If your finances are down like two flat tires, as it is with many African Americans nowadays, then it’s time to implement some serious dietary alterations. Lunchtime and dining out are always pregnant with opportunities for frivolous spending. We have compiled a short list of ways to help you stretch your money like taffy candy to make ends meet. You’d be surprised by how much you save in one year’s time by adhering to a few simple steps:
Wrap it, refrigerate it, and pack it: Cook more than food than you need at dinnertime so you can take it to work the next day. You’ll save approximately $10 per day or $50 per week — a considerable amount that can be appropriated towards groceries, bills, cable, credit card payments and the like. That’s about $200 a month if you eat out for lunch every day of the workweek. That tallies up to $2400 a year in savings if you quit eating lunch at your fav Greek or Italian take-out spot. Fall in love with no name brands: From simple things like peanut butter and jelly to orange juice, you can slash your spending on food products by 30 percent by buying store brands at Krogers, Jewell Osco and GIANT.
Buy in bulk: Sign up to shop at Sam’s Club or Costco, where you can save another 30 percent or more by buying in bulk for items like snacks, toiletries, kitchen products and laundry detergent. Become a coupon connoisseur: Someone in your household — whether it’s you or your significant other — needs to become a skilled hunter of coupon savings opportunities. The easiest and most obvious place to begin is coupon.com, smartsource.com or coolsavings.com. That way you can occasionally satiate your palate with high priced, exotic foods at reduced prices.Shop at stores that offer “Plus” cards: Some supermarket chains like Kroger’s offer “Plus Cards” that enable you to save on your grocery totals in addition to the coupons. Use your bank’s ATM Machine: Random ATM hopping is a slow death for your bank account. Drive the extra few blocks to avoid being nickeled-and-dimed into oblivion on obscure, backward bank ATM feesGet a faucet filter: The money you invest in a faucet filter will more than pay for itself thanks to the considerable savings of not having to buy expensive bottle water.
It’s like the age-old axiom: usually a few, small, key changes in your life wind up making a big difference in your life. Nowhere is this exemplified more than in the area of consumption. Take the extra step to investigate deals and inventory your needs versus your wants, — you’ll be surprised at what you can do without. Perhaps when the punch-drunk economy regains its equilibrium, you will discard frivolous spending and trivial pleasures permanently. –terry shropshire
