We have already covered the basics. We shut off the cable, lowered our cell phone plans, stick to a grocery budget, make a list and avoid impulse buying. I am looking for some more ideas. We can't shut off our internet though, because I have to have it for my job (work from home as a medical transcriptionist).
How is medical transcriptioning? I was thinking about going to school for that.
One thing I do to help me save money is get a savings account. When you get your pay check see how much you will need for bills etc. See what you can try to save out of it put it in the savings account and do NOT touch it.
It works really well. When I was trying to save for my truck I save around $4,000 in like 6-8 months. I try to put $100 out of each of my pay checks at least and try to save as much as I can in my wallett as well as my checking account.
What ever you can afford put in the savings account and don't touch it. Even if its $25 a month it adds up real quick.
Good luck!
Make sure you really have covered all the basics by tracking your spending for a week or two. Specifically accounting for every single purchase, no matter how small, can highlight additional leaks in your budget.
If you've covered the basics, then look at the big stuff. Is there anyway you can change your housing costs, your transportation costs, insurance, or utility cost? For vehicle insurance, have you considered taking a defensive driving course if your insurance company offers a discount? Some insurance companies offer up to a 10% discount for a current, ie within three years, defensive driving course. Even if you took it to get out of a ticket, they may still accept it. It requires a small upfront expenditure, but my husband and I saved enough to cover the cost with the first policy renewal. For utilities, see if your local utility company has any programs to provide levelized billing over the year. You will have a predictable monthly bill each month rather than being taken by surprise.
A layoff is a tough hurdle to overcome, especially in an area hit hard by unemployment. Since your work is home-based, you might consider moving to another city or state where the employment situation is better for you. Do you have one car or two cars? If more than one, can you sell a vehicle? Take a very close look around your entire house, are there any extra items which might bring cash at a garage sale, a consignment store, or Ebay? Can you or your husband do odd jobs while he searches for something in his line of work?
May sound a bit wierd but shower together and turn off the hot water heater or at least turn the temp setting down. Stick a small brick in your toilet tank. Buy the least expensive gas and fill up once a week. Keep your tires inflated properly. A small thing but saves on gas do all your shopping on the same side of the road each way.
Turn down your refridgerator temp 2 degrees.Clean/replace your heat and air filters at least once a month also your clothes dryer every other wash.
want to lower your phone bill? Check out Skype and MetroPCS. I just got Metro with unlimited calls, texting, and internet with taxes and all $51 and change a month no contracts.
Skype will run about a 100 and change for the year (10,000 min.s a month fair usage policy) last I checked.
Good Luck!!
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You have done most of the easy things. I am assuming that you monitor your eating out and other recreation expenses? Now, that you are saving money, are you paying off debts with this or investing?