Part 4: Eliminate Unnecessary Spending
You'll find that one of the easiest ways to come up with additional money is to first put an end to all the needless spending.
I'm sure you are all familiar with this concept. Every single one of us has been guilty of wasteful spending at one time or another in our lives.
For example, have you ever walked into a store just to "look around" and ended up spending $50+ on stuff you didn't plan on buying?
Or how about the five or ten dollars spent on junk food and impulse buys at the supermarket? It may not seem like much at the time, but that money adds up to a rather hefty bill over time.
These are examples of the types of spending habits you want to try and rid yourself of, especially since you are striving towards the GOAL you decided on a while back. Refining this approach, you can start directly eliminating unnecessary spending with most, if not all of your monthly variable expenses.
Where To Begin
Now that you have a list of all your monthly expenses and have singled out five of the most excessive bills, it is time to start eliminating unnecessary spending in these five areas.
When you start tackling your expenditures on an individual basis, adopt the mind set that EVERY dollar is important and valuable to your personal goal. Five or ten dollars may not seem like much to save off one bill per month, but if you multiply that by all your bills, over the course of a year you get a much more substantial figure.
You may soon find yourself saving an extra one or two hundred dollars a month just by eliminating excessive and unnecessary spending from your monthly expenses. And the best part is that you did not have to get another job. You did not have to work overtime or additional days at your current job. All you did was tackle each individual monthly expense with creative, yet effective, money-saving techniques.
Since you have already singled out the five bills that seem to be the most excessive, you have a specific starting point. Remember, there's no need to overwhelm yourself by trying to lower all your monthly bills at once. Not only will you burn yourself out, but you won't maximize your savings potential with each individual bill.
Finding Effective Money Saving Tips
In order to lower your bills to their lowest possible amounts, you will need to devote some time to research and find tips specifically designed for each particular bill.
For example, if you are trying to lower your household electric bill, you would want to search the Internet, contact your electric provider or visit their website (ie: sce.com), check out the local public library or maybe even a bookstore for any sources providing useful, relative tips.
- Once finished researching, you will have a list of all the tips you plan on implementing similar to this:
- Change to lower wattage/energy efficient light bulbs
- Install ceiling fans (reduce AC & circulate hot air)
- Lower temperature on water heater & refrigerator
- Insulate attic area and access panels
- Seal & caulk ALL air leaks
- ALWAYS turn off appliances when not in use (ie: TV)
- Install outdoor window shades to help cool the house
- etc...
Next in this eight part series - Part 5: Weighing The Cost, Risk, and Benefits
Click here to access Part 5 of 8
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