how do I save money...when I need every dime I bring in?

Answer 1

You need to budget.
Make a note of every cent you spend and tally it up at the end of every day.
At the end of the week tally it up. It will shock you.
You will then have a place to start cutting back.

Make a list of all the money you spend and put it into 2 groups.
WANTS & NEEDS

You must decide what is more important to you.
Is it a want or a need?

If you want it you dont need it. ie chocolate, movies, fast foods etc.
If you need it you must get it. i.e rent, power bill, water bill, food, travel money for work etc.

Something I learnt a long time ago was to*Pay Yourself First!!*

If you get say a $100 per week take $10 of that and put it away and DO NOT touch it for at least 12 months.
You then train your self to live off the rest. You may upset some of the people you owe money to as they will not be getting what they want but you must give them what you can afford.
After 12 months you have x amount of dollars that you can now use to invest somewhere to make you some more money in the way of intyerest.
You do this for another year and things are now slowly getting better.
You have still been paying your way and your bills off nicely. Some of the bills have gone as you have paid them off which in turn gives you a little extra each week to put aside or top the larger bills to knock them off quicker.

At the end of the second year you now have over a thousand dollars invested and making interest for you.

As you can see it is not easy and you must be willing to sacrifice somethings and stick to your guns.

You could, if you have the spare time work another job to get you through the bad times or do what I have done and build yourself a business online that gives you the chance to do what you like. (within reason)

By increasing your income stay with the 10% rule and always pay your self first.

It is not nice and definitly a bit denting on the pride, I know I was there myself, but it will work if you want it to.

I hope you find some solice in this answer.

To your fortune!!

Answer 2

The 50/30/20 plan can help it has me!! 50% for necessities, 30% to spend for fun, and 20% to save/inveset...if you lost your job tomorrow, what would you have to spend money on? certainly not cable, etc...this will give you a list of the necessities you need to have money for..then, take 30% as money you can spend on whatever you want, and 20% should go for saving/investing..you have to sit down with calculator and paper and pen and do all the figures..once you do it, it's done and you can have some peace of mind that if you want to, you can splurge on something; if you really don't feel comfortable splurging, add the 30% fun money (or part of it) to the 50% for necessities; nothing is carved in stone, and overall it gives you great satisfaction and a real feeling of accomplishment!! give it a try..

Answer 3

Save your dimes and spend your dollars. Leave the credit alone, except for the most essential needs (food and shelter). Put the least amount allowable in your companies IRA, it adds up after time.

Answer 4

Question what are your needs? How many of these are your wants. In todays day and age many of our comforts we think we can't live without. Cell Phones, Cable TV, going out to eat, buying coffee out ect.

Try looking at your expenses and seeing what you can cut. This will help you save money without having to find another source of income.

Answer 5

Look for things to cut like eating out less, cable/ satellite tv anything you can do to save money.

Answer 6

What would you do if your income dropped by 10%?

You'd do without certain things. You'd substitute cheaper things. You'd shop harder to find low prices. You'd postpone purchases.

Save 10% then do those things.

Answer 7

This article titled "How to simplify your living expenses" has quite a number of excellent suggestions: