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Here are some money management methods to help you pinch the pennies and fix the funds.
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Draw out a budget. How much can you afford for food, electricity, and Christmas gifts? See how low-budget you can be.
Keep track of your finances. It’s a whole lot easier to stay within your budget, file taxes, and cut down on unnecessary spending when you’ve kept track of every financial transaction. Get a small notebook with graph paper to easily fill in all your financial doings: withdrawals, deposits, income, charitable donations, bills, and money spent on food, health/beauty products, clothing, school, entertainment, rent and other payments, transportation costs, etc. Taking a moment now to jot down the details will save you headache in the long run. Keep your receipts for better accuracy.
Check your receipts. It’s also a good practice to check your receipt for mistakes. I learned this the hard way: once when shopping for a few necessities at the local Marché Plus in Toulouse, France, I made sure I got all the best deals on everything on my shopping list. When I paid for my purchases, the clerk didn’t give me a receipt. I shrugged it off, as I had memorized my total anyway. As I walked back to my residence, I realized that I had been overcharged. But as I had no receipt, there was nothing I could do about it.
Maintain a savings account. Put a regular percentage of each paycheck in savings.
Pay bills and credit card payments ASAP. Make a habit of not letting interest build up.
Cut down on impulse spending. For many purchases, it doesn’t hurt to wait. Ask yourself, Do I really need this? Will this just turn into a garage-sale item a few years down the road? Often you will find that you really don’t miss need it once you leave the store.
Eliminate the daily espresso. Consider drastically cutting down or virtually eliminating coffee, tea, soda, juice, and alcohol from your diet. Drink water instead, and use refillable water bottles.
Maintain a simple wardrobe. You really don’t need a whole lot of clothes. A small clothing collection that can be mixed and matched in many different ways is ideal. Shop at thrift stores and rummage sales, and eliminate irrational brand-name attachment.
Rediscover low-cost entertainment. Instead of renting a movie to see with friends, borrow one from the library or from an acquaintance. Revisit the library; go walking in the park. You don’t have to pay to play.
Get out and stay out of debt. Debt is bad. But if you’ve decided that loans are the only way to get you through college, take out smart, low-interest loans – and then pay them back as soon as you can.
Live and learn. Consult trusty money gurus like Dave Ramsey (daveramsey.com) and sites such as MSN Money (money.msn.com) for smart financial guidance. And for everyday penny-pinching tips, check out Tightwad Central’s newsletters (tightwad.com).
And don’t be stingy. The thrifty life isn’t the miserly life. The best financial system is twofold: save much and give much.
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