Are you looking to save more money each month? Who isn’t really, right? One good way of doing that is finding places where you might be bleeding money and then stop the bleeding. Here’s my top 3 bleeders that you need to put a bandaid on.
1- Quit wasting food
When you look in the fridge do you see anything in there that has gone bad and needs to be thrown out? Maybe you bought too many apples or maybe you bought way too many bananas and they’ve turned before you can eat them. What about your pantry? When you look in there do you see anything that’s expired? Maybe something that’s been on the shelf for a long time and you still haven’t used?
Quit this nonsense!
I know it can be hard. You go to the store and you buy something sometimes because it looks good at the time, but then you forget about it. Or maybe you’re just too lazy to cut up veggies for the salad this week and instead you make something easier. I get it, it happens. But if you can limit this nonsense you’ll save yourself loads of cash.
It’s ridiculous how much food is thrown out each week at my house, and I’d like to think that we are pretty good about not wasting things. A good way to help fix this problem is to try and buy things that you know you plan to use this month. Even better, this week. If you don’t have plans to use it then don’t buy it.
If you’re routinely throwing out bananas every week then buy less bananas the next time you go shopping. If you can’t do that then you can at least make something with it like banana bread of banana pudding. Don’t throw money in the trash.
Next, check your pantry for those older items that are about to expire. Now, make plans to make a meal using those items this week. Get the old stuff off your shelves before you buy something else to put in there.
2- Quit wasting energy
Do you leave the lights on in the house everywhere even when you’re not using a room? How about leaving your computers on all the time? How high do you set the AC in the summer?
Energy wasting can be a chunk of cash thrown out the window each month. Most electric companies around the country offer a free energy analysis for your home if you ask them. They’ll have someone come out and check where you could be wasting energy. They might point out windows or doors that need better seals. They might recommend better insulation in the attic. In any case, if its free you should see what they have to say.
In the meantime, you can do a bunch of things yourself without asking anyone anything. Like turning off the tv when you’re not using it. Turning off that laptop when it’s not is use. These days laptops are up and running in mere seconds, so there’s no real reason to leave them running for hours on end. At least, if you want to keep them running, then you should make them run in a low battery use mode when they’re not in use.
You can also unplug some things that you aren’t using too often to save on energy. Even when something is plugged in and not is use it will still use some energy.
One of the biggest energy consumer though is your HVAC unit. Your heating and cooling. Try to turn the thermostat up a degree in the summer and use fans to compensate. If you don’t like the idea of making it cooler or warmer to save on the bill then you can at least invest in a smarter thermostat that you can schedule to move up and down during the times that you aren’t home.
If you’re away from home all day then it doesn’t make sense to cool the place down to 70 degrees. It’s a waste of money. You can instead set the thermostat to get back to your desired temperature for you when you get back home. Is your schedule different everyday? Then you can invest in a thermostat that you can control from your smartphone. Set the scheduler and then if you’re coming home early one day you can turn the temp down to whatever you want so that it’s perfect when you get home. That might be fun to have to mess with your better half for a laugh too one day, lol.
3- Quit what you don’t use
Go check your bills right now and tell me if you find a bill that goes out monthly that you don’t use regularly. You need to keep paying your water and electric bill obviously, but do you really need that extra cell phone and the bill that goes with it? What about your Pandora, Spotify, and Sirius XM bill? Do you really need all those music services? Are you using them all?
What about your Netflix and Hulu bill? Are you going to use them this month? Maybe you can take a month off of each one and alternate between the two of them. You can always catch up on your binge watching later. If you’re not using it, then get rid of it.
Do you have a gym membership that you don’t use? What about a parking pass that you don’t need anymore? Get them cancelled if they are of no use to you anymore.
Quitting what you don’t use also includes things like motorcycles, boats, cars, jet skis, and bicycles. If you’re not using them then you can sell them for some cash and you can get rid of the insurance for them. It just doesn’t make sense to throw your money away on things that you don’t use.
I know it can be hard to do some of these things, but if you do a little bit here and there you’ll be saving a lot at the end of each month. It can be hard, but you have to stop your money bleeding. The sooner, the better.