10 Tips To Manage Your Money On A Low Income

10 Tips To Manage Your Money On A Low Income. We are living in tough financial times and salaries are never enough. If you find yourself in a difficult financial situation, you are clearly not alone. Do not despair though, there is hope. You can still save money even if you earn less. If you follow the tips below, you might have saved enough to have fun come December holidays.

1. Have A Budget

To start, you need a budget. How are you supposed to track your money if you don’t know where it’s going? Without a budget, you won’t be able to manage your money, or save money. The first thing you must do to take control of your finances its to gather all your expenses and income and create a budget

2. Buy Used Stuff

Buy everything you can used, such as used cars, used electronics, used furniture, clothing, etc.  You’d be surprised at the great deals you can find on stuff that’s hardly been used.  Sometimes you will find “open box” items that haven’t been used, but can’t be sold as new because the packaging has been damaged or opened

3. Leave Below Your Means

Ask yourself this question, are you living below your means? Are you spending less or equal the amount of money you are making each month? If you are using credit card debt, loans, and tapping into your saving account, you are living above your means. Living above your means, you are spending more than what your income is, and this is where things go wrong.

4. Plan Your Shopping

Never spend money on a whim or just because you “feel like it”.  That’s where a lot of money leaks tend to happen.  The best way to spend a limited income is to plan your shopping ahead of time using a written budget every single month.  That way, you spend your money on paper before you spend it in real life.

5. Sweat The Small Stuff

Take your lunch to work, plan to do your errands all at once to save gas instead of making multiple trips.  Save your change and cash it into an investment account periodically.  Heck, you can even roast your own coffee (you can also make extra money doing that, here’s how).  There are always ways to cut costs that will free up money you can put straight into savings.

6. Stay Out of Restaurants

Of course, it’s OK to eat out occasionally, but making eating out a regular habit can add up very quickly.  Restaurant food costs at least 4x more than a homemade meal would cost.  That multiple goes even higher at more expensive restaurants.  If you want to save money and still have a nice meal with friends, host a potluck at your house and have everyone bring a dish.  You’ll have just as much fun for a fraction of the cost.

7. Plan Your Meals

You can save money using meal planning apps or even a paid service like Emeals.com.  Planning your meals ahead of time allows you to better plan your grocery list.  Therefore you spend less on food and save much more than the service costs.

8. Find a Side Job

There has never been a better time in history to find ways to make extra money.  The possibilities of making some extra money are endless. You can use your skills and passions to hustle other means of survival. Babysit, tutor, do gardening, bake, anything, as long as it brings in extra cash.

9. Avoid Using Credit Cards

Credit cards are not emergency funds. If you can’t pay your credit cards on time, then you have to stop using them until you get your financial situation under control. Don’t add to your financial stress by growing your credit card debt. Avoid using credit cards or asking for money and start using the next tip.

10. Always Be Honest

We are not perfect, and we know this. It is why we aren’t able to manage our money sometimes. We have to make sure we account for everything we do. Don’t make excuses, start working on staying active and developing a wealthy mindset. To start managing your money better, you must be honest with yourself and accept responsibility for your finances.