Debt is a way of life for a majority of people at one point in their life or another. The main debts that many people owe are student loans, credit card bills, and mortgages. All of these debts differ immensely when it comes to interest rates and terms to pay the balance off. Saving money on a monthly basis will allow you to work your way out of debt rather than living paycheck to paycheck. Simple tweaks in habits can make a huge difference as it is a misconception that you will have to change everything just to save a little extra money a month.
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Skip Going Out To Eat
The amount of money that is wasted by going out to eat is immense. The same meal could cost 10 percent of what you are paying to have someone else prepare it for you. Reducing the amount of meals eaten out can make a huge impact on the budget especially for a large family. Planning meals has to be done so there is not a scramble trying to figure out what is going to be for dinner. You can save some money on groceries by using a Sams Club coupon code from Groupon. The quality of the food that you buy can go up as well as you will be saving money from not dining out. If you are going to go out to eat make sure it is during a special like that of the popular Taco Tuesday that is a staple of nearly every establishment that serves tacos.
Quit Smoking and Drinking
The amount of money that is spent on alcohol and cigarettes is astounding. For a heavy smoker who smokes a pack a day this can come out to $50 a week and $100 if you live in a place like New York City where taxes on tobacco are high. Depending on the type of alcohol that you drink this can add up quite quickly. A 12 pack of craft beer can cost up to $20 so even having two beers a night can end up costing you close to $100 a month. The fact that many people make bad financial decisions while drinking makes giving up drinking the best idea if you want to save money.
Look Into Cheaper Options For Insurance
There seems to be insurance for everything from the home to your vehicles. Most people do not shop around for insurance as they simply use the company that their parents had used. The fact is that independent insurance agents can sell policies from a variety of insurance companies. Agents that work directly with an insurance company can only offer you packages from one company thus not guaranteeing the best protection for the best price. The only drawback is that many companies offer customer loyalty discounts which can drop prices lower than an independent agent could sell it for.
Get Rid of Your Cable
The need for cable is waning as there are a plethora of streaming services that cost a fraction of what a basic cable bill comes out to. Many people have their services bundled so this might be cause for an increase in telephone or internet charges. This increase usually is only a few dollars and you can be saving over $100 a month depending on what quality of cable you have. One issue that arises is that of watching sports but with live streams this no longer is an issue. Most NFL games can be found online and put on your TV by using an HDMI cord. Streaming services like Hulu have games available to watch on a weekly basis.
Getting out of debt is as simple as saving as much money as possible and putting it towards the unpaid balances. Do not accrue any types of late fees and work on refinancing a debt for a lower interest rate if this is an option. Take your debt seriously and be proactive about getting rid of it!
