When you work hard for your money, you want to make sure that you make the most out of it. It’s not always easy, but you can do it. There are many things you can do and changes you can make to make good financial decisions that will help stretch your dollar. The following article contains some great information that you can use and make your money go further.
How to Make Your Money Go Further
One thing you can do is start to write down each and every cent that you spend. It is best to do this for a couple months. Write down everything, that is the only way this will work. Write down your regular bills as well as those that come up every now and then. You should also record your grocery bill, gas and other car related expenses, clothing and all the other random purchases that you make. If you go out and have coffee, write it down. If you buy a new jacket online, write it down. Did you buy your friend dinner? You guessed it! Write it down. For this exercise to be the most effective, you must record every dollar you spend.
Once you have written down all your expenses, start to look over them. Where can you make cutbacks? Are you eating out too much? Maybe cut your eating out budget down by half, or more. Did you find you are spending way too much on clothing? Cutback that expense. Look at your utilities, too, for areas to cutback on. Do you use all the features on your cell phone plan? This is a bill that you can usually cut down on. Also, look at your cable bill to see if you can make any changes. The more cutbacks you can make, the more money you will have to do other things with.
Take advantage of thrift stores and consignment shops. You can find many, many things in these types of stores. They offer clothing, home decor, shoes, accessories and just about everything else. And the best part is, the prices are way lower than purchasing these items at retail stores. Another great thing about consignment stores is you can either sell your clothes and other items to them or you can drop them off until they sale and then pick up a check from the store later on.
Don’t use your credit cards unless you plan on paying them off every month. When you use credit cards, you may be charged fees and you interest charges. That means if you use a credit card to pay for groceries, you will end up spending way more on those groceries than the initial cost.
Put away a little bit of money on a regular basis. By doing this, you can have money set back to use when an emergency arises. When something comes up, there is usually enough stress because of the unforeseen circumstance, that you really shouldn’t have to worry about finances, too.
There are lots of things you can do to help stretch your dollar. Use the tips shared in this article and you can make the most out of your hard earned money.
