My Number One Money Saving Technique

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i came across this article at http://www.qotion.sg/my-number-one-money-saving-technique. this brings to mind the reason why some of us are here at mylot. other than the interesting discussions, i'm sure the money does play a part in our participation. with prices at a historical high, many of us are finding it tough to pay our bills. hopefully these tips can help stretch our dollars a little further. cheers ;p [i]My basic money-saving strategy goes like this: Decrease your expenses, and increase your income. That’s really all there is to it. While the concept itself is not at all complicated, in reality it can be difficult to actually put into practice because it requires you to change your poor spending habits. But complicated? No, not at all. So how do you actually go about following this money saving technique? What, specifically, should you do? Let’s use the following analogy. If you were trying to lose weight, you could accomplish that by going on a diet and not doing any additional exercise. You could also accomplish the goal of losing weight by eating the same as you’re eating now, but doing a lot more exercise to ensure weight loss. However, the best, fastest and healthiest way to lose weight would be to do both: eat healthy food in moderate proportions AND exercise regularly. Similarly, you’ll get out of debt and maximize your financial results most effectively if you reduce your expenses AND increase your income at the same time. Reducing your expenses is fairly self-explanatory. Spend a day or two reviewing the past 60 days of expenditures in your check register, or if you haven’t kept good records, start tracking every single penny you spend, thus compiling a list of your ACTUAL expenses. Read Then you look at the list and determine what can be reduced or cut out altogether. Consider ways to becoming more frugal; clip coupons, cancel subscriptions and memberships you don’t need - and so forth. If you can stick to a new streamlined budget that alone will dramatically increase the amount of money you have left over at the end of each month. But if you really want to TURBO-CHARGE your progress, you need to find a way to increase your income, too. That part is a little less self-explanatory. If I already have a job, and if getting a raise isn’t an option, then how am I supposed to make more money? There are actually many ways. Consider working overtime hours at your job. Is there an at-home business you can do on the side? Do you have things you could sell on eBay for a profit? Do you have skills that can be utilized for consulting or freelance work? Get creative; the sooner you can pay off your debt, the more quickly you’ll be able to concentrate on building wealth! If you’re married, even if you’d rather not have both spouses working full-time outside the home, consider your options. If Mom is home with the kids during the day, she may be able to devote some time to an online-based business. Debt-to-Income.com shows people hundreds of ways to make more money at home. Reading these real life stories may be just what you need to get your creative juices flowing. Either reducing your expenses or increasing your income will help your savings situation. But if you do both at the same time, your financial reality will improve at a much faster pace. Do both, earn more – spend less. It’s the best money saving technique you’ll ever hear. While the strategy is simple, no one is saying it’s easy. However, the effort you invest now to get out of debt will be well worth your time and attention.[/i]