Ways to Save Money in Hard Economic Times

Having been laid off last July, my unemployment check was less than half of what I made employed. I had to learn how to cut down on spending, energy and nonessential things. After being unable to pay for the necessities, I found I had no other choice but to make some life-changing decisions. Here are some tips to help others out in the same crisis or those who wish to save their hard earned cash.

Sit down and make a list of all of your bills. Most of the bills other households have are cable, electric, telephone, cell phone, and credit card bills. But then, put into equation how much you are spending on food and entertainment each month. Look through your online bank account, credit card statements or paper bank statements for all of the gas expenses you have incurred throughout the month. Tally the totals and see what you come up with. Once you add the totals of all your expenses in your household, divide the total with each individual bill and you will see where your money is going. Put entertainment in one category, phone bills in another, electricity in an energy category and then gas in its own category. Once divided you will get the percentage of each category. Is your entertainment category costing you more than the gas or energy category? If the answer is yes, you need to cut down on your entertainment.

Example:

Total money spent in food, gas, bills, entertainment, etc. equals $2,680.

I spent $200 in gas this month.

200 / 2680 = 7.5%

My food expenses were $300.

300 / 2680 = 11%

The following suggestions will help you to decide what you need to do to cut down on your expenses to at least survive in these hard economic times.

Pay your bills online. Instead of buying envelopes and tons of stamps, set up your online banking for paying bills. My bank does not charge anything additional to pay bills online. If some of your bills cannot be paid through your online banking, the company most likely has a web site that allows online payments. This saves me on the average around $75.60 yearly.

Do not buy items like pancake mix. Make it yourself by opening up the good old Betty Crocker cookbook for the basic pancake recipe. It only requires an egg, flour, baking powder, water and vegetable oil. The cost for me to make homemade pancakes for a family of six is around twenty-eight cents. It really beats going out for breakfast, doesn't it? It is also a lot less expensive than buying a ready-made "just add water" pancake mix.

Use coupons at the checkout. Do you hate clipping coupons? This has saved me a fortune. If the coupons are available in your Sunday paper and you just throw them out, that is like throwing away dollar bills. Why would somebody want to throw away a coupon for a product they normally buy? If you can save a few bucks, do it.

If you are a veteran or are currently in the military, shop at the commissary. This is another place where the coupons really come in handy. Here is an example. I went to the commissary but did not need any shampoo as it was not even on my list of things to buy. But, strolling through the health and beauty aisle, I walked in front of a very good sale that I do not think anyone would have passed up. A certain brand of shampoo was on sale for 69 cents. In front of the shampoo were coupons for 50 cents off. I bought eight bottles of shampoo and conditioner for $1.52. Now I do not have to worry about shampoo and conditioner for months. If it is on sale . . . buy, buy, buy.

Get everything in one trip. If you have shopping to do, whether it is groceries, clothing, pool supplies, etcetera, try to get it done in one trip. This not only saves on gas but it also keeps you out of the store daily, which in turn makes you spend more money. How many times have you gone into a store for some milk or eggs and walked out with more than you bargained for?

Avoid name-brand when possible. Should you buy Charmin, Angel Soft or a store brand toilet paper? I usually find Angel Soft for around the same price as the store brand toilet paper so I usually stick with Angel Soft. I will never spend an extra $4.00 for Charmin toilet paper. That would be like taking my hard earned money and flushing it down the toilet because that is exactly where it is going. Should you buy Tide or a generic laundry detergent? They all get your clothes clean. Some of the generic detergents get them even cleaner than a name brand detergent. You will never know until you try it!

Use direct deposit. Instead of the Friday rush to the bank, ask your employer about direct deposit. This saves you gas and time. If your employer does not offer direct deposit, find out if they will offer it in the future. Even small business bank accounts offer direct deposit options for small businesses.

Allot $20.00 or more to a savings account each week via direct deposit from your employer. If you never had the money in your pocket to begin with, you will not really miss it.

Do not do small loads of laundry. It only wastes laundry detergent and money on electricity from running the washer and dryer unnecessarily. Do not use more laundry detergent than necessary.

Put up a clothes line. Even if you do not want to hang out your clothes, it is great for linens. Your sheets turn out nice and fresh and towels dried on the line tend to absorb more.

