Serious about Penny Pinching? Well, are you serious? Or just looking for a simple way to save some cash for a trip. So that is a short-term version of saving money. Cause you have a goal to look forward to.
But I am actually talking about is wanting to change everything that you currently do. I mean with the way that you spend your money now.
- What is your goal on why you want to save money?
- Saving for paying off your debt
- Wanting to pay off a mortgage?
- Have a child that is in college and you need the money for tuition?
You are willing to look at everything differently. Cause you will need to forget all your saving ideas from before. Because if they did work, you would not be here right now. Right?? Because you would not be looking for a way to save money. You actually would have a lot of money. Let’s get serious about penny pinching now.
Serious about Penny Pinching?
Well, you’re doing it right now. Seeking another way of saving money. Actually, the new way that you will teach yourself to think of each time you spend any money.
- figure how much money you make
- how much of your money is required for rent/mortgage?
- Hydro, cell phone (s), phone, Internet, cable.
- how much for food and clothing
- if you have pets, how much money for them
- Car payment and gas/ maintenance
Once you know what you need for your bills, along with the money you actually make. YOU can start to see where your money goes and where it should go.
IF YOU HAVE DEBT -credit cards, or student loans, car payment, mortgage. Whatever it is, you need to find money to pay them down. So you have more money and not be in debt. More freedom and less stress. Not always being broke, or living paycheck to paycheck. Been there too.
That is one of the realizations I came to also. One of the problems I was picking up of my husband. That is how he grew up, living paycheck to paycheck. So I knew now, I really had to make my own new path. More self-realization came out of this also.
Now What Did I Do??
Well, I looked at the money I was getting from everywhere. Calculated my bills. My main bills- rent, hydro, Internet, cell phone, and landline bill. Then my food.
After that, then I looked at what I had left. I actually had lots of money left. But yet I was broke. Most of the time, I barely made it to the end of the month till my next money came in.
Why!!!!
Why was this so?? It was because of my credit cards. I owed a lot of money to them each month. Which it took all my money just to pay the minimum. But never getting ahead at all.
How Did I Fix It??
Well, took some serious looking at what I was doing. I was paying for my cell phone, too much towards the bill. Cause I was always in Wi-fi, so why was I paying for data. When I never used it. That saved me $40 a month.
Then I looked at my Internet, was able to get that down $20 a month. Just by talking with my Internet Provider. So I was serious about saving money, I had to figure out where else I could find the money. Because I am very serious about being frugal on groceries.
I looked at my subscriptions I didn’t need. I had some on my iPad, which I forgot all about. Canceled those, and saved $20, and I also changed my Spotify to the free version. I canceled most of my cable channels, and just got basic. Saved me around $40-$60 I think.
So then I looked at my food bill, I didn’t buy anything that month. Only eggs, bread, and milk. So I took $40 for that for the month!! Yes, you heard me right, just $40. Then I took the $260 and added it with the $60=$320 I had for my credit cards.
I chose to pay the one with the higher interest rate first. Of course, the food bill money will change. Because remember I was not going to buy anything just for this month. Worth the sacrifice- to pay down a bill. Which in the long run, means more money for me down the road.
I still needed to make the work for me. So I worked more hours at work. Which made me have more money. I put all of that towards my credit card again. As I kept doing this, I would see the progress. So I wanted to do more. I started to walk to work, or catch a ride with a co-worker. So I saved even more.
Six Months Later
Six months into saving money, I noticed that one credit card got paid off. I took that minimum I was paying consecutively every month, even though it went down. Paid it off faster.
I rolled that money over to another card, along with the extra cash I had from where ever I could save.
So I would basically cut out where ever I could to get rid of the bills I didn’t need. Which were credit cards, thanks to my careless spending from before. Now I see how my careless activity had gotten me. In debt, and now seeing it all different.
I like the way it looks now. Two credit cards paid off. And going to pay the other one-off too. As I see my spending and my bills in a whole different light. I can cut off some of my food shopping, and cell bill. I looked everywhere I could save money. To add more to my credit cards.
I did it, because I now have lots of money to work with now. Still lessened my spending by a whole lot. But I am now not working for someone else. I actually am working towards myself. In my own business, for me and my family.
CHANGE YOUR SPENDING HABITS
Love doing what I am doing. And if I can do this and still pay off my bills so can you. Changing my spending habits and the way I see my money. Has made me realize I could change and did change for the better. So if you are serious about saving money, then you can do it too!!!
It all started with looking at how to save money and believing in myself. Knowing that this time, for sure that I was serious!!! I wanted to figure out how. Did a lot of research on what and where I was doing everything wrong. Basically came down to how I was raised. So I had to learn to change that too. And thought about what I heard, are you serious about penny pinching? So I didn’t think about what I do as penny pinching.
So I think back to when I was younger, and to now. I guess I have always been serious about penny pinching and didn’t see it like that. It had just became a habit of mine, and I am always asking myself now, do I really need this? Or I just grab off brands, and shop in home.
Become A Better You!!!
I did, I came out better for it. The bills are going down. More money than I can say is back in my bank account. Have money for emergencies also. SO BELIEVE ME, IT CAN BE DONE. Believe in yourself, that you want a change. Just want it bad enough!!! Then you can get serious about penny pinching. You don’t have to do it how I did it. But just start little and you will see how you can make saving money for you.
$20 towards a bill, can eventually lead to $40 and so on. Even more, if you look at places you can cut down. To get more money for your bills, the better. You will be surprised and how fast it changes you- for the better.
Maybe even something so simple as to not buy a morning coffee, or one day, just walk to work if you can. Maybe no more cable, especially even if you’re not even home to watch it. Everything you can basically watch online anyways. Start to think outside of the box and get serious about penny pinching now.
Go for it, you just need to want it bad enough and make it happen.
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