Introduction Unless you have been living on Mars for the last year or so, you would know that the days of cheap plentiful oil are well and truly over. At this time of writing, each barrel of oil is being sold at nearly US$150, a price no one would have possibly predicted almost five years ago when prices exhibited an upward trend.
Believe it or not, high oil prices are definitely here to stay. This necessarily translates into higher inflation rates and much reduced purchasing power. It means that more and more money will be needed to buy the same number of units of goods.
As it stands, weak prevailing US economic sentiments do not help at all in lifting our spirits. Already, high food and fuel prices are triggering violent public protests in many developing countries.
This is Where Opportunities Lie...“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity", says Albert Einstein. Do not for a moment put your hands up, despair and give up. I am telling you it only takes a change in your attitude and minor tweaks in your lifestyle to maintain a more than reasonable living standard.
Not only that, you will get to save money as you go along and pass down good-as-gold thrifty habits to our younger generations.
Without further ado, let’s examine how 7 simple and practical tips can help you beat inflation and save as much money as you want. They can be easily implemented by anyone living in any country but nonetheless requires a little discipline on your part.
Secret Tip #1If you really need a credit card, then cancel all other credit cards you are holding and just hang on to one. Yes, you heard me right. Keep only one credit card. If not, eschew credit cards totally and go for a debit card instead.
In this way, you will intuitively curb your spending and at the same time, consolidate all purchase points on a single card. Once you have accumulated sufficient points, go ahead and redeem a free restaurant voucher or airline ticket for yourself. Yeah, the best things are free!
Secret Tip #2Keep your hair reasonably short but presentable. If you are still reading this article, you can’t be living on Mars. And you should be aware it is summertime right now. That is when the mercury shoots right off the edge and your utility bills chew up whatever spare cash you have.
Hear me out. Your head radiates a considerably amount of heat. By keeping your hair short, you will feel cool no matter what time of the day is and avoid reaching out for that air-con remote. As you know, air-conditioners are notorious for guzzling energy and can easily account for two-thirds of your energy bills.
Secret Tip #3Consolidate and perform all “manual" tasks in one shot. Take for example you are a stay-at-home mom and have to carry out household chores throughout the day. These chores may include taking the kids out to school, mopping the floor, hanging the laundry and so on. Instead make it a point to carry out as many tasks consecutively as possible. Once you are done, treat yourself to a quick but relaxing ten-minute shower, splash on some fresh-smelling talcum powder and again, you can avoid using the air-conditioner.
You smell good, the work is done and by the way, did I mention that doing household chores is a proven great way to slim down? I guarantee you will be pleasantly surprised at just how much you can save by just avoiding switching on the air-conditioner.
Secret Tip #4Did you know you can literally have your cake and eat it too? How so? A really neat trick I use is to check out nearby hotels and pastry shops for their “special offers".
This is not commonly advertised but it is known that many of them offer massive discounts in the evenings on bread or cakes that are unsold. They are edible for sure and you can keep some for a hearty breakfast tomorrow morning. Most importantly, you get to save some money on quality food!
Secret Tip #5Many of us own a car for either work or personal reasons. But no matter what the vehicle is bought for, all of us are price-takers and hence face the problem of rocketing fuel prices. If you find yourself unwilling or unable to give up your wheeler and take public transport instead, here’s what you should do to save gas and stretch your dollar: simply junk the junk.
Studies have shown on average every 50kg added load in your car increases fuel consumption by 2 percent. In addition, making sure your car is properly maintained improves your gas mileage and save fuel. This means to keep your tires properly inflated (inflation!) and use thinner tires if you can.
Secret Tip #6This is a real clever way to slash a huge portion of your weekly grocery bills. Food is essential to sustain life but the next time you venture down to the nearby supermarket, keep your eyes peeled for “house brands". They are actually food products bought and packaged by the supermarkets themselves. In the process the unwelcome middle-man is cut off from the supply chain and any savings generated will translate to lower food prices for everyday consumers like us.
Conclusive studies have shown the food quality and nutritional value remains unaltered at all, even when compared to more expensive brands. Just try out secret tactic and you will be amazed how all these savings will add up every month.
Secret Tip #7The rise of budget airlines is unprecedented and should not have gone unnoticed by anyone. Whether you are an avid traveler or a businessman, keep a good lookout for special promotional prices offered by these airlines. In fact, an airline ticket can easily go below a dollar, excluding various taxes and surcharges!
