Category Archives: Finance

Creative Ways to Earn Extra Money

Ways to Earn Extra Money

Swagbucks

There are several ways to earn with Swagbucks – everything from surveys, games, watching videos, and searching on the internet. You can see some of the details on earning Swagbucks here and here. Sign up using my link and you can get 300 Swagbucks!

When you earn Swagbucks you can purchase gift cards from many retailers. Amazon is one of my favorite ones to buy. I love that you can start buying gift cards with 300 Swagbucks so no waiting for an exorbitant amount of time. Use them for gifts or even supplement or food items!

Part Time Job

I know this one is hard, especially for us moms with little kids. But it is worth looking for a part time job you can work around your husband’s hours. Maybe something as simple as delivering pizza one or two nights a week or finding a seasonal weekend job at a retailer.

Watch the classifieds, ask around, and also pay attention in Facebook groups. You might be surprised with what you find.

Fiverr

Can you write, edit audio or video, record voice work, do graphic design, or any of numerous other things? Check out Fiverr! No start up cost and low time commitment to start up, so it will be easy to experiment with and see what you can offer. My husband does voice on Fiverr periodically.

Virtual Assistant

Skilled at organization, writing sales copy, running social media, editing? There is probably someone out there that can use your help! Check out Moms Work Hard for information.

Babysit

Watch your friend’s kids a couple hours after school until she is off of work. Have date night babysitting you offer monthly.

pile of $1 bills and ways to earn extra money

Present Wrapping Service

I can’t be the only one that is horrible at wrapping presents and gets absolutely no enjoyment out of it. But I know that some of you love it. Sell your gift wrapping skills! Christmas time you could pick up a lot of business and during the year advertise your services for birthdays.

Sell Baked Goods

I enjoy baking and cooking. Some people don’t. If you are skilled at baking bread, Christmas cookies, dinner rolls, fudge and so forth considering selling your goodies. Please research Cottage Food Laws for your state before you get started. Rules and regulations greatly vary. You will also need to register with your state to file sales tax.

Rake Leaves/Shovel Snow

Get your kids involved and depending on the season rake leaves or shovel snow. Weeding would be another option. Print up flyers and hand them out around your neighborhood.

Clean Homes

Do you have cleaning down to an art form? Clean a few houses (or businesses) on the side each week. Businesses you could likely do during the evening hours.

Help with Parties and Events

Especially during the holiday season, but also through the rest of the year, Individuals and business are both hosting parties. If you are a skilled organizer and hard worker, market your services as either an event planner, event host, or an event assistant. Christmas or New Year’s parties, baby showers, birthday parties, work events and retreat and more could use your services.

Photography

Are you skilled behind a camera? Look into doing photo shoots! I know the market can be hard to get into in some areas, but start with your friends and family and give them a discount as you build your portfolio. Even if you just do this once or twice a month, it will add up.

Teach Music Lessons

Can you sing or play an instrument well? Considering giving weekly lessons! Set aside one afternoon each week to teaching. My sister gives lessons each Tuesday afternoon and evening. If you are just getting started make sure your prices are competitive.

Graphic Design

If this is your talent, there are so many people that need you! Whether an individual designing an invitation or large or small businesses. Businesses needs logos, graphics for social media, business cards, presentation and so forth done with a professional look all the time! You can save them time and give them a better result with your services.

Sell Another Skill

Think about what other skills you have. Are there ways you can market your skill and sell it to others? We’ve already talked about babysitting, baking, photography, graphic design and cleaning. That is just the beginning. I know people that are talented artists and get hired to paint murals on bedroom walls. Think about what excel at doing and how you can market that talent.

Sell Stuff

I dare say the majority of us have too many things. What do you have that is quality and something that others will want? Places to possibly sell are Ebay, Facebook groups, declutter.com, or even a garage sale. This is an immediate way to earn money and you will also be organizing and decluttering items you don’t use – win win! Some people take this a step further and find things on clearance or at thrift stores or garage sales that they know they can resell on Ebay for a decent profit.

Donate Plasma

I’ve never done this but I have a sister that has sold plasma to save money for gifts and other fun items she wanted.

Surveys

This won’t make you rich but would allow you to save up a dollar here and there as you take surveys. Swagbucks, as I mentioned above, has surveys but also check out places like Pinecone Research.

Grocery Apps

Here comes some bonus tips that save/earn you money. Try using Fetch Rewards (use referral code: XF5MX to get 2,000 points for signing up) to scan your grocery receipts and earn a few extra pennies each time to head to the store. Check out Ibotta (receive a welcome bonus for using my link) and Checkout 51 for coupons on items you are already purchasing.

Ebates

We love Ebates. Don’t go and buy something you weren’t already planning on but anything you are buying online, check and see if you can go through Ebates. We use it when booking hotels through Hotwire, when we need to make purchases from Lowe’s, Wal-Mart, Vitacost etc! It’s nice to get even the small percentage back.

