If you aren’t careful, you can run through your hard-earned money pretty quickly. All it takes are some impulse purchases and careless spending and you either find yourself out of money until the next paycheck or see your monthly credit card statement continue to rise. By first taking a look at last month’s debit or credit card statement you can get a good look at where every dollar is going and start to really examine which purchases going forward are a must or what probably could be avoided.
Cut the Cable Cord
These days with streaming services not only giving you plenty of content, but even the best shows out there, it really begs the question, is cable really necessary anymore? If you think about the hundreds of live channels that you currently have, how you don’t sit through any commercials, and probably DVR every show you want to watch, you can really make your case to get rid of cable and watch the savings add up. You can even get an HD antenna for around $20 that will give you free local channels in high definition so you can still watch network TV and news.
Ditch the Gym Membership
While it certainly sounded like a good idea at the time, continuing to pay for a gym membership that, let’s face it, you don’t use anymore, is just a flat-out waste of money. Sure, you may keep telling yourself that next month you will start to go, but another month goes by and another month of dues are taken out of your checking account. Save your money and get out of the house by jogging around the block. Take the dog for a walk everyday and you both can get some much-needed exercise.
Start Eating at Home
This one is particularly tough for me considering I’m not much of a cook. It’s nice to sit down or get carryout from your favorite restaurant and not have to clean up afterwards, but that certainly does come at a price. By avoiding going out to eat and even limiting to once a week or special occasions, you can instantly see the savings, probably a couple hundred dollars a month easy right off the bat. Instead, opt for going grocery shopping and prepare meals at home. Instead of eating out for breakfast, lunch, dinner, you can now make at home, even brewing your favorite coffee so it’s ready by the time you’re ready to walk out the door for work.
Don’t Lose Efficiency
In the winter you don’t want the cold air coming in causing the furnace to kick on more than needed, and same goes for the warm air making your A/C work overtime, so it’s a good idea to check around doors, windows, and outlets that share an outside wall to make sure that everything is properly sealed. You’d be surprised how much caulking can make a difference in your utility bills by keeping your home as energy efficient as possible.