How 2B Debt Free Blog

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If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, the cycle can seem like it is never going to end. In this economy, it’s hard not to spend more and more money each time you go to the grocery store and put gas into your car. Personal finances are getting tighter, and more people are getting bogged down in debt. There are things you can do, though, to help you spend less and save money in this economy. 

 By applying these tips,  getting rid of debt,  financial freedom is a possibility to finally being debt free.

Saving Money on Electricity

1. Unplug appliances you’re not using. Even if an appliance is turned off, it still uses a small amount of energy, if it’s plugged in.

2. Fit heavy curtains  over your windows. In the winter, it will keep the warm air in, and in the summer it will keep the hot air out.

3.  Insulate and weatherproof . Go overboard on the insulation in your house, with heating bills going up  during the winter, now is the time to start. Caulk and weatherstrip the cracks around your house, put draught strips under the doors if there are any gaps between the doors and floor, even on the internal doors of your house.

4. Use your outside laundry line. Line dry your laundry outside for as long as possible.

5. Set the  room thermostat at 19 degrees in the winter. Try not to use your gas heating in summer even if the day is chilly, wrap up with a jersey. 

6. Close the heater vents in rooms you aren’t using, and switch of the lights if nobody is in the room.

Saving Money on the grocery bill.

There are loads of ways to save money on your grocery bills, in fact after your utility bills your grocery bill is one of the places that families can really cut back on, you dont have to go over board in learning  how to be to be debt free, just change your spending habits.

1. Buying generic food brands. This is another one of the ways to save money, most stores offer a generic equivalent to foods.

2. Buy House Brands. Next time you are in the store compare  the prices between the stores house brand and the other well known brands, you will notice that there is a huge amount of difference in price, especially with cereals.

3. Shop at the cheaper alternative shops. In the UK instead of shopping at ASDA or Tesco try Liddle or Aldi,  in the US try shopping at  Wal-Mart. I know lots of people who hate Wal-Mart and Liddle, but you could find substantial  savings in your bills.

Saving Money on the Telephone, Internet, and Cable

1. Cut out unnecessary services. If you are paying extra fees for services  like call waiting and caller ID, then cancel these extra services.

2. Use email or instant messaging instead of calling long distance.

3. Try a digital phone service like Vonage, or  internet phone or use service like SKYPE.

4. Use a dial around number for long distance. Especially if you phone internationally often like I do, I have family in SA, OZ and NZ, and by using phone cards and cheaper service I pay around 3p per minute, and there are still cheaper offers out there. 

5. Bundle your phone, TV and Cable. See if you can get bundled savings for your phone, internet, cell phone, and satellite services.

Saving Money on Water

There are also a lot of ways to save water on your water bills - without doing anything drastic like bathing once a week.

1. Shorten your showers. Shower more often than using a bath, make an effort to shower quicker.

2. Save money on sewerage.  Put a half gallon water jug, or  a normal brick in your toilet tank.

3. Gut back on watering your garden .Let your lawn brown out during the summer. Don’t worry. It will come back during the winter.

4. Reuse rinse water from hand washing dishes to water plants.

5. Turn off the water while you brush your teeth.
Start your emergency fund

Now that you are starting to save some money on your utility and grocery bills, don’t spend the money, start a emergency fund ( separate savings account) . A rainy day is bound to come, your tires are going to need replacing and your kids are probably going to get sick. Don’t be surprised when those things happen, be prepared.

One secret to financial freedom is to pay yourself first,  before paying any bills, one secret to financial freedom is to pay yourself first.  Whether it’s $10.00 or $100.00 a month, just start somewhere and start now. The sooner you start, the more you’ll save and the quicker you will be to no longer living paycheck to paycheck and finally being debt free.

If you want to discover more ways to debt elimination or are looking for debt advice then go to How to Be Debt Free.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 26th, 2008 at 4:17 am and is filed under Debt Advice. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.