Have you ever sat down and really looked at your spending? I have been financially comfortable until this last year and have reached a point where I need to look at what I am spending before hand. This is a really big must have for me, but it is not going to be easy. I have the same amount of money coming in as I have going out…Yikes
In the last two months I have noticed my money cushion diminishing at a high rate. Having the money cushion is great, but it tends to hide what you are really spending because everything is flowing comfortably. Well, let me take that back because if I balanced my checking account like I should I would have noticed these things a long time go. However this is not the case so going forward I need to be smart and make some wise life altering decisions.
I am not sure if any of you what Opera, but she had a show on last week that talked about saving and spending money on necessities verses wants. Her guest talked about stretching the dollar to get its maximum benefits. Most of the families are cutting corners because of the economy and challenges they have all had, but there was one family who has been living this way for years. This family only lives on the necessities, the husband car pools to work, mom bargain shops for groceries and tons on other cut backs are made. They live on an income of $58k a year with a family of 6. This is amazing and I highly recommend going to Opera.com to check it out – they give great tips to follow.
On the same show there was a lady who has mastered the bargain shopping to a whole other level. This lady gets 3 papers every Sunday and cuts out the coupons and then matches those with items on sale at her local grocery store. Basically she is saying that you need to base your meals on the food that is on sale. This lady had a $137 grocery bills before coupons, but after the coupons the bill came to $37. Wow…that is amazing.
All of the ideas they were giving seem difficult, time consuming and just plain challenging, but I think once you create a pattern and new habits; then things will appear to be easier. I have reached a point were I do not have a choice, I need to learn how to cut back on spending and start saving. The other thing is to get rid of the credit cards. Credit cards should only be for emergencies and nothing else.
So I have first calculated my monthly spending and then looking to see what I can cut back on or get rid of. My next step will be to figure out the grocery bill shopping because I spend a lot on food here, food there and so on. I am always open for help ideas so if anyone knows of any great ideas on savings please let me know.
