Skills you will need to use your paycheck wisely and still have fun.....

Of course, first and foremost you should be able to enjoy your freedom. However, freedom comes with a price. If you want to be free, without someone else telling you what to do in your own home, then you need to use your money wisely. Now I know that the items listed below are, well, BORING, but they will help you to keep as much money as possible so you can get out there and dance, party, see a movie, or go out with your friends for a night on the town. So read on and take notes (just kidding). Then follow through and enjoy the freedom having money gives!

1} When you receive your paycheck, you should sit down and calculate exactly what you will need for bills, food, gas, and savings. Put that money aside immediately, whether you put it into a savings account or store it in a lock box under your bed, make it difficult for you ( and anyone else) to get to so that you will not spend it until needed.

2} Check bills for accuracy and then pay them as soon as they come in. If you wait until you ‘feel like it’ the bill may, and usually is late which means the company will charge you a late fee which will cost you more money. Also, by not checking for accuracy, you risk errors not being fixed as many companies only allow a certain amount of time to fix errors. If you wait too long the charge will become yours whether you made it or not.

3} Keep your gas tank at least 1/4 filled. Half is better especially in the winter (because the car is heavier and you can ‘warm it up’ without running out of gas). There are several reasons for this besides the winter one:

• a. If you let your tank run on empty, your car must use the very bottom of the tank which means any sediment, rust, oils, etc. that have accumulated will be running through your engine gumming up the spark plugs, the filters, the injectors, and anything else they touch. This will require a great deal of money for repairs, money you probably don’t have.
• b. By keeping a set amount of gas in your tank, you are always prepared for emergency situations that might arise such as your friend Jerry ran out of gas last night leaving the pub on main street and now needs a ride to work (how’s that for irony?)

4} Make your own meals as often as possible and don’t buy frozen meals or eat out. By making your meals yourself, you save money. Eating out, while always a pleasure, costs, on average, $15 -$35 per person depending on where you eat. Cooking at home costs perhaps $5 per person including the utilities used to cook and clean. Frozen meals are three times what you would spend for cooking at home and the food is not very good.

5} Be the one to collect the money for the bills so that you know they are getting paid (this would pertain to several living in an apartment and sharing the costs). The temptation to use the cash for other things and ‘pay’ it back with the next paycheck is sometimes overwhelming and the money rarely gets paid back. If you collect from the others and make the payment immediately, not only will the bill be paid and you will not lose money, but you will become known as trustworthy.

6} Make a budget and stick to it. It might be hard at first because your friends are going out for pizza and beer and you really want to go but you didn’t put money aside for that…….Or you really want that new game that just came out but you don’t have enough savings for it yet………OK, so you might need to break away ONCE IN AWHILE, but do your best to stay on track the rest of the time. We have to break away every now and then or we become like a miser and fear giving a penny to the poor. But don’t do it often enough to affect the money you have worked so hard to save for the bills. Instead, put extra aside for those little flings that you have once in awhile. That way the bills will still get paid and you won’t become a miser!

7} Don’t get a credit card! The credit card companies charge you outrageous amounts for interest and there is a fee for everything--charging, not charging, charging at gas stations, charging out of state, getting a cash advance, paying late, paying too early, not paying enough on the charges, missing a payment, the list goes on. Plus, after they have finished charging you all of those fees and the interest they give you a minimum amount to pay each month that barely makes a dent in the principal amount (the actual amount you have charged) but always pays the extra fees and charges. This way they get their money and you go broke!

8} Reduce your bills as often as you can:

• a. Use a store card and coupons when you buy your food.
• b. Check for hidden fees on bank accounts, savings accounts, accounts at local stores, etc. (Read everything before you sign!)

