We have now reached to the final day of “Master Plan to Protect You from Recession Forever” series. In this session, we are discussing about some working tips and practices to save money from your daily activities. While preparing these tips, I have taken special care to not affect to the life standard of you and family when implementing any of these tips. I have earlier posted many articles on saving money. However, this section combines all those by picking the best from each.
One can possibly save money from any activities. One major point to remember is, money saving is not an activity to save chunk of money within an hour or days. But, it’s a process by adding some perfect controls and rules to our life to give more clarity to your daily, weekly and monthly activities.
Saving money through reducing or controlling personal or family activities doesn’t mean to drop any regular plan or life standard you or your family have. Until and unless, you are not working hard to become debt free, you can move further by maintaining present life standard intact. Saving money only means to identify any loop holes you or family have when dealing with money and control the lose maximum.
While practicing any of these money tips, make sure to avoid any money saving rule or process being in place that may make your kids, wife or husband, parents or any member in family, being unhappy by directly or indirectly affecting to any facilities or activities they are enjoying.
Below are a set of well studied, working methods to save money from day to day activities:
Importance of Budgeting:
If you have a right monthly budget in place, you can easily control the inflows and outflows of money. Budgeting not only help you to identify unnecessary expenses but, help you give clear picture to your future requirements and saving.
Save money from Facilities
1. You can still be luxurious but, add control on anything that you really not required. For Example, you can disconnect any additional landlines or hand phone connections to reduce bill and save money. Have a policy of one land line for family members and one hand phone for you.
2. Identify any unused facilities like additional internet connections, additional newspapers, books and DVD subscriptions etc. You can have one internet connection and one news paper. Cancel unnecessary connections and subscriptions. For books, DVD’s and any newspapers than the one you are subscribing, explore the reading and lending possibilities with local libraries.
3. If possible, try to get bundle facilities like cable and internet together. This will greatly help you to save money by avoiding multiple vendors.
4. Cancel any memberships with gym or club if you are not a regular visitor or kept as a symbol of status but, not using at all.
Possible savings from monthly service bills:
The most enhancing feature or a family budgeting is, the person never run out of money for necessities. By keeping money aside for each monthly expense, one is being able to avoid possible penalties. Find some saving possibilities below:
1. An important rule: Never apply for any service without collecting information on all available similar services in the market and comparing to identify a best possible one.
2. Never delay to pay your loan, credit card bills as early as possible immediately upon getting the bill in your hand.
3. Pay your utility bills like water, power and gas etc. in the same day or next day to avoid possible fine and penalties.
4. Identify any bills that bring fine if paying after the free days. Never delay to pay such bills immediately after receiving the same to your hand (I have re-written this point from point 2 and 3 because, various countries have various laws and services.)
5. We have a clean, well maintained tongue. Why don’t we use it to ask for any possible discounts or deduction on bills related to credit cards, cable, internet, phone connection etc.? A simple word some time gives us huge money saving possibilities.
6. Never give any money to banks as fees or any special benefit you are getting from them but really not required. Whenever dealing with bank, have a clear idea on the services and facilities and any possible fees related.
Save money from utilities
1. Important point to remember: All the members in a family should have awareness on this activities or your effort will not succeed as expected.
2. Never keep any electronic items as working or sleepy mode if you are not using the same. Power it off.
3. Use and get benefit from power savers like CFL’s.
4. Install and take maximum advantages from solar panels.
5. Maintain green home. Have enough air circulations inside through right ventilations for summer and have enough heat inside when closing ventilations for winter.
6. Never use power eaters like electric heaters, water heaters etc. Point 4 still able to solve all these requirements if one in place.
7. Iron boxes are one of the major culprits to bring your utility bills to the next heights. Have practice of using iron boxes in a week than daily.
8. Maintain cooling of refrigerators and always keep filled to take maximum advantages from the power it is utilizing to running. Defrost time to time to maintain operational abilities. With electronic equipments, a manual will be there in the pack describing how to maintain operational abilities. Read the manual carefully.
