Ways to cut down your spending during budget crisis

United States is suffering a budget crisis, and the economy is dropping. But that is not just the USA, it is a global issue right now. Unemployment is rising, businesses are failing, people are not getting any raises, but price for almost everything is increasing. Banks are not giving out loans etc etc. So well how do you survive this economy. Some people say savings is the right choice. It is, but it is hard to do that. So the key is you save money by cutting down your spending. So I was asked by Etienne to share some of my tricks on cutting spending.

As you all know that I am a college student. Our group is the most broke out of all, but we manage to survive. I mean I am pretty well off because of the awesome income, but If I don’t spend the way I do, I wouldn’t have good savings. So no matter how much you make, learn how to cut down your spending.

Reduce your Electric Bill

I don’t live in dorms because I just never like them. You don’t have enough privacy. So I live in an apartment and have to pay my own electric bill. Just like most of you guys. Electric bill is a pain in the ass. I have four roommates, so it shouldn’t seem that big, but considering the company just increased their base rate, and the other rates. Our bill ended up to be about $342 for last month. Then we sat and analyzed what could be the biggest problems. Well we have a soon to be best Alternative Rock Band coming along, so the apartment have over $20,000 worth of music instruments. But that is not the problem. The problem is that they are always left plugged in. Do you know that even if you are not using some electronics, and they are plugged. They are using electricity. That was our main problem. The next problem that probably caused the bill to be so high was doing so much laundry.

Solution

As for all your electronics, if you are not using it unplug them. Such as piano, or old television. The best way to take care of that is get a surge protector. Plug them all in in one surge protector. When you are not using the supplies, just unplug the surge protector from the outlet. That is what we are doing for this month, and it should be much better. Laundry is a main problem when there are 4 guys and all go to gym. But the way to fix that is do full size laundries. Rather than just doing half laundry. Don’t use too much lights. If you are leaving the house, then turn of the light. During day time, use sunlight. By doing the above you will reduce your electric bill.

Reduce Gasoline Spending

Sometimes people don’t know how much they are spending on their gas prices over a year. People like to go in their own car. Everyone just go to the gas station, and fill up the tank before it even reaches down the half. People like to accelerate really quick. People are freaking lazy, so they drive almost everywhere. People like to buy show off cars, and they don’t always look for the fuel efficiency.

Solution

Start car pooling or riding the bus. My roommates and I go play basketball every day at the gym. We always go together, so we don’t spend too much gas. Let your car go down to almost empty tank. That way you actually know how many miles you get per tank. You need to drive under 2 RPM, so that means don’t accelerate fast. Whenever you fill your car tank, make sure you reset the odometer trip reading, so you can measure how many miles per gallon (mpg) you are getting. If you are thinking of buying a car, buy a car that is more fuel efficient rather than buying something that is not fuel efficient.

Reduce Grocery Bill and Other shopping Bills

You guys like to eat right. Oo yeah I like to eat too. Eating is one of the necessity which you can’t really reduce. So it is stupid to say to cut down on your eating habits because that would be unhealthy. You buy clothes, I am not going to tell others to do something that I don’t do. So I won’t tell you not to buy brandable clothes or what not. But you can change your way of your shopping style.

Solution

Look for coupons. That is the solution. Change your shopping style. Wait for good sales, and use the coupons. Now you will say how would you know what sales are going on. Simple, as you walk in the store just grab their catalog. You won’t believe how many of those actually have good coupons in the back. So use those coupons. Try to get good deals. If you ask the employees sometimes they can help also.

Reducing Net Spending

Sometimes you spend money. But if you spend and get some of the money back then technically your net spending is reduced. How do you reduce net spending?

Solution

Simple, Don’t pay CASH. Why would you pay cash. Just use a credit card, and pay your credit card bills monthly. This way you get cash back. I mean 2% is better than nothing. It helps your credit score as well because you pay your bills on time.

Now those are the ways that I use to cut down my spending. I hope now you can save a little bit more money. Secure your future from the bad times. If you have any more tips feel free to add them in the comments.