STRETCH YOUR PAYCHECKS FURTHER
Looking to stretch your paychecks further? I will share with you from experience how my husband and I have successfully done this. We are a family of three including a daughter who is now 15 months old and we are still seeing success saving money in all of these areas.
We have committed as a family to save more money in various areas over the last few years. We have done no spend months multiple times, found ways to increase our income, and committed to paying down our remaining debt. We have succeeded very well so far and decided to share with you exactly how we have saved more money without increasing our incomes significantly.
How have I successfully saved money?
Cutting spending in various ways by analyzing every area of my current budget for spending that can be reduced
Freezing unnecessary spending for short periods of time to save more money. We frequently chose to do a No Spend month once or twice a year to save up more money and realign our priorities. This is exactly why we do it and how you can do it too.
Where can I cut spending in my current budget?
Check your current phone bill for savings
Is there a cheaper plan that can be chosen that could allow you to save more money? If you believe that a cheaper plan can work and that it would not result in fees due to data overages or going over your minutes this might be a great area to save money. Do you work for an employer that offers discounts for various services such as cell phone carriers? Find out if your carrier offers an employee discount and take advantage of the savings. We don't use one of the big three (Verizon, T-Mobile, AT&T). We found Patriot Mobile, an independent carrier that charges us $48 a month for basic, unlimited talk and text on 2 lines. If you do some research and call around, you would be surprised at what options there are.
Internet costs can be minimized
Just like phone plans internet plans can be great ways to decrease your budget and here is how. As with a phone plan many employers offer employee discounts on internet providers so first of all check with your employer before choosing your internet service. If you do not have an employer plan that would be a great rate and work for you make sure to compare all local carriers and rates to make sure you have the most cost defective plan to meet your internet needs.
Cut entertainment costs to a minimum
To cut entertainment expenses we have chosen not to pay for cable or satellite TV. We honestly do not miss it and what we do pay for is a subscription yearly to Amazon Prime where we can stream many great shows including many cable shows for free or cheap. This subscription to Amazon Prime also allows us to get 2-day shipping for free on many items purchased on Amazon plus other additional features. We limit our monthly costs for entertainment this way and honestly never find ourselves bored with the streaming options available. Cutting your extra entertainment expenses is an easy way to save that can add up significantly.
Save money on your heating and cooling
You can save money on your heating and air conditioning and here is how…. Keep your windows closed the majority of the time to maintain temperatures in your home. This will prevent the need for your heating and air to try to keep up with any drastic changes in temperature. We keep our thermostat set at a range of 68 – 72 degrees year-round for this same reason. Find a comfortable range for yours to be set at and then forget about it. This will keep your equipment from having to work harder to keep up with drastic changes in temperature and can cost you more as a result.
Your electricity bill and how you can save more
If you are like me your father always used to remind you to turn lights off when they were not in use and he was not wrong. Using lights when you are not in the room is quite simply a waste in most situations and can be an easy money saving fix. Another easy way to save money over time is to replace your light bulbs with long-lasting LED Bulbs. We were able to shave off $10 off our bill each month by switch about 15 bulbs over to LED when they needed to be replaced. These last years longer than traditional bulbs and can offer great savings. Keep in mind they are a bit more costly so find a good sale before buying them to maximize our savings.
Decrease daycare costs
We have a daughter who is now 15 months. Daycare is expensive and has been a huge addition to our budget. My job is a necessary part of our budget however and could not be eliminated to care for our daughter so daycare is a necessity. We chose a daycare based on many different aspects that I talk about in this post. I believe the ways we discovered to save more on daycare could be beneficial to you also. Shop around and consider all angles that both save you money and provide the best quality daycare for your child.
Limit your grocery spending
Start paying close attention to your grocery budget. Some great ways to decrease costs are buying less pre-made and pre-packaged foods, buying off brands instead of name brands, using coupons and grocery rebate apps, shopping at Aldi’s if you have one close by or another lower cost grocery store, Buying certain items cheaper in bulk, even drinking more water and iced tea at home will help decrease expenses on costly beverages.
