It's funny to me that even though my finances haven't been spectacular over the last year or so that I still managed to find a C-note to drop on my fantasy football league. I find that I'm very persuasive when I want to be. Especially when it comes to persuading myself! Seriously though, 1 in 12 odds at winning a thousand bucks aren't bad odds! LOL. OK....they're not that great either. But how bout if you factor in the fact that I won the Superbowl in two out of the three years our league has been in existence?! Still not sold eh? I sure was.
We're all pretty good at convincing ourselves that the thing we are so eager to buy is a necessity, even if deep down inside we know we don't really need it! I'd venture to say that most people that are struggling with bills spend money on things that they really shouldn't be spending it on. I know; I speak from experience!
At the beginning of my voyage from the rock bottom of the money pit, I realized that I was wasting a lot of money on needless items. I'd stop at the gas station for a coke and a snack spending four dollars where I could have had the same items from the grocery store with a little planning for half or less. I was paying over a hundred dollars a month on satellite television when I really only needed the thirty dollar package. I also subscribed to the highest speed internet service available (and most expensive) so that I could compete at the highest possible level in computer games I wasn't even taking the time to play (I know...I'm a computer nerd...story of my life). My point is, for most people out there, there are things that you spend your hard earned dollar on that you shouldn't, and I'm going to give you some tips about how to solve the problem so you can get those extra dollars flowing into your savings account instead of the 7-11 register.
First step to cutting back on unnecessary expenses is to identify them. It's hard to remember from day to day the items that you spend your money on. There are probably several different ways out there to track your expenses, but the easiest method that I'm aware of is with a checking account. A checking account offers a few benefits. First off, it enables you to track your purchases provided that you put all your money in the account and make all of your purchases either by check or debit card. In this day and age, your debit card can be used just about anywhere you need money which makes things a little easier. Second, your money is more secure in a bank than in your pocket/sock drawer. It's not cool when you lose your money and its even less cool when your sock drawer eats it like I ate fried turkey on Thanksgiving. Another plus is that putting your money in a checking account makes it less accessible. It's a lot easier to stop wasting money on nonsense when you can't pull a buck out of your pocket to pay for a candy bar. That said, step number one is get a free checking account and use it.
Using a checking account gives you a log of all of your purchases which is great, but another good idea is to link that checking account to a personal finance application like Quicken or the web-based Mint.com which will help you keep track of where your money is going by downloading your credit/debit history and separating your purchases into categories like food, gas, or entertainment. By combining your checking account with a good personal finance utility you'll be able to track your purchases in detail. You might find that you spend fifty dollars a month on soft drinks at the convenience store or that you're spending way too much money on entertainment.
The next thing to do is to go over your expenditures with a fine-tooth comb and determine which ones are necessary and which ones aren't. Replace soda's with iced-tea made at home or substitute a Netflix account for repeated trips to the movie theater. Try to find every possible way to reduce your monthly bills and keep in mind that every dollar saved is a dollar earned (or stashed in your savings account). By paying for only the things that they need, people often find that they can save surprisingly large sums of money every month! I personally was able to save well over a hundred dollars per month using this method. That may not seem like a lot, but after a year I've saved over $1200 not including interest. For me, $1200 paid quite a few bills that I had lingering around and I'm sure it would help most anyone interested enough to read this post.
By the way, for those of you wondering, I was Vick-timized on Tuesday night dashing all hopes of getting my $1000 payday next week (unless that wealthy donor pops up). I suppose I'll have to keep that in mind next football season (or maybe I'll just draft Michael Vick).
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