how to manage your money

For years when our children were young we had to watch every penny but as time went on we were able to afford more than before and got out of the habit of watching our budget carefully. Now, with prices rising, we are back to being more careful. I use coupons again for groceries and only buy what I need, not buy because it's on sale or I have a coupon. We pay ourselves first - even a few dollars put away each payday starts to add up as a good savings plan. We budget what we need for living expenses and are careful not to use the credit cards for anything but emergencies (like car repairs!). Because gas is so much we are more careful to make less trips around town and stay home more. Even little changes can make a big difference.

i listed down a 2 week menu plan, that would not only save me time thinking of what i am i going to feed the family, it also save me a bit of money because then i would only buy what i need, meaning i wont be throwing away food in the process. now that it is nearly summertime we dont use heater anymore, our boiler broke 3 days ago and didn't got fixed till this morning but i didn't had a problem because i don't use hot water to wash the dishes anymore anyway. we have got a powershower and our washing machine has got its own heating system so i would actually w/o a heater till fall hehehe... i turn off and unplug the TV and any electrical appliances at night or when i'm not using it, i know that if i put it on standby its still consuming electricity. i turn off all the lights at night too, even though we are using energy saver bulbs. i dont drink hot drinks, only my hubby does, so i only boil enough water for his coffee or tea, we don't use our coffee maker anymore... i unplug the ricecooker once the rice is cooked, if it needs reheating the microwave is always there. as tesco's advert says... "every little helps"... just keep it in mind and surely you'll come up of somemore saving tips you could put in to practice.