Living Frugally In A Bad Economy
Posted at by ifydcat on category Personal FinanceEvery single day of your life, you are faced with decisions to spend or not to spend money. Some of these things you can affect and others you cannot. By choosing to live frugally and only spending what you need, you can live a financially sound and less stressful life. The article below will help you live frugally through some easy tips!
Grocery shopping is where a lot of money is spent, but can also be saved. Check your local Sunday newspaper and clip out any coupons that can be of use to you. Even if the product isn’t the brand you normally buy, consider trying out the product the coupon is eligible for. You will not only save, but you may discover a product that is superior to the one you were previously using.
New gadgets are constantly on the market. Remember plasma TVs? They cost thousands of dollars in the US a few years ago, but the prices have significantly dropped into the hundreds over the course of two or three years. This clearly proves that new technology is only expensive when it is first released. As the years go by, prices significantly drop, making it a much more frugal choice to purchase later. If you like the look of new gadgets and the performance they offer, but also like to save money, purchase these items when the prices go down.
Extended warranties are the number one way that most stores generally scam you out of your money. Have you noticed when you step into a local gadget store they often tell you that for a few dollars more, they can add their own warranty on it? What these stores fail to mention is that the extended warranties are not as simple as taking the item in question back to the store it was purchased from. Many extended warranties require proof of purchase, the sending back of the product and extensive amounts of time being passed from customer representative to customer representative. This is all for the sake of possibly getting a refund or newer product. Most company products come with their own warranties that cover you for one to three years, or occasionally even for the lifetime of the product. These come for free with your product, and if you have to call a customer service rep, you will usually get a much better response from the manufacturer.
Basic cell phone plans are usually quite expensive, but when you add on extra things such as data plans and text messages for smartphones, you may find yourself shocked! Bills are coming and your bank account is being drained for services you may not even use as much as you thought you would. Look on your current service provider’s website and consider what the basic plan costs and what is offered. Many times, the basic plans are perfectly sufficient for chatting with friends and sending text messages. This can save you a lot of money over the course of one year.
Banks are sneaky and you may have occasionally found that there was a bank fee or two dropped onto your bank account. Often, the contract you read and sign with your bank changes, but they don’t send the proper paperwork to update you. It is questionable whether or not this is done on purpose, but it happens. The best way to go around this is to open a bank account that is free. Then, every month, call the bank whether or not the free account status policy has changed within the bank. This can let you avoid having to drop significant amounts of your money into the bank’s wallet.
Living in a frugal fashion is probably not as hard as you thought it would be. Quite the opposite, actually! Just follow the advice from this article, and you will not only enjoy shopping more, but won’t wince when you look at the current balance on your bank account.