- Image via Wikipedia
Making your checks stretch from one payday to another is an art in itself! In some homes, there seems to always be more month than money and trying to do everything with the money you have can seem overwhelming at times.
Stretching your paychecks and making your money last can only be accomplished two ways:
1. Devising a budget, developing creative money-saving ways
2. Getting a pay raise, changing jobs to see more money
Since most pay raises are granted once a year at the most (and if they’re even given), this is likely not going to help in any majorly significant way to be any help. And, the pay raise will likely be between 3-5% on a major scale.
To cut back on your prepaid credit cards spending and see a savings account emerge from your efforts, try some of the following tips
1. Eat in more often and you can save up to $20 per week for a family of four. That’s a savings of over $100 a month, and more than $1,000 per year, just by cutting back on the number of times you go through a drive-through each week.
2. Have your utilities converted to budget billing. You’ll simply pay an average bill amount each month, reducing the fluctuating, sometimes surprising costs on your utility bills.
3. Put a water filter on your home sink and stop buying bottled water. The cost savings here with filtered water vs. bottle waters will be seen immediately. Plus, the clutter and collection of empty water bottles around your home will be eliminated.
Devising a budget and cutting back may be the preferred way to go and to make sure that you make your money work for you. A budget can also help you to save money and establish a fund to help you towards reaching other goals.