4 Easy Ways To Save Up To $900 Month
Secrets to Solvency
- Posted:
2/16/2009
These tips are designed with a family of four in mind, so you will need to adjust the figures to fit your own personal situation.
1. Buy Generic Brands. From groceries to socks, if you switched over to the generic brands, you could save up $50 each week at the checkout stand.
The major brands pay big bucks to market their brand of “whatever”. That cost gets deferred to you, the consumer. Most generic brands are virtually the same as the name-brand merchandise. Check the labels and see for yourself.
2. Skip the Coffee Shop on Your Morning Commute. The average specialty coffee drink costs up to $3. Try making your own at home and using a travel mug. You can even buy the flavored syrups at your local grocery store if you crave the extra fluff. That’s a savings of up to $15 each week.
Give yourself one cheat day a week. Mondays are probably the best day to cheat since it’s hard enough just to pull ourselves out of bed on Mondays.
3. Eat Dinner Out Only Once a Week. The average family of four spends between $25 and $60 each time they eat out. They eat out an average of three nights a week. If you cut back to eating out only one night a week, you could save up to $120 a week!
The two main reasons people eat out are, 1) They are bored with the same old thing, and 2) They are starving and want to eat at home, but they do not have enough of the right ingredients to make a full meal at home. So, it really comes down to convenience.
To make eating at home more convenient, gather a variety of recipes that please everyone (or almost everyone), make detailed shopping lists that include the items needed for the recipes, and plan out which recipe to make on which night. This can be both fun and creative.
4. Pack a Lunch For Work. The average cost for eating a lunch out is between $5 and $7, including a drink. Again, this can be extremely convenient, but there are at least three good reasons to packing your own lunch each day.
a. It’s healthier. Eating out can oftentimes lead to eating foods that are deep fried, not as fresh, and mass-produced.
b. It’s faster. You don’t have to wait in line and then wait again for your food to be prepared. This will give you more time during lunch hour to read, take a walk, or write that novel you’ve always wanted to write.
c. It’s cheaper. For each working member of the household, you can plan on saving up to $49 a week if you pack a lunch at home.
Just as in the last two tips, you should give yourself one cheat day a week. May I again suggest Mondays? Everyone dreads Mondays. Make Monday your cheat day so you at least have a few things to look forward to after the weekend is over.
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