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Money Saving TipsEveryone could use a few good money saving tips! In order to get out of debt one of two things has to happen. Either bring in more money than you already are or spend less. In a perfect world both can be accomplished. But this is not a career site. I am going to focus on money saving tips to increase the amount you can put toward debt. If you spend less money on the things you need and cut out the things you dont you should increase the amount you can put toward your roll-up amount.
The best thing you can do to save money is to eat out less, or not eat out at all! Some people spend a lot of money on morning coffees. $4 a piece. Ouch! Thats about $1000 a year to coffee. I bet if you brewed your own youd spend about 5% of that. Also just eating out because you are in a hurry getting home late or dont want to cook and clean up. There are alternatives to this but it involves planning ahead. I think most money saving tips involve planning ahead. When things are done or purchased quickly you will spend more money. What if instead of eating out or picking up the local fast food you had meals prepared in advance? 
You could plan your week or your month. And figure out how many nights will you be coming home late. Maybe Tuesday and Friday because Johnny has a game. So 8 times a month. Plus an extra 5 just in case you have to stay late at work. So prepare 13 meals in advance that you can freeze or will store in the fridge for a week. Make it a family event on Saturday morning, and teach your family good money saving tips. On Tuesday after Johnnys game you can go home and pop that stew or casserole or whatever into the oven or microwave, add a premixed salad (premixed by you) and viola, dinner that is just as hot and convenient as fast food but cheaper and more nutritious. Food seems to be a big category that people need money saving tips for. So lets move on to the grocery store. Often people are once again pressed for time. They only go to one store, pick up what they need, maybe something that looks good and check out. Often people make a list of things they want to eat and then buy accordingly. I used to shop that way. Now I have learned that a lot of time in the grocery store does not mean a larger bill. In fact for me it means a smaller bill and a fuller cart. Let me explain. I use a lot of coupons and I shop the sales. My favorite is when I can combine these two. I have cut my grocery bill in half by buying the same things I would always buy but buying more of them when they are on sale so when they are not on sale I do not run out. Now I find what is on sale and plan my menu around the cheaper items. My family eats just as well as before, even with this money saving tip. For example I dont consider my grocery trip successful unless the amount I saved is 2-3 times what I spent. Just today I bought liquid hand soap. I bought 6 large individual pumps for $0.80. Not each but total. They were on sale for $1.00 a piece and I had a coupon. Actually I had 6 coupons because I get 6 Sunday papers just for that purpose. Some people dont like coupons because it gives the stigma of being cheap. Well from now and until you are out of debt you need to be cheap. The first few times I used coupons I felt that way. But now I am just so excited about the savings I dont care. And most of time the comments I get from the checkers or other customers are Wow, you know how to shop. All that food for that price. I get peanut butter for free, brand name cereal for $1.00/box. And I often get extra deals like special gift cards, $5 off my next purchase, or even free movie tickets. It takes time and effort to get these deals. You have to make yourself aware of the deals that are going on. But there are so many people that do this; there are web groups that will help you. Programs to keep track of coupons. And the stores are very helpful because they want you to keep coming back. Also you can consider this just as you would your job. YOu go to work to provide an income for your family. The time spent on saving money is just as important, and gives your family more money. Next is clothes, this is a great area for money saving tips. I have young children. My younger daughter gets hand me downs from my older one. And the best clothes are often the name brand ones like GAP (my personal fav) or the Childrens Place. Even some dept. stores. 
Since I am talking about saving money you may wonder why I am suggesting these stores. They are more expensive. But heres where that planning ahead comes in. If you buy quality clothes in the off season these stores have fantastic deals. Even Nordstroms. The outlet stores can be great too. The great thing about these stores is they sell quality clothes, you can get them at a good price, and they will last a long time. Generally the dept store clothes are still fashionable after a few years. And will hold up better. So you fork out more at first but you are not constantly replacing a product of lower quality. Therefore you will save money. Entertainment can be a real drain as well. A trip to the movies, even the rental store. A Spa treatment, golfing, etc. We all need to relax and unwind. To do the things that rejuvenate us. But we also need to be realistic. Will you really be more relaxed after doing dinner and a movie for $40 on your credit card, or if you were out of debt and had less to worry about? You can still have fun but do it economically. For example instead of going to the movies or even renting it go online and get it for really cheap. There are legal ways to do this. Have a family movie night and pop your own popcorn. Use a coupon for the Spa, go golfing on a discount day. Down grade your cable and have a smaller bill, have less cell minutes . I could go on and on. But these are the most common, every day, purchases that can really affect your pocket book. Track how much you spend on going out to eat or monthly groceries and decide where you can realistically make changes. My biggest money saving tip... plan
ahead. My second money saving tip, do your homework and get good deals.
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"A man in debt is so far a slave,"
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Copyright©
A Debt Free Life 2007.
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