Here are the six easiest ways for saving money every day of your life. No, you won't be required to rob a bank or steal some gas. You just have to commit to these six simple ways. The trick with saving money is changing your buying habits. These six steps show you the new habits you must adopt to save money each day.
1. This might sound crazy, but DON'T CARRY CASH. If I gave you a five dollar bill, I guarantee you'll have it spent in a day. Why? You spend because you have the money with you. You might spend it on coffee or a snack or something not food related at all such as a magazine. However, if you don't have the cash, you'll stop those small-item impulse purchases.
2. DON'T BUY THAT TODAY! I agree everybody should have a super deluxe sparkly whatever. The question you need to ask yourself is DO -I- NEED THAT? This isn't a question that gets answered in the shopping aisle. It gets answered in the next day or two. Guess what, most people find the next day that don't need the item and are glad they didn't buy it. You've just saved money by not buying something you had convinced yourself you needed!
3. BORROW RATHER THAN BUY. This goes for opting for the public library over the movie rental store. Borrow a step ladder to clean your gutters if you only use it once a year. Everybody has extra stuff they aren't using it. Borrow from your friends and neighbors. Look how many items you've bought and only used once! Don't waste you money like that. Borrow it!
4. DON'T PLAY THE LOTTERY. You're thinking a dollar here and a dollar there isn't a big deal. Be honest, do you ever buy just one ticket? Buying three a week is $156 a year. Scratch-off cards can run as high as $10 to $20 a piece. The odds aren't in your favor for winning the lottery or the scratch-offs. Save that money for other things.
5. Don't hate me for suggesting this...CHANGE YOUR HOBBY. Growing up, my main hobby was fishing. The cost of $15 per year for a license and money for occasional new fishing lures was easily under $75 dollars a year. Later in life, I started playing golf. I could blow $75 in one weekend playing golf. Calculate that out to 20 games a year and that's $1500. Look at your hobbies and see if you need to find something more inline with your income.
6. DON'T SPEND WHAT YOU SAVE! I can easily tell myself that because I saved $10 on a shirt, I can spend that money on something else. WRONG! Saving money means s-a-v-i-n-g m-o-n-e-y. If I save $10 on a shirt, I now have more money for paying off my credit card debt, more money for groceries, and more money for paying my utility bills.
Every item in this list will help you save money. The more you can cut your spending, the more money you can save for retirement, pay down on debt, and save for a vacation.