Tips How To Ditch Living Paycheck to Paycheck
For many families living paycheck to paycheck is a reality. Often families run out of basics before payday. Emergencies that would be minor hiccups for some become disasters to families without a cushion.
Tips How To Ditch Living Paycheck to Paycheck
With some planning and a lot of work, you can ditch the paycheck to paycheck cycle. No, I don’t mean to simply make more money. While that would be a great thing, it is just not practical for most of us.
I am simply going to cover a few tips and ideas of steps and things you can do to pull yourself out of that rut.
Decide why you want to ditch living this way:
Sometimes what you really need is to find the motivation before you can be the change you need. Do you want to improve your quality of life?
Make ends meet after the end moved out of reach? Maybe you realized that unless you get things under control you are putting your family at risk.
Whatever your reasons you need to write them down and post them where you will remember them. Motivate yourself.
Change how you use money:
Today everyone has a bank account or debit card or credit card. While this is convenient it can truly cost you money. It is so easy to swipe at the checkout or at a vending machine and not think twice.
That dollar here dollar there adds up fast. To help control your spending move to a cash system for everything you can.
When you get change back from using cash place the change into a jar to build up a small savings. That way you don’t feel any pinch in your budget.
Make it a priority to pay down debt and bills so you don’t need to stress about them. If you can not cover a payment with one check and still be comfortable, try splitting it between two checks.
A great way to do this is to place half of your rent into an envelope one week. Add the other half next and turn it in full.
Give up things you do not truly need:
Take the time to create meals for the freezer and grab and go items for breakfast and lunches. We keep a basket of things like burritos, tacos, single-serve soups and chili in the freezer.
On, the way out the door, you will have turned leftovers into lunch and skip eating out. These savings alone will save a bundle over time.
If you are someone that has to have that fancy cup of coffee every day on your way to work, cutting this out will save a ton. Invest some time learning how to make your favorite coffee drinks at home for large savings.
Yes, you will still spend some money to have the items at home to make it, but it will be a fraction of the price then the coffee shops.
Like to have your nails done? The price of having them done can really cut into a monthly budget. Consider getting some great gel nail polish and having a few friends over and doing each other’s nails. Great way to have pretty nails and get in some friendship bonding at the same time.
Ditch cable and opt for services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime for video streaming. You can get the news and other TV shows with a good antenna. It comes in just as clear as cable now.
Lower every day costs to stop living paycheck to paycheck.
Look for ways to cut costs on your utilities. Weatherproofing and learning to adjust to different temperatures can go a long way.
One way to do that is to change your bulbs over to LED. A few years ago when they first came out they were super pricey, now they are affordable on Amazon like these. Plus you can even pick them up at places like Dollar Tree!
If you have a long drive to work, carpool is a great way to cut daily transportation costs. You could also do this with a friend if you have to travel a was to grocery shop.
Build a small stockpile to lower food and household expenses by stocking up while prices are low.
Make a list breaking weekly spending into needs versus wants to make finding places to cut easier.
Look for ways to earn extra money:
Spending spare time earning money instead of playing on Facebook goes a long way. What skills do you have? What extra chores could people around you need help with?
Even if you can not think of anything you could get into buying and selling used items, doing online surveys, or making crafts to sell to friends or on Etsy.
I like to do this from time to time when I find something I like and enjoy doing and can make money from it at the same time.
If you are looking for even more money-saving tips, here are a few to check out.
- 5 Ways to Improve Your Budget
- Tips On How To Save Money At The Gas Pump
- 5 Ways To Save On Amazon
- How To Find Discount Auto Parts