• c. Compare prices and look at the unit price that is listed on the upper left hand corner of each shelf tag.
• d. Turn it off it you are not using it. Electricity is easy to use because you don’t see the cost until the bill comes in. Plug all appliances into a surge suppressor that you can turn off each night or when you are not home (exceptions to this would be a fridge that needs to be on to keep the food cold). You would not believe how much electricity a microwave uses to keep the clock on or a TV uses to keep it ready to come on the moment you hit the on switch. Even some lights use electricity when they are off. Using surge suppressors that can be turned off stops the flow of electricity to the item and saves you money.
• e. If you have a gas stove and/or heater, you might want to consider not having a pilot light. A pilot light makes it easy to light your stove or heater, but it burns gas all day and all night long. Lighting a stove or heater that is gas requires a bit of practice, but is worth the effort in the long term savings. (Have someone who knows how show you and practice a few times, you’ll get the hang of it.) PS : be sure the pilot is switched off not just blown out or you will be leaking gas into the house.
• f. Lower the heat! I know, it’s cold outside and you are freezing in your room. Instead of putting the thermostat up higher, consider putting on a sweater, sweat jacket, socks, or even covering with a blanket. The higher your thermostat, the more power you use to keep it there, that includes electric, oil, kerosene, gas, no matter what you use.
• g. Make your home or apartment energy efficient. If you rent, you can cover your windows inside, put a draft snake at the bottom of all outside doors, use heavy curtains on your windows (in the summer this will keep the cool in), and clean your heaters regularly so they run more efficiently. In a house that you own, you can go further by covering the windows outside, put insulation in attics and basements, put insulation pieces in all of your outlets, put foam insulation around your built-in air conditioner(s) and put foam around piping and your hot water heater. Also, use the sun to keep your house warm by opening curtains on the side of the house where the sun is. And use energy efficient appliances and light bulbs whenever possible.

9} When you do your laundry there are a few things you can do to save money:

a. You do your laundry in a Laundromat, follow some of these simple rules:

• Fill the washer as full as you can without stuffing. The more you wash in one load the more you save.
• Fill the dryer in a way that will allow the clothes to move around freely(usually filling a dryer about half full is best). This helps to dry them faster.
• Bring your own detergent, softener and dryer sheets. The ones available in their machines are very expensive and usually only do two loads.
• Do your own laundry, don’t pay the Laundromat to do it for you. They will charge a lot more money than it would cost you to do your own.
• Bring your own drink and/or snack. Theirs will cost you a lot more than if you bring your own.

b. If you do your laundry at home with your own machines, use cold water to save on your hot water heater use. Hang the clothes outside or on a rack whenever possible to save using the dryer. Never leave wet clothes in a washer until ‘later’ because later is usually two or three days later and then the clothes are sour and will need to be rewashed.

10} Here is a miscellaneous list:

• a. Use your air conditioner only when you need to, open your windows and turn on the fan as often as possible.
• b. Price shop for all of your big purchases. You may find that phone you like on line for half the price and it might come with more features.
• c. Share the costs with others. For instance share an apartment or car pool to work.
• d. If a store is close by, walk to it.
• e. Ride a bike to work in the summer if it isn’t too hot (not only will this save you gas money but it will save you the cost of exercising at a gym).
• f. Pack you own lunch for work.
• g. Fill your water bottle at a water cooler instead of buying a new bottle of water.
• h. If the big game is coming up and you can’t afford to go to the sports bar with your friends, have them come to your place and have each one bring drinks and food to share. If there will be alcohol, have them bring pillows and blankets so they can sleep on the floor instead of driving home drunk. (Take their keys at the door to insure that no one attempts to drive home drunk).

Had enough of ‘saving money’? Me too, but the more you save the more you will have for the things you want. I know that I haven’t even covered half of the ways you can save money. There are so many ways out there that the list is endless. For more ideas, talk to friends, family, co-workers, even local business people. And, by saving energy (to save money), you are also saving the environment.

I know it's hard and I know it's dull to sit at home and not go out all the time, but when you really need (or want) to go out, that money will be there. Chose your priorities and then act accordingly.