If You Don’t Make Enough Money Here Are Some Ideas To Make Ends Meet from The Net Lender
You can find many ideas for saving money on the web including budgeting and basic ideas to make ends meet. Perhaps you’ve already tried several ways such as unplugging electronics and turning down the thermostat. Here we’ll take a look at some ideas you likely haven’t tried so you can start to cut down on spending and save money.
You should be warned that the ideas presented here are sometimes a bit far out there. Some will save you only a little but aren’t likely to save you hundreds of dollars. Some of the other ideas could save you a surprising amount of money and even reduce your overall budget by more than 15%.
- Go With A Basic Hairstyle You Can Cut Yourself
In recent years shaving your head has become popular and if that’s the style you choose to go with then it’s easy. Even so, there are styles for long hair that are fairly easy to maintain and you or a family member can do it yourself. Because the average cost to go to a salon ranges anywhere from $30 to $40 it can save a fair amount of money each month. If you’re going as much as twice a month it can save quite a bit.
- Don’t Speed When Driving
If you’re in the habit of driving as fast as you can, changing that habit might be difficult but you can save more than you might think. According to the Department of energy, driver’s who maintain 55 miles per hour on the highway can save hundreds of dollars a year over those who drive faster. If you drive in the city and maintain the speed limit or even drive a bit slower it’ll save even more. It’ll also mean that you need to break less and you’ll improve the likelihood that you’ll have fewer accidents. If you have a car and you can’t find money elsewhere then try a car title loan
- Instead Of Buying Toilet Paper Use Junk Mail In Its Place
This idea may be a bit out there but at the same time, it might be nice to wipe your rear end with the credit card bill. In general, toilet paper doesn’t cost a tremendous amount so this one can be looked at more for jokes than for practicality. Even so, you might try getting one ply rather than two-ply and see if that saves you money.
- Try Doing A Little Dumpster Diving
Some of you may be rolling your eyes about now thinking it’s something you would never do. Still, this is an activity that can in some cases be a gold mine especially if you find dumpsters around college dorms when they’re moving out for the season. Apartment complexes can be as good as the college dorms especially in high-end neighborhoods. In some of those places, it’s not at all uncommon to find almost new clothes and furniture that you can take for free.
- Give Clothes To Charity And Then Buy Them Back
If you itemize your taxes when you file them then this can work. This means if you actually assess all of your charitable contributions and the interest on your mortgage and then take those things off of your state and federal taxes then it can work. In some cases where the total amount is more than just standard deductions, it can save thousands of dollars in taxes.
This can work because of the fact that the resale value is often lower than the deduction you can get on your taxes. Sometimes it can be as little as one-tenth the amount. If you’re in a 25% tax bracket or even higher then that’s ideal. This means if you donated $1,000 in clothes you could get as much as $250 back in taxes. The cost of buying back your clothes would be substantially less than that and therefore save you money.
- Pay Yourself First
The average person pays their bills every month before taking out anything for savings. Since they usually spend everything that they make after paying their bills then there’s nothing left to save. You might be paying your bills and getting by okay but you just don’t find the motivation to really start saving.
One way to change this is to pay yourself first before you start paying bills. You can take 10% of your income out and put it towards retirement and other savings before you pay anything. Only then would you start to pay expenses from your income. If you find that after doing this you don’t have enough to pay all your bills then look for ways that you can cut your expenses so that you do have enough even after taking the savings out at the beginning. This will force you to eliminate any unnecessary expenses and you will form the habit of saving.
