I have went from a fairly financially stable household with two steady incomes to now relying on my own income and I am beginning to have my struggles. However, I like to keep a positive attitude and since I have a bit of an emergency fund saved up I am not freaking out – quite yet.
One thing that really bothers me is not having enough money left over to save. Recently, I went from two jobs down to one. In my head the calculations were all right. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to save anything while I went down to my “one job experiment” but I am now finding that not having any money left over to save is what puts me on edge.
Needless to say I have been exploring my savings options. Even though I am only saving a tiny amount of money, it still puts me at ease. When I had two jobs I was easily stashing away $500 a month. Now that I am down to one I am looking to save $50 a month.
Here’s what I am doing:
Saving my change. I take out a little bit of cash each week for my “running money.” I was using a credit card for these expenses but since my budget is tight I am no longer taking the chance of overspending. I will use my cash. When it’s gone, it’s gone. Saving my change should easily add up to $10/month.
Stashing Away $1 a Day. This is pretty easy. If I take away that dollar every day I don’t feel like I am missing much. If I was to take $30 of my spending money all at once then I’d feel the effects of that, but I can handle taking such a small amount out of my spending money. This will add up to $31/month.
Using $10 Worth of Coupons at the Grocery Store. My grocery store sends me coupons based on what I normally buy. It’s not uncommon for them to send me coupons for free products or $10 off of a $60 purchase coupon. Since grocery shopping is budgeted for anyway, this is away for me to save at least $10. I am not a big couponer but saving $10 a month really takes minimal effort.
What an easy way for me to save $51 this month. Now at the end of the month I can watch my savings account increase rather than sit on idle. These are three simple, no pain ways for me to put myself at financial ease. I know that I will soon be back in the position where I can save much more, but for now I am content with saving anything – even if it is a relatively small amount.
I love the saving change idea. We have always had a jar to keep loose change in, and it is amazing how much can be collected in a mayonnaise jar! A lot less if you take out your quarters, which we have done in the past, but with quarters, you can easily amass $200 in one little jar. Just a tip, don’t take it to the CoinStar machines in the grocery stores. They take 10% right off the top. And many banks don’t have coin counters anymore. Once you find one that does, remember it. Chase has almost none in my area, and when I called the main number, trying to avoid calling each branch, they didn’t even know who had a machine?!? So frustrating. Coinstar does give you the entire amount if you purchase a gift card, which we did for Amazon.com. Not sure if there are other options or just Amazon.
As for coupons, you would be surprised at how many of your neighbors receive the paper and toss the coupons. Don’t be afraid to ask if they use the coupon flyers, and if they would save them for you if they don’t.
Good luck. This is a great post.
I applaud your efforts because this isn’t easy. If you are milk drinkers you might try doubling your milk which saves us at least $7 a month (I wrote about it here- http://shopaholicsavers.com/?p=813 ) and you can also do this with some concentrated juice. Another thing I love trying to do is see what I need and then find a way to get it for free. One time I really wanted a tide togo pen when mine ran out and then I ended up getting a lot of shout wipes (the same thing but in wipe form) for free after coupons. Recently I needed a new Razor and I found a free offer online. I rarely buy books because I get them free from the library. If you have more time on your hands now that you are working your 2nd job for yourself you also might try using more coupons. I started small and it really added up. You could even start by just looking for deals to get items entirely for free at stores you already shop at and stock up. Good luck!
Good for you looking at alternate ways to save money each month. If you make up your grocery list and you use coupons then what you don’t spend because of the coupons put in your savings. Or add up your coupon savings and put that aside. I wrote an article yesterday about letting coupons expire and touched a bit on that topic. I like your $1 a day as well because you are right just as fast as $1 here or there that we spend adds up so will it if we save it! Keep us updated on your savings and keep at it. Mr.CBB
I have been a single mom on a low, working income most of my adult years. I would empty out my change purse at the end of every day and take all pennies, nickles and dimes out and put them in a bottle. Speaking of bottles, I recycled those every month; my family used to save them for me so that I could cash them back in. I also used coupons and put the money saved aside in another jar so that I could see what I was saving. Any ‘found’ money, (money that I wasn’t expecting) would also go into the jar depending upon how much it was. With this method, I used to save about $75 CAD per month and it made me feel much better to have this bit of money set aside. Hint – Don’t ever tell anyone about this money whom will not try to ‘borrow’ it from you. I felt so good putting money away on my tiny little income that I once bragged to a friend about how well I was doing. Guess who wanted to borrow half of it a week later? And it was the end of the friendship when I told her “no”.
We’ve saved change in a big jar in the closet for years. We empty it once a year and it’s usually more than $100. I really like your attitude about saving. Anyone can part with $1/day, but most don’t think to do it.