Making ends meet is not easy. It gets harder when you have bad habits. I listen to people who are crying that money is tight but yet some of them are 'fly' and taking trips. What are your priorities? I had to set mine in order to survive and still be able to enjoy the basics.
1. Save your change - singles and coins in a jar. Only access when the jar is full or if you really have no other funds to buy bread or water!
2. Take care of your family's clothing so that they can last longer. Iron dark colors with a white cloth and wash whites in hot water.
3. Recycle uniforms, books, church clothes with other family members or close friends.
4. Drive less by grouping errands and walking short distances. It's too hard to find parking spaces anyway!
5. Set a realistic savings goal. $20 per week is still $1,040 for one year.
6. Join a partnerhand and save your hand in a CD or Christmas Club account.
7. Long drives or ferry or airplane trips to shop? Can you really not find what you need online or where you live? What are you shopping for anyway - things you want or need?
8. Set goals. What is more important to you - a home or a car? If it's the car, then take car of it.
9. Include your car in your monthly budget. It needs tires, gas, brakes, servicing, coolant, oil, battery etc. Don't play cheap and not buy the new tires you need and be sure to rotate them. Driving on bum tires burns more gas.
10. If you cook food for your children then you can take lunch to work with you. Are you ashamed to walk with a lunch bag but not afraid to ask someone to buy you lunch? That's an lol moment for me!
11. Do your own hair once or twice a month. I do not mean for you to relax your own hair - we never recommend that. However, can't you style your hair by adding a wig, twisting, afroing, wrapping or using flexirods (thank's Juju) for cute curls.
12. Recycle, Reuse and conserve what you can whenever you can.
13. Try not to use the credit unless you can pay it off in one month. Remember, you pay interest on your credit card debt. If you are late once, your interest payment could double and of course there will be late fees. Use a debit card instead so that means if you don't have the money in the account, you can't shop.
14. Reduce your cable and telephone bills if you can. If you have internet, use Skype or another VOIP.
You still have to enjoy yourself and have fun. However, if you are in debt, you have to make choices to get yourself ahead. So if it means not going to the movies or going shopping, then do what is necessary.
I no longer feel sorry for anyone who lives beyond their means or who wants to keep up with the 'Jones and them'. I've made too many sacrifices to keep myself from sinking. Wake up, grow up and get your finances in order.
This is an example of ribbon's no-nonsense guidelines. Do what you know is right.
ribbon
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