Tightening Your Money Belt: Ways to Live Comfortable for Less

Tightening Your Money Belt: Ways to Live Comfortable for Less

It seems every time you turn around there’s something else that you need to pay. Whether it’s an increase in your property taxes or a child who now needs braces, something always comes up that saps your money. The good news is that there are many ways to improve your budget and save those pennies. 

Unexpected Expenses 

Unfortunately, life isn’t predictable, and as a result, there will always be unforeseen expenses that come along. You may get into a car accident and have damages to your vehicle and medical bills to pay. While your auto insurance and health insurance will cover some of the expenses, you do have deductibles that you need to cover on your own. Thankfully, if you don’t have the cash to pay for it there are other resources available. For instance, you can get an unsecured medical loan or a personal loan, which allow you to make low monthly payments. 

Living Within Your Means 

Many people often fall into debt simply because they live life beyond their means. If you don’t have the money to pay for something outright, you should save your money and purchase it later. When you make the choice to purchase a large-ticket item like a big-screen television on credit, you’re increasing your debt and the original tag price is now much more.   

Shop Around 

If there’s something that you need and you can’t put it off, you should always shop around first to get the best price. Say for instance, your car needs replacing. It’s old, has many miles and the cost of repairing it isn’t worth it. While you do need a reliable vehicle to travel to work, cart kids and run errands, you don’t need a brand new model. Almost every dealer has a car lot with used vehicles in mint condition with low miles. In most cases, these vehicles come to them fresh off a 2-year lease. By choosing to buy a used vehicle over a brand new one, you’ll have lower monthly payments, lower excise tax and a lower insurance premium. 

Use Coupons 

Embrace the age of technology where everything you need is literally at your fingertips. Before doing your weekly food shopping create a list of the items you need and then go online to one of the many websites that provide free coupons. If you print out only the ones you need, you can save $10to $20 weekly on your food bill. 

Additionally, while you’re online pull up the weekly flyers for the supermarkets in your area to see who has the best prices on the items you need. You may need to visit a few stores to reap all of the savings, however, it’s well worth the time you invest. 

Cut Back 

When was the last time you really paid attention to the amount of money you spend on things such as television or your cell phone? In most cases, there’s plenty of room for improving the cost. For example, do you really need access to hundreds of channels on your TV, or do you like most people, watch only a few channels? Contact your service provider and see if removing some of the unwanted channels will save you money. The same goes for your cell phone. Are you getting the best rates? Chances are pretty good that if you shop around there’s another company offering a better deal. 

Credit Cards 

Credit cards are convenient. However, if you don’t use them properly, they can end up costing you thousands extra over the course of just one year. If you have several with high balances, try applying for a new one that lets you transfer balances from other cards, interest-free for a period of time. This way you can consolidate your credit card debt and pay it down faster, without adding additional fees. 

Life comes with many expenses. However, you can reduce the cost of just about anything by refraining from buying things you don’t need and shopping smart for everything else.