Decreasing your grocery budget is one of the best ways to cut spending in most budgets. We have found so many various ways that we could trim our grocery budget over the years. I wrote a post recently where I shared many ways we have successfully done this even with a one-year-old child. You can visit the post using the link here to find out more ways we have successfully done this.
Do you have a baby on the way or already have a baby?
It the last 15 months with our first daughter we have discovered so many ways to stretch our budget with a baby. I wrote about a lot of the ways we have learned to save in this post. We have found the best places to shop and the items that we were able to do without to really save us money.
Meal plan and pack lunches
If you are anything like me this is your least favorite area to cut spending. I hate to pack my lunch and I love to go out to eat after a long day or week. Recognizing this about myself helped me to realize something very important…. This is where I needed to focus even more because this is an area that I struggle to limit in my budget. How I approached this made all the difference because when I started allowing myself to buy a few items that were pre-made at the store I realized I was much more likely to eat at home. I realized that time constraints and exhaustion were some of the things that were holding me back all along. If you have to buy pre-made for just a little extra money to prevent spending extra money eating out you are still most likely saving more money in the long run.
Health and Dental insurance choices matter
Make sure that you make both health and dental insurance a priority for you. The lack of insurance can be a very costly mistake that you do not want to make. How can you be certain you pick the right insurance plan to maximize savings? If the plan is through your employer you usually have multiple options from a lower cost plan to a higher cost plan, sometimes the higher cost plan is the best option. So many factors go into this from high price deductible to lower-cost coinsurance and copay's, etc. I highly recommend meeting with a benefits advisor or counselor if this is offered to learn more about your options and explore your options. This post can help you understand more about your health insurance and why I suggest this as a way to save more money.
Shop around for better rates on your insurance
Yearly my husband and I check rates on our renters and car insurance. It has paid off big time on many occasions. We use a company called Answer financial and have almost always been successful at getting a cheaper rate on our car insurance. Currently, we pay $100 a month for two vehicles and two drivers and our renters are costing us $132 a year. The last time I called Answer Financial I was also asked to call back in November or December. The representative is going the extra mile for us knowing that she can provide us a better rate for our car Insurance after an old speeding ticket falls off our report. My experience with this company and the savings they provide us is why we keep going back every time.
Stretch your gasoline savings
If you shop at a grocery store that offers gasoline discounts don’t forget to take advantage of these savings. You should also remember to always look for the best prices on gasoline before filling up to save more money. Check out these great apps that you can download and use on the go. If you use Speedway gas stations don’t forget to use your speedy rewards account to maximize savings. You can earn discounts on gas, gift cards, and free stuff just for filling up your gas tank, it’s like finding free money.
More actions to take right now to save more money
Saving money is on all of our minds currently. What can we do to save more money when we are broke and how can we prevent further debt in the future?
Some of the below suggestions may seem obvious but to be honest saving money doesn’t have to be overly complicated. sometimes the simplest changes in your budget can produce the best results.
Commit to saving a small amount every paycheck. This might be no more than $5 at a time but over time this will grow. I find personally that small actions repeated over and over make a bigger impact in most areas of my life.
Find areas in your budget where you can make changes that will help you save more. Cutting unnecessary spending is important when times are tough financially. Start with things that you can easily eliminate. Examples of these expenses could be entertainment costs, additional food and beverage expenses, or even gym expenses.
Have a plan and set goals for the future. This will help you to realize that there is a reason you are making these changes. You can keep these goals in mind as you move forward to encourage you to keep going.
Build a better budget and live a more joyful life
There are many ways that you can find over time to eliminate costs in your current budget, all you need to do is put some serious thought into it. While saving money is important so is dreaming of a better future and making it a reality. Don't forget that the actions that you take now in decreasing expenses will help you build a much more financially secure and joyful future. If we can do it you can too. Remember that with a little extra effort from each of us we can all continue Saving Joyfully.
