10 Money Saving Tips - Jessi Fearon

You have saved and scrimped. You have worked and reworked your budget over and over again. Yet, you are still finding yourself coming up short every month or in need of extra cash to apply to your debt payoff plan. Figuring out where you can save can sometimes be a challenge, but these ten money saving tips will help you figure out new ways to save huge.

If you are tight on cash or struggling to get your budget under control, these ten money saving tips will help you regain control over your money.

1. Sell Your Home

It is estimated that 11.1 million Americans either are upside down on their mortgages or are struggling to afford their mortgage payment. Your monthly housing should cost you no more than 30% of your monthly income. To quote Alexa von Tobel, founder of LearnVest:

“If you always underpay on rent or your mortgage, you’ll be in a better place to live the rest of your life more richly. On the other hand, if you overspend here, it’s like setting a domino in motion with ramifications throughout your entire budget.”

If your housing payment costs you more than 30%, you run the risk of not being able to afford much else. If you need help figuring out if your housing is costing you too much, my Can I Afford My Home post will help you figure out the math.

2. Turn Your Hobby into Business

Do you love to knit, create handmade gifts, or bake goodies for the neighbors? Consider turning your hobby into a business in order to have a positive cash flow each month. Etsy, eBay, Craigslist, and even Blogger have made it possible to set up an online business with little-to-no startup costs. Take advantage of this by investing your time into designing your hobby into a business that can bring in extra money to apply to your debt, savings, or to purchase gifts for birthdays, Christmas, or to add to your gift stockpile.

3. Shop Your Friend’s Closet

Remember back in high school when you would borrow your best friend’s clothes and she would borrow yours. This is essentially the same concept except you are shopping for keeps. Host a clothes swap at your house and have all your friends bring in their family’s used clothing and everyone takes turns going through the clothing and filling up their bag of clothes they want to keep. This is a great way to stretch your family’s clothing budget.

4. Skip the Grocery Store

Start shopping your pantry at least once a month and skip going to the grocery store all together. This will force you to use up those leftovers, eat those can of beans, and create new meals that you may not have tried otherwise. When you do go grocery shopping, make sure you are making the most of your time by speed shopping.

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