Hi all,
I'm new to this, so I'm not sure if I'm doing it ok!
I'm not sure how to start too become more frugal. I started back at work 12 months ago. It's taken us that that long to finally get on top of our finances. What I'm finding hard is having enough money when a lot of bills come in at once.
Cheers, jackie
Hey Jackie, first of all welcome. Have you tried some kind of budgetting? It would be making a scheme of money coming in and going out during a month and personally I found it helpful in getting an overview. For an explanation on how to use a budget: http://www.frugalvillage.com/forums/envelope-system/103930-envelope-system-beginners.html. I doubt I will be able to explain it better/more detailed than in the link above. This is part of the Dave Ramsey system, see the forum on the village for more info about that. I hope I was able to help you at least a little .
Budget budget budget. If the bills all seem to be due at once, change some billing dates. Use cash envelopes to curb overspending. Do you have an emergency fund?
Stick around here, join some challenges, ask questions. You will learn lots.
Your bills come every month. Look over the last several months to get an idea of how much each one is. Note when the due dates are. It's usually the same every month. Get a calendar or monthly planner and write it down. Now you can see at a glance how much has to come out of your check every week to pay the bills. You'll be able to see that if you don't have bills due this week you still have to save $ because there are 4 due the following week.
Be sure you add in things like quarterly or yearly insurance payments and annual taxes. Divide your annual tax bill by 12 and set that aside so you'll have it at the end of the year.
Get on an even pay plan if your utilities offer it. They will average your bill and you will pay the same amount every month instead of $65 one month and $85 the next.
I agree with the budgeting advice. I use YNAB (You Need A Budget) software for budgeting.
You may also want to start looking at your bills with a more critical eye. Can you reduce or eliminate your cable TV? Do you have both a land line and cell phone and can drop one? Are you making an effort to reduce utility usage? Can you refinance your mortgage to get a lower rate or shorter term? Can you reduce restaurant costs by planning ahead and making dining out a special occasion rather than something to do when you don't know what to eat? Can you shop around and reduce insurance costs?
Budgeting is definitely the best way to go as it will allow you to keep a very close eye on exactly where your money is going. A while ago my DH and I found some Money Management software from "Debt Analysis Tips" and have been using it to good effect (we like it because it has all the expense & debt reduction ideas/tips built in), although you could use any type of system, as long as your budget is in writing.
Just list down ALL your expenses, cast your eye over them to see which ones you really do need (not just want) and get rid of all the others.
After you do this little exercise you can then have a look at the remaining expense items, do some research (either on the internet or over the phone) on the different deals that are available in the marketplace and contact your current providers. If they don't give you a better deal than what you are currently on and there is a "like for like" deal somewhere else then switch.
All this seems to be a bit of work, but if you break it down into manageable tasks you will soon reap the rewards.
Cheers...
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