Living On A Budget Doesn’t Have To Suck!
Money, as we all learned growing up, isn’t everything. While it’s true that money doesn’t give you happiness in and of itself, it certainly seems to make happiness and comfort much more accessible! Whether you’ve stumbled on hard times from something out of your control, or you’re carving off a lot of your capital for some kind of investment, living past your means is never easy. It may not seem like it, but there are many ways you can enjoy some of the finer things in life. Here are just a few suggestions.
Learn to Cook, and Eat Like a Queen
If there’s one thing we can’t afford to go without, it’s food. This isn’t exactly some kind of luxury you can take or leave! If you’re having to tighten your belt, you may have forgotten about some of your favorite foods, and started buying cheaper brands that simply don’t satisfy you in the same way. However, there’s a third way around this. Instead of pining for all the pre-packaged or processed foods that you love, try looking up some recipes, and cooking them yourself. This allows you to replace the typically expensive ingredients with cheaper ones, and keeps your meals more affordable all-round. You may not be a gourmet chef in the kitchen, but you’d be surprised at the amount of delicious meals that are surprisingly easy to cook. Once this is a habit, you’ll be able to eat like a queen every night, without the big price tag! Find out more here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/
Travel in a Cost-Effective Way
Like many of our readers, you might absolutely adore travel, and strive to see more of the world whenever the opportunity comes up. Travel is certainly very fulfilling, but there’s one major drawback to it: it gets very expensive! Still, traveling now doesn’t necessarily mean being broke later. You just need to plan your trips out well ahead of time, and take certain steps to make sure you’re traveling in the most cost-effective way possible. There are a number of sites where you can compare flight prices to specific destinations, and various cheaper alternatives to hotel accommodation, such as hostels and Air BnBs. You can also save a lot by planning the experiences you’re going to have well in advance, and looking for cheap of even free things to use as filler. This will allow you to see more of the world in a shorter space of time, and also have more random, adventurous experiences while you’re out there!
Discover Coupons and Comps
If you never seem to have enough money for some of life’s little luxuries, then it may be high time you discover the potential in couponing competitions, and other freebies. Most of us will come across coupons in flyers for supermarkets, spam email, and newspapers. However, very few of us bother to use them, all the while moaning about how nothing in life is free! Okay, when you glance over a page of coupons, it may seem like most of the savings they offer are pretty negligible. However, you’re not going to hit the gold if you never dig for it! There are various couponing sites that will send you regular alerts, which makes reaping in the savings so much easier. There are also various sweepstakes sites which allow you to enter competitions for free, and source free samples in return for your honest review of the product. You can find out more here: https://www.sweepstakesdaily.com/. The internet’s an incredible tool for sourcing free stuff; make sure you’re using it!
Save on Fashion
Clothes are another necessary expense, though a lot of us buy it a little more frequently than we probably should! It’s understandable that you want to keep on top of trends, but there are still various ways you could be trimming down your fashion budget. Buying clothes just after season that can be used or re-purposed for the current one, mixing and matching more often, and relying on little accessories more than large, expensive items to define your outfit, can all save you a small fortune, which you can invest in more pressing things. Furthermore, with things like jeans, it can be smart to pay a little more. You get what you pay for when it comes to these clothes. They’ll tend to be more durable, and last much longer than something you’d scrimp on.
Buying gadgets is as easy as changing one’s clothes, they say, only that you don’t have to get computers brand-new and pay the hefty cost every time. There’s an entire world of secondhand desktops and laptops that are restored like new and right within your budget and purpose.
If you are worried about getting a lemon for a PC, look for functional preowned devices from sellers that specialize in certified, refurbished computers. You can confirm with them the condition and specs of the unit and ask lots of questions to make an informed decision.
If it seems like comfort and a tight budget were a world away from each other, we hope these tips have turned that around!
Sue E says
WOW!! You hit a lot of areas that we do need help with. We all been in these situations over and over again.. it’s been a rut for me that has turned into a bad habit. Especially since it’s been something that I have done for years without realizing it. I don’t mind refurbished things and I love saving money, especially during this pandemic! This could definitely be helpful to others too. Sharing on Pinterest and other social media sites. Thank you for sharing!!