9. Have a practice of switching off the main or place a master switch to switch off all the electronic items when you and family going out. A master switch controlling connections to the major electronic equipments other than refrigerators will be a good idea. If such in place, you can control all the points, other than what you really want to work, whenever you or family is not available.
10. Maximize the usage of water. Have waste water management by converting waste water to some other good purposes like watering garden etc. You can even convert waste water to the toilet use if required. If you have a green home, you might have facilities to collect rain water to pure water for your daily use. Set controls to the water tanks and connections to ensure water not losing unnecessarily.
11. If you have installed over tank and pumping water for home requirements, install tank with maximum possible size to avoid frequent pumping and thus save money. Inter connected group of multiple small tanks will also work better for you to pump water once to use for long.
12. As a bonus, give your share for a better tomorrow by switching off electrical and electronics items between 7 pm to 10pm at least for 10 minutes. Or select this time to go out with your family by switching of all lights and electronics. Refer point #9 for further information. Maintain “a person a item” within peak hours. Whether it is light, equipment or any.
13. Maintain your vehicles in well condition by practicing daily checkouts before you start from home. This will help you to save gas or fuel to maximum because of maintaining right condition of your vehicle. As a best practice, use your vehicles yourself and never share with anyone. Refer your vehicle manual to know about required daily checkouts.
14. Having a practice of washing dishes by hand, at least 3 times in a week. You can thus save considerable money on electric bills.
15. Try and practice manual washing at least in the weekends. Give rest to your washing machine and electricity meter too.
Saving money from home activities
1. Rule No 1: Never rent a service for anything that you can do yourself i.e. home cleaning.
2. If you have a collection of handy tools for activities like any repairs inside the home, minor plumbing, electrical work, pipe work, maintenance related to garage, garden etc., you can avoid calling service personal and pay them.
3. Practice using quality items than cheap one. Using quality items never cost you money for any required time to time maintenance.
4. Never purchase any items that are not for regular use. Instead, check the availability of such items with your neighbors or friends. For example, mice trap.
5. Why do you want to go for wash your cars? If you don’t like to wash, park it outside. Snow or rain will wash better than service centers can.
6. Have a right waste management in place. Produce compost and use it in your garden. Save money from clearing waste and buying compost.
Save money from shopping activities
1. Rule to remember: Have a clear plan before starts for shopping.
2. Bonus rule: Shop only for the items that is not available or able to prepare in your home.
3. Never buy electronics items in the same day of launching. Wait for some time. New editions means price down of previous editions.
4. Utilize discount coupons or purchase points intelligently.
5. If you maintain a vegetable garden as hobby, no need to go for purchasing vegetables.
6. Weekdays are best for shop owners to give discounts. So plan for sometime in the weekdays.
7. Identify the best shop providing maximum discounts. Have knowledge on all shops and its price differences. Free time visits are best to understand such.
8. It is best to prepare food inside home than buying from outside. You can thus avoid additional eating out too.
9. Remember, buying large always economical.
10. Any item that is not for regular use and not having resale value, select a good one from secondary shop than buying as new.
That’s it. You can see enormous number of money tips if search a little in the net. But, it is difficult to identify working tips from most of the list. My promise, all the above mentioned tips are well working tips and can practice by any person at any time. Keep visiting. I am in my lab, preparing an e-book to gives you best 101 working money tips.
Reality check with money tips:
1. No one in the world ever practiced all the available money tips.
2. There are thousands of money tips available everywhere but working money tips are very few.
3. Money tips implementation should happen gradually. No money saving tips works at the same moment of implementation.
4. Real savings of money means not reducing your life standards but giving more clarity to life by identifying right requirements and avoiding the one not required.
5. Unexpected money requirements are everywhere. Consider having Emergency fund or other money source.
Read more...
