How to Save Money Everyday in Tough Times – Part 2

Today is day 2 of learning how to save money in your everyday life. It’s the little things that count and over time you will see a difference in the amount you are saving. These little amounts can lead to big things and believe it or not can actually help you reach your financial dreams including financial freedom! Remember, it doesn’t matter how much you make, it’s about how financially responsible you are and what you do with the money that you do make. There are many people that make over a $100,000 that aren’t well off while people that make $30,000 – 40,000 are doing much better.

Tip #3 - Stop Smoking!
Smoking is an expensive habit. Not only is it killing you and others around you slowly, it’s a huge financial burden. Depending on where you live, taxes on cigarettes is insane and a pack of cigarettes could cost you a lot of money. For the purpose of this article, I will use $7 as the norm for a pack of cigarettes, it’s more here in Canada but depending on where you live on this globe it could be a lot cheaper. I know for example that in Japan cigarettes are ridiculously cheap, pretty much half of what we pay here in Canada.

If you smoke a pack a day, which I hope you aren’t, then that means you need 365 packs in a year. Do the quick math and that’s 365 days x $7 = $2,555 per year! So if you could reduce your smoking habits to half, or one pack every two days, you could be saving half that amount which would be $1,277.50 a year.

If you can put away $1,277.50 for 10 years, and I hope you reduce your smoking over that time which would amount to more, at a compounding rate of 5% (pretty conservative) then you will end up with $18,149.17 over the 10-year span. I hope you’re getting my point here. Be sure, to keep track of how much money you’re saving and actually physically put that money away! There’s little use if you are just spending in some other useless way, unless you really need to.

Tip #4 – Use Energy Saving Light Bulbs
With Global Warming looming, we hear a lot about saving the environment. Wouldn’t it be great if there were a way to save money and help the environment? Well, here’s your chance! One of the many ways to save the environment and save you some cash is to use Energy saving light bulbs. The one drawdown of this is that the light bulbs themselves are little pricier than the conventional cheap light bulbs. But you will definitely see the effect over time as your electric bill will drop and you will save money!

Mo2 Thinks
These two tips will definitely help you cut your monthly bill and you need to work on reducing your expenses especially in tough times. Remember to keep track of the money you’re saving when you put these tips into action. If it’s your electricity bill see how much you are saving on a month-to-month basis. This way you can put the difference away. Obviously, you don’t have to put the full amount away; we all have expenses that must be taken care of such as debt. If you have debt, be sure to pay that down before you put money away. I will get more into paying debt in another article in the near future so stay tuned! As always, thanks so much for reading.