Little Ways to Save Big Money (Every Year)
No doubt, the financial crisis has added a crunch to your life; maybe it could have been caused from being laid off or maybe it's just that times are tough and you need to be smarter about how you spend your money.
The reality: you don't have to sacrifice everything to save money and doing so doesn't require you to give up the things you love - you can save BIG money by doing just a few, little things with your life and finances.
Remove Recurring Expenses
Netflix, newspaper subscriptions, members clubs - all of these add up once they stack up, over time, and create a real financial burden even though they only seem like a small about of your income every month.
The reality: many small subscriptions leads to hundreds of dollars every year.
Ask yourself whether you actually need the subscriptions you own or merely have them to satisfy your wants. If you don't need them, get rid of them and save your money toward bigger items!
Plan Your Spending
Take time, every month, to plan out your expenses so you can keep track of where your money goes every month.
Reality: Buying products and services based on your emotions will lead to thousands of dollars that didn't need to be spent.
For example, plan out your grocery shopping before you go so you only buy the products you need rather than throwing things that 'look good' into the shopping cart. Update your clothing only when things are worn out and set a limit to how much you spend rather than going on a shopping spree for clothes. Find the best deal using websites and research rather than settling for the closest shop - you can save hundreds of dollars each year by taking a few extra hours to hunt down deals online.
Destroy Your Debt
Become a master of your personal finances and knock down your debt to zero.
Reality: Nearly everyone has some kind of debt whether it's student loans, credit cards or mortgages which cost you hundreds of dollars, every year, from interest alone.
Start setting aside extra money every month to throw extra at your debts. Get a five year loan paid down in three through a bit of sacrifice so you can save hundreds (even thousands) from going to interest and not the actual payment you owe.
Stay Educated
It's a shame that so many people don't understand personal finance because it truly is one of the best items you could understand so you can not only save money but release the stress that's caused from money.
Money only becomes a problem when you no longer have any; understand your finances and cut back on frivolous spending rather than living beyond your means so you can turn those little actions into saving BIG money every year.