Some of them may have hit the wrong headline for lower safety standards or financial difficulties but all of them are air-worthy I am sure. Also, they represent good value-for-money air travel deals. For example, you get to save on cheaper flight tickets, lower (pesky) fuel and tax surcharges and you don’t compromise on comfort greatly because most budget-type flights are short, each lasting only a few hours.
ConclusionThe tips I have written down here is certainly not exhaustive! So please provide your valuable comments and everyone will benefit as a result.
Inflation is here to stay for the rest of this year at least. Prudence is now the name of the game. As suggested, make a truthful commitment to change your attitude and lifestyle habits. In the process, you will find yourself saving lots of money and boosting your purchasing power. Beat inflation at its own game!
Many people believe that going green means spending more money. It's true that when "green" lifestyle options are discussed, the first things mentioned are solar panels and hybrid cars. These are investments that most people simply can't afford. Here are some tips you can easily implement that will help the environment and save you money.
1. Stop the junk mail. Every year millions of trees are chopped down to create the junk mail that is sent to your home. You can contact the Direct Marketing Association to have your name removed from their mailing list. You will have less mail to go through on a daily basis, and lower trash bills.
2. Receive and pay your bills electronically. Set up online billing with your utilities and credit companies to receive your bills electronically every month (and pay them that way too.) You will be saving trees and the cost of postage.
3. Shut down your electronics when not in use. The average computer kept on 24 hours a day uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. Even when your TV's off, it's still using power. Unplug all your electronics when not in use. Any change you make will lessen your electric bill.
4. Use less so that you have less going into the trash. Eat ice cream in a cone rather than a cup (trash) or bowl (has to be washed). Bring your travel mug to the place where you buy your coffee versus throwing out a cup every time. Less trash will be better for the environment and will lessen your household trash, therefore reducing your trash bill.
5. Cutting your utility bills. Take shorter showers - reducing your shower time by two minutes will save 10 gallons of water. Removing the lint from your dryer after each use will save electricity. Switch your light bulbs to Compact Fluorescent Bulbs and you save four times the energy of a regular light bulb.
6. Collect water. Place covered containers outside to collect rain water that you can use to water your lawn, flower beds and gardens. We keep a bucket in the shower to collect water as we get the water to the right temperature and use that to water our indoor plants. This will reduce your water bill.
7. Reuse and Reduce. The foil or plastic bag you use only once can be reused. Purchase reusable canvas bags to take to the store (some stores give discounts to customers who bring their own bags.) The more ways you can think of to "reuse and reduce," the less you will be buying from the grocery store.
8. Recycle. Check with your city or town so you can recycle as much as you can. My town picks up glass, plastic, metal and newspapers weekly. Monthly they pick up mixed paper - magazine, junk mail, envelopes, wrapping paper etc. We can also drop off cardboard - both corrugated and food boxes. Check with your town about what you can recycle. Less trash means lower trash bills from your hauler.
Current statistics show that banks are showing a considerable decline on each bank account holder’s savings and have shown an increased in the number of withdrawals per month leaving people little money to spend before the next salary strikes their account.
Along this fact shows a relative increase in the amount of spending made in private institutions marketing different products.
While these facts and a host of temptations are a commonplace scenario in the real world, there are many ways by which you can keep yourself from getting into the hype and aid you in creating and developing your personal and unique habit of saving a few dollars from your basic salary.
Compulsive Buying – Given enough money, 7 out of 10 people lure into the idea of buying a personal item they like in a store at a first glance.
In a simulated sociological study, people who originally planned on window-shopping ended up buying personal stuff if they are taking their personal bankcards with them.
If you are doing window-shopping, limit your spending to a few bucks and try making your list the next time you plan on buying such items. Buy only the store items you need and abandon those that do not satisfy an immediate need.
Budgeting – Along with your pursuit to saving money, it is also important to keep an organized and effective, yet reasonable budgeting technique. Budgeting eliminates buying temptations that would tend to build up during malling and help you save money along the process due to preformed lists of items you need to buy.
Performing Price Comparison – The World Wide Web provides a great avenue on providing a checklist of prices on specific items that you plan on buying.
This is great for you if you are into bulk buying and plan on conducting your malling activity in one place. This will give you a good idea if the usual store from where you usually get all your everyday household needs provides you a reasonable price for specific products.
Take All the Convenience At Home – Lunch, snacks, and major meals are something which you can prepare at home. If you are serious on saving money, you can prepare all this from home and get away with some amenities of the gut by replacing soda with water. This is not only beneficial to your pocket but does a great deal for your health as well.
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