Do you have garbage service? I gave up my garbage service. The local landfill in my area is on the way to my side job. I realize that it may seem like I am not saving much as it only costs around $33 per quarter for garbage service, but it is a yearly savings of $132.

Turn your hot water heater down. According to the Department of Energy, water heating can account for 14% to 25% of the energy consumed in your home. Lower your hot water heater settings to 115 degrees or 120 degrees Fahrenheit.

Do you really need all those channels? With my cable company, I see no difference between the hi-definition channels and regular broadcasting channels. Why was I paying for it? Get rid of the hi-definition and pay channels to save money. Talk to your cable company and try to bargain a package deal. My cable provider would not give me a package deal so I told them that I was cancelling. I was immediately transferred to "retention" and was given a really nice package deal for phone, internet and cable. As a matter of fact, my bill was cut in half!

Change your light bulbs. Use the new energy saving fluorescent light bulbs. When you look at the price you may step back for a second, but using all of these recommendations has cut my electrical bill in half.

During the summer season it is sunny and hot out. Keep your blinds closed. Make sure you seal or replace any weatherstripping that may be cracked in your doors or windows. Get your air conditioner unit serviced to make sure it is running efficiently.

Switch out your thermostat with a programmable digital one. I put in a Hunter thermostat with the Energy Star label. It is programmed to change the temperature of the house at different times of the day. I do not see any sense in cooling the house much while we are all away for more than eight or nine hours of the day. By the time my family gets home, the thermostat has already changed the temperature and has our house comfortable. Remember to run your ceiling fans!

There are also ways to save in your home office. Use "econofast" printing on your printer with "print color images in grayscale." This saves black ink and prevents printing in color. Printer cartridges are not cheap. Another way to save is to print on both sides of your printer paper. Also, do not forget to shut off your computer when it is not in use.

Grow your own garden. Start it out with existing potatoes that have "eyes" growing on them. Cut off a small portion of the potato with the eye and plant it in the ground. Take a poll in your family to figure out what everyone's favorite vegetables are. Make it a family project. It will be a load of fun to watch everything grow. As a matter of fact, my husband put three toothpicks through the sides of an avocado seed and placed them to where they were just dipped into a cup of water. A few weeks later it was like an episode of Jack and the Beanstalk in my kitchen window. Now I have two avocado trees growing in my back yard. It did not cost us a dime other than the purchase of a bag of potatoes which we ate and two avocados for our tortilla chips and salsa!

Now it is time to save on your automobile. Need an oil change? Do it yourself. Check to make sure you buy the proper viscosity oil recommended for your vehicle. Placing 10W40 in a 10W30 recommended vehicle can reduce your gas mileage. Make sure you check the air pressure in your vehicle's tires. The Department of Energy notes that you can improve your gas mileage up to 3.3% if you maintain the proper air pressure. Make sure you give your vehicle a tune up and that you change out your air filter according to your vehicle's maintenance schedule. Finally, if you are going on a trip, pack lightly.

When you are purchasing new appliances for your home, make sure to shop for appliances with the Energy Star label.

Asking Yahoo users what they do to save money in hard economic times, one responded, "I've started looking more closely at our expenses to see where else we can cut back. For example can I save money by switching carriers on my husbands cell phone, or changing satellite carriers? No new summer outfits, I'll have to make do with what I have. And gifts will be smaller for birthdays, graduations etc. And last but not least, switch from satellite internet back to dial up to save a considerable amount of money? That would be dreadful but very likely." These are all typical questions that are thought about while trying to make honest financial decisions.

Oh, that reminds me. I forgot about the cell phones. That is because my contract was up and I shut it off. No more $107 cell phone bill. That is a savings of $1284 per year. I kept my home phone as I preferred it much more. Without a home phone I would have been unable to use my fax machine. The home phone by far was the most important. A cell phone is not a necessity.

When I visited my electric company, I asked for any literature I could read to help me save on energy costs. The really nice lady behind the counter at Withlacoochee River Electric was nice enough to find some for me to bring home. I thumbed through the many pages but found that some suggestions listed in the guide that was produced for the U.S. Department of Energy were unrealistic in these hard economic times. If you are living paycheck to paycheck as many households are, you probably cannot afford to have a contractor put new insulation and new windows in your home.

I am just thankful to still have what I got. It has gotten so bad that my tax refunds were used to pay taxes. Pretty pitiful, huh?

Have fun with the list and keep brainstorming. You will find ways to save.