The recession rolls on and on and on. It’s not just taking a toll on our pocketbooks but on our spirit as well. Good news is you are not alone, we are all in this together and there is comfort in numbers. Serious financial matters require a financial adviser and you should not hesitate to spend that kind of money to go get a few hours of good sound advice and peace of mind. It’s tantamount to the money spent on a good therapy session.
In the meantime, here are a few nearly pain free suggestions to cut back on household expenses.
Buy in bulk. I love roaming the aisles of Costco; everything is in twins, oversized and tempting. Plus the ladies on the end aisles are beckoning you to try delicious packaged food that become irresistible. You just must have them. But I have come to find that in my small household, there is no way three people can go through five pounds of ready to serve cannelloni and two double wide loaves of bread before the “use by” date has come and gone. These giant sized delicacies inevitably become ice packed Neanderthals lurking in the back of my freezer. Ultimately the load gets trashed. So why am I telling you to still buy in bulk? Well, the light bulb went off. Bulk buy groceries to share with another household! When my grocery budget got slashed last year, I started splitting Costco purchases with my friends. We easily divided up the giant sized toilet paper package and low and behold thanks to Ziploc and Glad plastics (which you can also purchase in bulk at Costco) we could go halvies on the cannelloni too.
Take on a roomy. Do you have an extra bedroom or office in your house? Those rooms that were once a luxury can become a debt free sigh of relief. That home office of yours can be moved to a corner in another space and the extra room can be converted into a bedroom. With a child off to college or out of the house you can easily shift their room into a rental. Their stuff goes into storage or reduced; if they didn’t take it with them they’re probably not going to miss it anyways. Post your rental on Craig’s list or at the local college. Of course, ALWAYS make sure to check credentials and do a background check before you let anyone into your home.
Become an independent. Being a member of a community is good, whether it is your church, tennis club, golf course or gym. I am a proponent of all these organizations, but sometimes its just not financially feasible. If you’ve got a compelling case many of these groups will allow you to put your membership on hiatus without charge. You don’t have to give up the activity even if you aren’t a member. Churches will never turn away the faithful, there are free tennis courts on high school campuses and at public parks, public golf courses are available if you make reservations and no one needs a gym to do a workout. Read my “Raising the Bar” Fitness Tips” I give you a new way to workout, no gym, no equipment necessary, every month!
Rethink, revise, redo. There are plenty of activities we incorporate as part of our daily lives that we can cut back on when necessary. I used to love my Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf Latte daily. That extra AM jolt came with a $4.20 price tag. I cut back. Now I only visit the tea shop for meetings or as a Wifi hub between appointments. I’m saving $125.00 a month!
Dinners out are a special occasion only affair.
Much to my children’s chagrin, I’ve become the saver card queen. “Oh no, Mom’s pulling out her discount cards again!!” “Who cares!”? If you must, “walk away from the register,” when it comes to checkout time. Mom is saving piggy-b stuffers. I’m even a card-carrying member of stores that I don’t frequent. It doesn’t cost anything and you never know; Pep Boys could come in handy one day. Plus they send me thrifty monthly coupons.
Be a coupon cutter. That is another great way to save. If you coordinate your purchases just right, you can get the managers discount and use a coupon simultaneously, no one’s gonna stop ya. That is a savings homerun. Do not be ashamed to pull out your wad of coups at the grocery store, even if the checkout line goes back to mid-frozen food aisle. YOU are saving cash. Some grocery stores are now offering direct couponing on-line. In other words, you can go to their website, enter your grocery card number, and choose the coupons you want to use. Those coupons are credited to your grocery card account and automatically applied at the checkout register. Could be less embarrassing than the cutouts.
And did you know there are websites with nothing but promotional codes and coupons. Before you ping the purchase button for an on-line buy do a quick search for the product name plus the word promotion. Oftentimes the site will list several promo codes along with other purchaser’s reviews of the promo. Plug in your favorite code in the appropriate box on your checkout page and see how much you can save.
Do not despair. Your cutbacks are temporary. Recessions do not last forever.
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