There is no doubt that our country is experiencing unprecedented hard times and events! With the Covid-19 crisis, many people have lost their incomes virtually overnight. The bills still need to be paid, however, so let’s talk about “How to Save Money Each Month”!
While the Covid virus is bad enough, the subsequent “lock downs” have caused many small businesses to close their doors, leaving people without jobs…or income.
April’s unemployment rate rose to 14.7%, perhaps you are one of those folks right now.
Further, many of those jobs are never returning. Neither are the businesses.
What now?
Save Money Every Month by Lowering All of Your Expenses a Little Bit
Lowering your expenses is a much quicker way to bring money to your bottom line, rather than trying to earn extra money, at least in the short term.
For every $100 you earn, you’re only going to take home about $70. That’s called your “After-Tax Earnings”.
Yet, if you cut out an expense, you’ve saved the full amount!
Again, from years of financial mentoring, I know that people tend to struggle in the same areas. Let’s unpack this and give you some tools right away.
11 Things to Consider Before Buying Something
Finding Extra Money in Your Food Budget
This is a huge part of virtually everyone’s budget.
I’ll go further and say that I can almost guarantee that you’re spending too much to feed yourself and family.
Here’s where you can bring money to the bottom line very quickly, by making different decisions starting this week!
I can also almost guarantee you that you won’t die of starvation or suffer needlessly.
You’re just going to make some different decisions in order to have more money left over at the end of the week.
What are your eating habits as a family?
Every family is different with their schedules and dynamics, but take a look at how your family eats and what they eat.
Do the adults work?
If so, what are they eating at mealtime? How many meals a day are the adults eating?
If there are children, how and what are they eating at mealtime?
Who makes the decisions about what the children eat?
Ok, if you’re going to begin with new habits, you’ve got to have a plan.
If you just wing this, nothing will come of it.
Studies show that in order to create a new habit in your brain, you need to do something for about 28 days. There’s a lot of power in new habits!
Breakfast
Let’s start with breakfast, which can be a very expensive meal if the kids are eating boxed cereal, pop-tarts or some other pre-packaged meal/item. One ounce of sugary, name-brand cereal can cost .25 cents, and my kids could easily woof down 6-8 ounces of cold cereal at one sitting, PLUS the milk.
Multiplied times the number of kids…..you can do the math.
However, if you make a quick pot of oatmeal and feed the entire family with it, you’ve spent just a few cents.
A dozen eggs is about 65 cents, and if you scramble 6 of them and make some toast, you also spent less than 35 cents to feed the children.
Not buying breakfast cereal for a week can save you at least $10, immediately!
That’s just ONE item!
Here’s some more about healthy, cheap breakfast alternatives….
Lunch
What about lunch?
Do the kids eat at school? Do parents eat out at work? Here’s where you can save a bundle as well. I don’t know about where you live, but in Ohio, you’ll spend somewhere between $7-10 for a burger and fries type lunch. Easy math would be 5 work days x $10 = $50 for one person. What if you packed your lunch for a week? You could buy some lunch meat at the store or bring leftovers, but think of some way to bring food from home and you’ll save cash quickly.
Our kids always pack their lunch for school. For one, they don’t like the school lunches, and they don’t get filled up anyway. They pack peanut butter or turkey sandwiches, boiled eggs, cheese sticks, fruit/veggies cut up, yogurt, cookies and whatever else they can find, and they drink water. I can’t imagine the amount of money I would have to spend for them eat at school!
Taking the time on Sunday to make sure the frig has several options for the family to pack will keep stress down during the week. Ask your family what they would enjoy in their lunches and make a reasonable effort to accommodate them.
Snacks for after school? Here’s where a little baking on the weekends can help tremendously during the week.
Quick breads are super easy to make and cheap as well!
I make a lot of banana bread and freeze them, so it’s easy for the kids to grab on their own.
How to Make Delicious and Cheap Quick Breads from Scratch
I also buy whatever fruit is in season and keep it handy in a bowl on the counter.
How to Take Advantage of Grocery Store Loss Leaders
Avoid chips and pre-packaged cookies and snacks! They are expensive and nutritionally void.
Dinnertime
Hopefully, dinner is a time when you and your family can sit down together and share about your day. When kids are involved in sports or working outside the home, sometimes a sit-down dinner isn’t possible. Here is where the temptation to grab something out can train wreck your budget if you’re not careful!
Keep dinner simple and doable. Utilize your slow cooker for wonderful meals that can be served easily! If one of our kids has to be at practice 2 hours before I plan to serve dinner, they can just grab a plate and scoop out whatever is in the slow-cooker and eat early. This happens frequently when it’s basketball season around here.
When I look at the week ahead, I know who needs to be where and on what days. Busy days need to have that crock-pot going early in the morning!
PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!
It doesn’t have to be an amazing plan, but at least have one!
Look at next week, even now, and begin to form a plan to eat from home as much as possible.
Plan to have someone do some baking, again, just something simple.
Sit down and talk as a couple/family about how you can make some changes this week and bring more money to your bottom line!
TV and Streaming Services
Americans, on average, have 3 streaming services per household and pay close to $273 per month to keep them current.
