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Sometimes I get to the end of the month and think, “who took all my money?!” Occasionally, I run out of cash because I had some big irregular expense. More often, I look at my bank statement and see a bunch of $15 debit card charges. Individually, they are no big deal. Unfortunately, all that little crap adds up fast.
Here are some things to do to avoid those small, insidious expenditures:
- Don’t go shopping unless you truly need something.
- When you’re about to buy something, really think if you would miss it if you didn’t buy it.
- Always pack a lunch. Bring enough to actually get you through the day, including snacks. The days I don’t pack enough or bring an unappealing lunch are the ones I’m most temped to buy junk food from the vending machine or go out. The bonus is that since you take a shorter break for lunch, you can leave earlier at the end of the day!
- Only eat out (including take-out) if it’s with friends. As much as I’ve tried, I’ve learned that it’s unrealistic for me to avoid restaurants all together. I feel better about it if it’s part of a social event.
- If you meet friends out at a bar, eat before you go. A beer or three isn’t so expensive compared to dinner plus beers.
I can’t say that I always do these things. But the months when I keep these tips in mind are the ones where I end up with the most money left over.
What tricks do you use to avoid small unnecessary expenses?
5 comments:
Before I buy books that I think I might need/want (versus something I need right away for my work), I place them on an amazon wishlist and make myself wait for awhile. Often I realize that I really don't need or especially want that book.
Of course, I try to use the library as much as possible. Much cheaper! But, as we all know, when you work in academia there are some books that you really need to buy because they are central to your work or they are difficult to locate.
Also, and this is probably obvious, I try to get good quality used books when possible. I scour the local book stores (and some have online listings through abebooks and alibris) and I use amazon to find used books, too. I've even made some great finds on Ebay.
My husband and I go out to eat once a week. But we have a coupon book that features coupons for many of the restaurants in our area. Most of the coupons are buy one get one. So, we save some $ on eating at places that would normally cost a great deal.
With clothing, I ask myself if I truly need or love the item that I am purchasing. I also have to come up with three outfits that are already in my closet that the piece would work. Finally, I use the "one in one out" rule. If I bring in a new clothing item or shoes, I have to get rid of something.
For clothes, I try to ask in the dressing room "Does this actively flatter me?" Not just, does this look okay, can I get by with it, but does this make me look *better*. It has cut down a lot of things. (I love a lot of stuff that doesn't actively flatter me)
Being an insane person who tracks all my spending, I also differentiate between eating out with people vs. eating out or doing take-out just for myself vs. groceries, and have occasionally used the "I'm only allowed to eat out with people" rule.
Other friends have used the "don't carry a card, just a set amount of cash, and when it's gone, it's gone" approach. That could work well for the eating out thing---and even if you give into temptation, it might make it easier to track when/how you overspent your cash allocation for the week.
Yeah, I don't bring money with me when I go places unless I specifically plan ahead of time on buying something. Usually this works, but sometimes it fails me. Just the other day I was getting coffee and my coffee card was out of money and I didn't have any cash with me to supplement the rest.
I've been looking around of finance blogs and reading about how other people are making headway on their financial futures, cursing myself for going to grad school, thinking it was so hard to actually make money. Then I found this blog, so I'm looking forward to other's tips.
I use mostly cash and try to just order appetizers when going out with friends. There's nothing worse than looking at all of that lovely money sitting in your bank account on the first of the month and then realizing that most of it's going to Visa.
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