food pantries.

A while ago I knew a guy who drove a VW Rabbit diesel. The key here is diesel, because this guy found this handy dandy little device called Mr. Grease, which can be attached to a car running on diesel and allow that car to run on filtered fat from fryolators. This guy didn't have to pay a dime for gas, because all the fast food places were more than happy to donate their used fryolator grease, which at the time they were having to pay to dispose of. Nowadays I suspect a lot of the major chains have gotten wise to this and have started offering their waste product as a commodity to increase their bottom line. Still, I'll bet there are small mom and pop type places that have neither the volume nor the time to seek out such deals, and I'll bet my friend is still driving that VW Rabbit on fryolator grease.

These are just a few of the ways I can think of to stretch your dollar in these difficult economic times. The key is that after you've cut your expenses, and are actually living within your means, that you do take the next step and put that money away somewhere. Depending upon the dynamics of your family, it may be best to put it someplace easily accessible, so it's there for you when you have an emergency. Some families are not that disciplined, and it may be wiser to put the money into a reasonably accessible source, like a six-month CD, which you can later roll over if the circumstances are appropriate.

RETURN TO TABLE OF CONTENTS

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)