There are several ways that you can painlessly save money every week. These are simple ways that you can change in your lifestyle that you may not even notice after awhile but will help you cut back on expenses and save you money every month.
Eat at home more often. You can cook a lot cheaper than going out to eat a few times a week at the restaurant. This is one great way to save money. Buy what you need to eat at home every night. Do this for a month and bank the savings.
Pack your lunches. If you stop on the way to work and grab your coffee and something to eat, then go out to lunch at work, this will add up quickly by the end of the week. It could be $50 or more for a typical workweek. For $50 you could bank $30 and only eat on $20 if you pack your own lunch. You could probably pack you lunch for less than $20 a week.
Purchase a coffee mug and take your own coffee to work with you in the mornings. You can even take a thermos of coffee with you to get your through the mornings. Coffee will add up if you drink several cups a day.
Sodas and soft drinks:
Take a small cooler to work with the soft drinks that you will consume during the day. Maybe your job has a refrigerator that you can put your drinks it. Purchasing the drinks from the machine will cost you much more than if your brought the drinks from home.
How much do you spend a week on Eating out?
Make a simple chart – and write down for one week how much you spend on snacks, coffee, lunches, and breakfasts away from home, then at the end of the week add it up. You may be shocked to see how much you really spend eating out every day during the week. Once you find out how much you really are spending then you will be able to cut back. If you and your spouse both work outside the house, you will both want to do this, and add the totals together to see exactly what it costs you to eat out.
If you like the foods from your favorite restaurants, then look on line for restaurant recipes that you can make from home and you will be able duplicate their menus for less money.
Shopping
Watch for sales on clothing’s. If you shop at store regularly then keep checking for discounts on clothing, and other supplies that you need. Shop at the dollar stores for some of the items that you can get cheaper there. Many times you can get the name brand items for less. For instance at Family Dollar you can get cleaning supplies that are name brand for less money than stores. Stock up on items when they are on sale.
Clothes:
Look online for discounts coupons for buying items online. Many items you will be able to find the discounted coupons for most stores saving you money, and sometimes they will give you free shipping.
Even if you shop at the store, always check online first for sale coupons. Usually these are coupons that are not advertised in the store or sale papers but can only be found online. Take the time to search before hitting the stores.
ATM FEES
ATM fees will add up quickly. A quick check at your bank will give the locations of local ATMS that you can take money out without incurring fees. At stores get money back with your purchases and this will prevent you from paying an additional fee for withdrawing money. ATM fees can and will add up fast. If you take money out daily and spend $3 in fees that is $21 for a week. Over a month this could add up to $84 or more just for withdrawing YOUR money from an ATM.
Banking fees
Watch your balances so that you don’t use your over draft. Not only can you be charged for overdraft or bounce fees, but if you have overdraft protection, this will also cost you. Make sure you keep accurate records if you write checks and use the ATM cards. We solved this problem by not writing checks anymore. Since both husband and wives use the same account most of the time, this way will prevent one from writing a check and forgetting to tell the other person. If you pay your bills online, you may not even need checks anymore.
These are just some simple ways that you can save money and not “blow” money that you don’t need to. These simple tips will help you save money over the month and it’s quite painless to alter your lifestyle so that you won’t be charged extra fees that don’t seem like much money at the time but will add up over the month.