If you’re short on cash and need to find extra money, why not cancel the streaming services for now and buy a $25 indoor antenna and enjoy what’s free?
Cell Phone Plans
There is so much competition in the cellular phone arena, and that spells lower phone bills for us! You should definitely be able to save money in this department!
Most major carriers have discount plans now, which could be exactly what your budget needs!
Cheap Cell Phone Providers that Use T-Mobile’s Network
Cheap Cell Phone Providers that Use Verizon’s Network
Cheap Cell Phone Providers that Use AT&T’s Network
Pay Cash and Give Yourself an Allowance
If I’ve heard it once, I’ve heard it a thousand times.
People say to me “I just got paid on Friday, but now that it’s Monday, I have no idea where all of my money went!”
Since we rarely deal with cash these days, it’s very easy to lose touch with how much money we really have on hand.
We just “swipe”.
The answer to this problem is to give yourself a cash allowance for gas and spending each pay period.
When the cash is gone, it’s gone.
You stop spending until the next pay period.
This may sound archaic, but it works.
Gifts
You might be scratching your head and wondering why “Gifts” is being discussed.
Do you buy that many gifts?
Yes, you do.
It’s shocking when you think about it.
Every single month of the year, you are faced with gift-giving or contributory decisions.
Here is where money is slipping through your fingers, in the name of guilt for the most part!
Each and every month of the year has expectations for you to spend your money!
I’ll start with the “Hallmark” holidays, the ones that were created so that you could buy something for someone.
Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, Boss’s day, Sweetest Day, Halloween and so many more.
What are your family’s expectations for these holidays??
Then we have all of the religious holidays, Easter, Christmas, Hanukah, etc. where everyone and their brother thinks you owe them a gift.
THEN, we have all of your family’s birthdays, then your wedding anniversary.
Wait, then at school, there are fundraisers all over the place, and Teacher Appreciation Days, and expectations for teacher and coach’s gifts.
At work, there are office pools and expectations to pitch in for things!
Do you see where your cash is going? Even if you just buy a card, it can cost you $10!
Just send a text instead.
If you’re expected to buy a gift this week, take the opportunity to say “no”.
When my husband and I were trying to get out of debt 25 years ago, we made a firm (albeit unpopular) decision to “just say NO” to all of the above. Exceptions were for our children’s birthdays and Christmas, but we kept those very reasonable. You might not be popular, but you’ll have more money in your pocket this month.
Side Hustle
Creating a “side hustle” is not only one of my favorite money subjects to talk about, but it’s also a really fast way to find extra money.
One of the best websites I know of regarding the art of the side hustle is sidehustlenation.com.
We all have talents and abilities that we can use to create some extra money in our spare time!
Simple things like babysitting or lawn-mowing can generate much needed cash to pay bills with!
But you can dig into other areas of expertise that you may have like web-design, beekeeping, catering or landscaping….the sky is the limit!
Barter
Bartering is really making a comeback!
Bartering is simply the exchange of goods or services without the use of money. It’s also known as ‘trading’ or ‘swapping’.
People used to do this all the time throughout history and it’s a great way to save some extra cash in your budget.
If you owe a bill that you can’t afford to pay, consider offering some service in exchange.
Maybe you’re handy around the house, or can offer a professional service of some kind.
Do you have a product you could offer? Can you fix plumbing or electric? How about computer work?
I’m reading more and more about people using this method, even physicians! Some doctors are having such a hard time collecting from insurance that they’re taking goods and services in exchange for medical care!
The key to being successful is to deal with the “decision maker” or a manager of some kind, you don’t want to have to present your offer to multiple people. Make sure you think through what you’re offering and consider what they might need!
I bartered some homemade soap and honey for about 20 laying hens!
If you can establish some sort of exchange, this is money that goes directly to your bottom line!
Sell something
Another great way to save extra cash in your budget is to sell something you don’t need or use anymore!
I did a lot of this last summer, mostly on Facebook marketplace, but depending on what you’re selling, Craigslist might be a better choice. This can be quick cash!
Look around your home for things that you really don’t need. Then get on Facebook marketplace or Craigslist and see what other items like yours are going for. You might be very surprised at what you can get for your item!
A friend of mine had some old, large bird cages and was able to make some serious money on Facebook! You just never know!
- What about that wedding dress or special outfit that you’ll never wear again hanging in your closet? Sell it!
- Maybe you have too many pairs of designer shoes! Sell them!
- How about those old coins that are in the attic? Get them appraised and sell!
- Bookscouter is a great little app that will give you the value of those books you no longer read, check it out!
- Maybe you have a car that you really don’t use that much, could you make due without it? Why not see what’s it’s worth?
Whatever you come up with, you’ll feel great that you freed up time and space in your home, PLUS created some much needed cash!
I would love to hear how you have generated extra cash for bills when you needed it!
This Post Has 2 Comments
Saw this on the Simple Homestead Blog Party. Great ideas! Thanks for sharing. We could all use more money each week and these were some things you don’t really think about – like breakfast. I thought boxed cereal was so cheap!
Thanks for your comment, Cindy!!