Look for Money That’s Hiding

In these recessionary years, it is more important than ever to evaluate how much money you spend and where it goes. Many people who are struggling with credit card debt or mortgage debt, would love to pay more money toward their bills, but believe that they are already stretched as financially thin as they can be. Generally speaking, however, this is not the case. All it takes is a little clever searching for money that is hiding between the cracks.

Smart Money Management

Budgeting often requires a little bit of inventive thinking. If you look at your current credit card expenses, there is likely at least $50-$100 worth of money that could potentially be saved. Consider these questions: how much money do you spend each month on food? How much money of that food budget goes towards things like eating out at restaurants, or luxury purchase such as alcohol? If you have a cable package, is it the basic cable package or the deluxe? When you look at your expenses and sit down to truly determine the difference between want and need, you’ll likely find that there are many monthly expenses that you are incurring that are not entirely necessary.

Another great place to save money is through your utilities. Consider buying a draft card for your door, or re-caulking your windows. If you can figure out ways to spend less money on your utilities, that’s more money in the bank that can go toward paying your mortgage or other overbearing financial obligations.

While this might seem like an overly simplistic tip to consider, it’s a very important one. You might be surprised with how much money is hiding over the course of a month—it’s almost like finding extra quarters in your couch cushions, just more profitable!