Celebrate the New Year Feeling Good About Your Money Habits
Many people make New Year resolutions to handle their money better. While there is always room for improvement in any endeavor, this is a good time to also feel good about small things that you may already be accomplishing that help lower your expenses. Here are 20 ways to give yourself a round of applause:
- Just opening the mail on time and being aware of your financial situation is important. If you pay your bills on time, give yourself another pat on the back.
- By keeping your tires properly inflated and your car trunk relatively empty you're increasing your gas mileage and keeping fuel costs down. Feel double satisfied if you combine errands and take fewer car trips.
- Washing your laundry efficiently by using the warm or cold water setting and getting clothes clean while saving money.
- Changing your air filters monthly keeping dirt from restricting air flow causing your system to run longer raise your energy costs.
- Eating before you shop and saving 15% on your grocery bill since you are buying less when you aren't hungry.
- Shopping with cash or a debit card and avoiding impulse buying or overspending.
- Turning off ceiling fans when you leave a room and saving up to $7 a month over running a fan constantly.
- Doing what Mom always told you and closing the refrigerator door to save between 7 and 24 percent of the cost to run your fridge.
- Putting a little money aside every month even you are just tossing your spare change into a jar.
- Shopping for lower insurance coverage or insuring your auto and home with one company and earning a discount.
- Always asking the pharmacist if there is a generic version of the drug you have been prescribed to take.
- Feeling good about doing less since it actually costs less to run your dishwasher than to wash dishes by hand.
- Using coupons and trying store brands and coming home with the same great tasting food and more money in your wallet.
- Saving money on bottled water by drinking water straight from the tap or using water filters.
- Using the discounts you have coming to you from your workplace, auto clubs and AARP.
- Putting some thought into where your money goes and how to hold onto it longer by making a monthly spending planand shopping with a grocery list.
- Packing your lunch or brewing your own coffee instead of paying for convenience.
- Spending time with family and friends with game nights and at home movies.
- Giving up cigarettes and not seeing your money go up in smoke.
- Buying clothes you can wash at home and giving up trips to the dry cleaners.
