3 Practical Money-Saving Tips and More
In the spring I was approached by Terry Cohoe of the blog, These Peas Taste Funny to do an interview about finances, and here is that interview for you.
What are some of your favourite money-saving tips?
Paint yourself into a corner with your money. What I mean is after you’ve paid your monthly bills, leave yourself a set amount of money in your bank account or envelopes (whatever system you use) for the rest of the month or pay period. My husband gets paid once a month, so after our bills are paid, I leave $300 in our bank account for the rest of the month for gas and incidentals. We pay groceries out of my piano lesson money, which is cash. The remainder of his salary that is left over goes into a separate savings account. The account is untouchable until we reach our goal, whether it be saving for a car or private school tuition, etc….
This tip might sound really funny, but keep your kitchen clean. Every. Single. night. One of the biggest places in the household income we can cut is the grocery/eating out budget. The easier you make it to eat at home by not having the dishes stacked up in your sink and actually knowing what food you have in your refrigerator, pantry and freezer, the more likely you are to eat at home and prepare nutritious meals. We get into money troubles when we are not thinking about the future. We should live in the now, and think toward the future.
Save on gas and walk to places or carpool. Our society says we have to have our own cars and drive everywhere, but it’s simply not true. Combine trips so you are not making several trips throughout the week.
If people are stuck with large debt items (e.g. school loans, credit card debt), what are some of the strategies that you would suggest for tackling that debt?
I believe you get into debt dollar by dollar, and you get out of debt dollar by dollar. Every last dollar counts. Make a financial goal. I love Dave Ramsey’s idea of paying off the smallest debt first. Paying down the debt can get sooo addicting. When we were working on paying off the $38,000 in college loans and got under $1000, I would make weekly payments at times, because it was so addicting to see the numbers going down. With my piano lessons I also had an envelop that after buying groceries, I would put all the “extra” cash into an envelop. The money in the envelop was untouchable. It would go straight to paying down the debt.
What sort of internal dialogue do you go through before deciding on whether or not to make a purchase (big or small)?
I am sure that you have heard this before, but I’ll state it again. We are trying to get rid of clutter around our house, so I ask “do I need this?” “Will I really, honest to goodness, use this?” “Would this money be better spent in my cash envelope to pay down the debt?” If I am at a store and haven’t already determined that I am going to purchase a certain item, I will walk away from the item I wish to purchase, and figure I can always come back to it if I really need it.
Are you a fan of budgeting? How do you manage your own budgeting?
I am fan of budgeting, but I do it loosely. I think you need to know where your money goes. All the time. Keep the checkbook balanced, too. I won’t walk out of a store until I have my checkbook balanced. I always need to know how much money we have for our incidentals.
Are there any other tips or ideas that you would like to mention?
If saving money and paying down debt is hard for you, determine in your mind to do it no matter how difficult the storm is. I think true, lasting change is slow, so commit to changing your spending habits on one thing and then keep adding a new change every month. Going cold turkey often doesn’t have staying power. But, sometimes you have to get REALLY aggressive to get out of debt. We need to hold possessions loosely and realize what is most important. Is it really important to have all this stuff? Stuff doesn’t make us happy, although it might seem like it temporarily. People and relationships makes us happy.
Thank you Terry, for interviewing me!
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Excellent tips!
Thanks, Meghan.
Thanks so much for such solid advice. I am living or have lived all of it and can vouch that it works. Thanks for the encouragement! Pinning this!
Hi Heather. You are welcome for the advice! Blessings to you!!
2 is definitely true. I am more apt to want to cook when I don’t have to clean the kitchen first!
Hi Jen. A dirty kitchen is a huge hurdle! It’s so much easier to work in a clean kitchen. Thanks for visiting!
I like your description: ‘paint yourself in a corner’! I do that every month;0) The hubster always says, ‘we’re broke before pay day’ … lol! We need to get better about keeping the kitchen clean … although we rarely eat out. I tell ya … all those fun recipes take a lot of dishes;0)
Hi Jayleen. It’s such a good concept to “paint yourself into a corner”. Too many Americans don’t have a concept of self-restraint. I hear you about lots of dishes! Thanks for sharing and visiting!
I enjoyed reading your answers–It’s a great idea to make your money untouchable! And to do it by whatever means necessary 🙂 Thanks for linking up at Thrifty Thursday!
Hi Jenn. Thanks so much. Sometimes we have to force ourselves to be disciplined and give our selves barriers. Thanks for visiting!
You’re right, it is SO addicting to watch those student loan numbers go down!! Kristen @ Trial & Error Homemaking
Thanks for sharing this at Tiny Tip Tuesday, Sonja! Tip #2 is really great and I can personally vouch for it! I never thought about it before but you’re right, the days we give in and order some take out are the days that the kitchen is just a mess and I don’t even feel like tackling it, lol 🙂
Great information, love your comment about getting into debt $1 at a time. So true!
Hugs, Tanya
Hi Tanya, Yes, $1 at a time. Thanks for visiting!
There are some excellent budgeting and frugal living tips here. Thank you so much for sharing them!
Hi April, Thanks, and thanks for visiting!
Stopping by from Frugal Friday 🙂 Love the ideas! My hubby & I just got aggressive with our debt and I love seeing the numbers go down! I’m like you, I HAVE to input the numbers into my checkbook before I leave, otherwise I’ll forget.
Hi Barb, Thanks for visiting! So fun to watch those numbers!!
I really enjoyed this post! My favorite is #2. Something you don’t often think about but that is really true. It ends up being a downward spiral! I recently wrote a post about things I jotted down for 30 days that are a part of my lifestyle of saving money. You can find it on the link below: http://keevykorner.blogspot.com/2012/05/little-by-little.html
Hi Jane, I read it last week and had it on my e-mail to comment to you for a while to say I know that list must have taken you a long time to do! Thanks for sharing! It’s always great to hear the different (especially) small things people to do be good stewards with their money! Thanks for journaling that!
Thank you for the shout out! And thanks so much for taking the time to answer all of my questions. You have such great ideas that a lot of people want to hear.
Terry, You are welcome! You are sweet! Blessings to you!