Whether you have found the perfect pair of shoes, the perfect car or the perfect vacation, there is a way that you can fit these items into your budget. It doesn't take an extra job or even an extreme lifestyle change. All it requires is a little will power and patience. The first thing that you need to do is to figure out how much money you need for what you want to buy. Then you need to figure out a time frame for when you want to make the purchase. For lesser expensive, you will probably be able to have a shorter time frame whereas a car or vacation might fit more on a one or two year plan depending on how much they cost. Let's start on a smaller scale like a new pair of shoes. Say you went to the mall and found an awesome new pair of designer sandals that cost about $100. You know that they won't be around for a long time, so you need to come up with that money in about one month. If you would normally pay an average of $35 for a pair of shoes you can subtract that amount from the $100 because that is already in your budget. This means you have to come up with just $65 in four weeks. This is about $16 each week. That is a manageable amount of money when you break it down like that. It is time to start saving. What can you cut out of your life for a short period of time in order to save money? Do you go out to lunch every day for work? If so, you probably spend about $5-$10 per day for lunch. If you would buy bread, chips and fruit at the grocery store, you could pack your lunch for the week which would actually save you about $25-$30 in just one week. Take a cup of coffee from home and avoid the lattes for a week and you will save about $20 per week. Pretty easy?! And, once you make your purchase you can either go back to your old ways. Or, you might decide that cutting back on some things to buy something that you want was really worth it. Larger priced items can be saved for in a similar manner. For instance, if you want to take a cruise and you know that it costs about $2400 for everything. That is $200 per month for one year or $50 per week. What can you cut out of your weekly schedule to come up with $50? There are other ways that you can save money without having to take an extra job. Buy a large piggy bank or jar and put all your change in it at the end of everyday. Sell items on an online auction. Have a yard sale. Eat at home on the weekends instead of going to a restaurant. Buy store brand products and use coupons. Have $5 or $10 per pay period taken out of your check and put in a special savings account. If you can have the patience and will power to do these and other money saving things then you will be wearing those new shoes, driving a car or going on vacation in no time. |
