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Welcome back. Thanx for coming. I hope you enjoyed your weekend.

If you’ve been tracking your spending this last week, you probably noticed how little things “nickle and dime” you to death. Today we’re going to begin keeping those nickles and dimes where they belong- in our pockets!

As you’ve probably surmised, a lot of our money is spent daily on the way to and from work. So let’s begin with that.

Your biggest expense to and from work is transportation itself. Assuming you drive yourself to and from work every day, you have the constantly rising of gas. Then there’s the car insurance, maintenance (tires oil and coolant as well as repairs) just for starters. Yet what can we do? We have to work! We owe. We owe.

Well, for starters we can;

Take public transportation when possible. Not only does this save on transportation expenses, but it has the added benefit of giving us time to do other things during the commute. And don’t forget the stress of driving is no longer an issue. If you could get along without a car, you’d save hundreds, maybe thousands each year!

Tip: go here for the lowest gas prices.

Most of us can’t do without our car (family, schedule, and the like). So the next best thing is, you guessed it, car pooling! Car pooling is a great way to cut the cost of driving! Not only do you get to socialize, but you don’t have to be to be the driver all the time. Check at work for people who live in your area (they all come here, right?), and, especially for long trips, there are countless carpooling sites that can hook you up!

Last, but not least, there’s always walking or bicycling for those of us lucky enough to live close to work. Not is it virtually free, but it’s great exercise as well.

Tip: instead of stopping to buy that cup of joe on the way to work, make it yourself at home. $.10 vs $1.00 to $7.00 is a big difference!

Another big area of expense is your household! There’s everything from rent or mortgage payments to utilizes to every day house hold items. Of course shelter is one of the basic necessities and it certainly isn’t free! So what can we do?

First, your rent or mortgage shouldn’t be more than 33% of your income. If it is consider moving to a cheaper place or refinancing your mortgage.

Tip: both renting and ownership have their advantages. Ownership gives you more freedom to remodel and builds equity. While renting allows you to change locations more easily, and saves you the cost of maintenance. Choose according to your needs.

Next there are utility costs. Heating and electric alone are sky-high expenses. Add water and sewage and you’ve got a huge slice taken out of your wallet! But there are ways to help yourself out.

One money robbing area in your home is heating. See if there is a government weatherization program program in your area. You could save a lot for free (if you rent talk with your landlord. A programmable thermostat is a very inexpensive way to save 10% to 30% on heating and cooling. There are also some very good easy weatherization tips on the internet, most of which you an do yourself for very little cost.

Tip: turning your hot water heater to 120 degrees instead of the standard 140 degrees will save significantly while still providing plenty hot water.

Let’s remember this; every electrical device has an on and an OFF switch. Simply turning off the things you are not using will save you hundreds of dollars a year!

Tip: Don’t forget to unplug those phantom energy users.

And while you’re at it, how many of those electrical appliances could you do without? Sell them at a yard sale and turn those energy users into cash!

The third area of expense you can cut is entertainment! This doesn’t mean condemn yourself to a boring life of doing nothing. But there are things you can do to cut costs.

One big item is your T.V. Get rid of the cable or satellite dish! There are plenty of sites like Hulu and Tube Puss that give you these things free and on your time!

Tip: Use free TV. whenever possible. A DVR will allow you to watch on your time, not theirs.

And, of course there’s always the free stuff in town. Libraries and museums and parks offer some choices. Often there are free concerts (especially in the summer months). And let’s not forget low-cost from local school plays or sports.

These are just a few of the ways to cut costs. I’m sure you know many more. Share them with other readers in the comments section.

Thanx so much for coming. Let me know if this helps in any way. Next time we’ll talk about another way to save! You won’t want to miss it!

Caretakerray

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