Saving Smart

I never understand when people say that you can not control how much you spend on gasoline. YES YOU CAN!

Get rewards card from places that offer savings on gasoline if you shop there, then hit their sales with your coupons and buy gas that same day. Walk more often. Carpool with others. Do more each time you leave the house so you do not have to go out so often. Ask others to pick things up for you if you need something but need to cut gas usage.

Entertainment. Drop cable, have internet and netflix. Thats maybe $35 a month for us compared to the $100 + to have cable or satilite and a movie channel.

Electric bill? Raise the Ac temp 2 degrees and run a few rotating fans to help circulate the air better. Turn lights off, or use the energy saver bulbs if its a light you need on for long periods of time. Remove the bulbs from the fridge, really do you need it? I don't!

Natural gas bill? Lower the heat a few degrees in the winter. Don't use it to heat up things only a couple degrees warmer than it is without. Turn off the pilot on the furnace once the cold weather is gone. Turn down your water heater a bit. Wear sweaters, don't walk around in the middle of winter wearing shorts and a t-shirt and complain that you are cold. OF COURSE YOU ARE! Cover up and you wont be so cold.

Have issues with paying rent? Use savings from other areas to save up and buy a place of your own with cash! Get a fixer upper and FIX it. You don't need a 100K+ home. We are working on saving $45K to buy a 3 bedroom with a few acres. It will more than suffice for our needs and then we will fix what we can on our own and save up to pay professionals to do the rest.

Do not stick with brand X just because its what you have always used. Use what is on sale that you have a coupon for. The cheaper you get stuff the more you have to save, or use to fix the house up or whatever. I hate hearing people whine about how they can not figure out how to save and I see name brand clothes in their closet with tags still on, or a new car with a huge payment due in the driveway, or a house that is too big for their family with a huge mortgage. Its rediculous how anyone thinks they can save money when they live beyond their means. You have to smarten up people, don't like having a huge mortgage, find out about paying in advance and use what you save to pay down the principal. Does your mortgage have a clause that keeps you from paying early due to a huge fine? Get a new mortgage with another bank that will allow early payment. There is always a way to save. Oh and credit cards? Pay'em and cancel them. Get rid of them they are stupid!