Wednesday, April 6, 2011

3 Great Budgeting Tips You Can Use Right Now

By Jonathan Woods


Budgeting is a great tool for anyone who has trouble tracking their daily, weekly or monthly expenses. Our lives are getting far more complicated than they used to be and that means that losing track of the money we spend is something that is easy to understand. You can regain control of your finances and money by using the budgeting tips you are about to read.

Petrol (gas) can be a problematic drain upon your budget as the cost of gas is always rising even for the most fuel efficient vehicles. The best way to lower how much you spend at the gas pump is to drive less and, believe it or not, it's easier than it sounds. Instead of making several short trips to the store for just one or two things why not just make one trip? You should just make one trip per week to get everything you need. Rather than driving back and forth from work by yourself, carpool or use a different kind of transportation. For shorter distances, consider biking, using a scooter or even walking instead of driving. You could easily save money in your budget every week if you think about how much you spend on gas.

Cars and other vehicles can chew up a huge portion of your monthly budget. The first question you should ask yourself is if the vehicle you own is one that's economical relative to your needs and income. Very often, you can save quite a bit on monthly car payments by switching to a perfectly adequate and reliable, but smaller or less luxurious model vehicle. Is it possible for you to downsize from two (or more) vehicles to just one? Make sure that you aren't paying more money than you have to for your car insurance.

Growing your own veggies can help you greatly lower your food budget. This probably sounds a little bit extreme but lots of people have started to do it. Some towns, and even large cities also have community gardens where you can rent a small lot and grow vegetables. This is where saving money can actually be good or you because it is actually healthier to eat fresh vegetables straight from your own garden than it is to eat foods grown commercially. It is also a quite satisfying hobby. This particular hobby doesn't have to be time consuming and it is absolutely worth looking into. Growing your own vegetables helps make your family healthier and saves money in your food budget.

Setting up and maintaining a budget might seem like hard work when you first start doing it but it is easy to get used to. You might even find that the new habits you're forced to build are more satisfying than your old ways. So many people discover a tremendous satisfaction in a simple life that didn't exist in a more monetarily driven style. When you use the budgeting tips in this article it won't take you long to figure out that your money is lasting a lot longer.




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