Join Ebates through my link and spend at least $25 and you’ll get $10!

Remember to check every time you are going to order something online! (Or see if you can order online and do in store pick up.)

Find Ways to Save Money

One of the best ways to “earn” money it to find ways to spend less and rework your budget! I’d say it’s one of the easiest ways as well – because it doesn’t involve finding extra hours each week to work. But it does take discipline to say no to those little splurges. Make a menu plan and spend less on groceries, say no to coffee, drink water, have a no spend challenge. Here are some ideas on ways to save even on a tight budget!

What ways to earn extra money are your favorites? Anything else to add to this list? Pick a few of these small ideas and one of the bigger ones and give them a try! See how much money you can earn in the next 6 months.

desk with computer and magazines. Ways to earn extra money

Important Tips For Teaching Kids About Money

Teaching Kids About Money

It Belongs to God

If you are a believer, this step is a foundation to teaching kids about money. Everything we have comes from and belongs to God! Isn’t that a scary thought? The Bible says “the earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains”. When we use our money wisely, we are using God’s money wisely. As you talk to your children, make sure they know that everything is the Lord’s.

Take them Shopping with You

Even as a preschooler, your child will start picking up on things like price comparisons, saying no to purchasing a food item because there’s not enough money in the grocery budget, and that wanting an item doesn’t mean we need to purchase it.

These little weekly, if not daily, occurrences are being observed and taken in by your children with no extra work by you. Talk to your children as you are shopping so they know what you are doing – turn it into a money lesson and interactive experience.

Giving

My parents taught us how to tithe before we could work! Growing up, when we received birthday or Christmas money we got to tithe on it. My kids now get to tithe on their money and will even give beyond the 10%.

Again, lead by example. Let your children see you tithe off of your income. Let them see you give to charities and individuals. You can even get them involved in projects beyond tithing to church. (Like we did with the Operation Christmas Child Shoe boxes.)

Saving

Saving money is a part of life. Always will be. This is a skill even a born spender needs to learn.

Teach your kids to set aside a portion of all the money they receive. Just because you received money doesn’t mean you need to spend it all! It’s good to learn patience and self-discipline even if it can be hard – especially when the cash is burning a hole in their pocket.

For young children, consider getting a save, spend, give bank. You can simply label three clean jars (or plastic containers) or you can purchase a bank like this. There are also these cash envelope zippered pouches you could use.

Setting Goals

This is a part of saving. Teach your kids to set financial goals. Whether it’s saving money to buy that expensive toy, a laptop, camera, or even to purchase a car or go to college it’s good to set age appropriate goals. Especially for your kids that are “spenders” because having a goal and tracking their progress can help their motivation and willpower stay strong when temptations come up.

For older teens, check out this list of financial goals they can consider as they move toward adulthood.

Teach Them To Work

Money doesn’t grow on trees. Sometimes our kids think it does. Learning to work for money helps teach them the value of money and of hard work. We didn’t get an allowance growing up instead we pitched in and helped around the house (sometimes quite begrudgingly) because we were a part of the family.

We earned money doing extra jobs that weren’t a part of regular chores. Even for young kids you can come up with little tasks (that you know won’t be done perfectly) and pay for their help. This is how it works in our house now.

As your children get older, getting an outside the house job is a great way to earn extra money. Teaching them to work hard as kids and do an excellent job will be appreciated by future employers and will most likely set your kids apart from most of the other employees.

Raising them with that work ethic starts now. (Yep, I know it can be hard. My 5 1/2 year old still thinks any sort of cleaning or picking up is torture.)

Teach them the Dangers of Debt

If you are debt free, you can still talk to your kids about what debt is and why you don’t do it. Tell them how much you would have spent on interest.

If you are in debt, let your children see you working hard to pay it off.

Teach them how to avoid debt and make sure that they know it isn’t required! Culture all around them is telling them that debt is an everyday part of life.

Say No

Please, please don’t always tell your children yes. Your kids need to learn that they don’t need to have it all. It’s okay for them to walk away from something they think they want.

They need to see you sticking to your budget even when they are begging for something.

Learning to be content and to appreciate what you already have is so important. Stuff will never satisfy a person – there will always be something else. As a toddler the next flashy toy will grab their attention, Shopkins will be enough until the next fad comes out. Even as adults we are like this. Our phone is great until the newest one comes out. The same thing with cars and houses.

This is something so much easier to learn while you are young, so help your children out.

You might tell them a straight up “no, we aren’t having this in our home” or it might be a “no, we aren’t not buying this for you. If you want it, you’ll have to buy it yourself.”

Teach them to Set a Budget

Once your children are living on their own, they will have no choice but to budget (or else, most likely, get themselves into a financial mess). So do them a favor, and teach them how to budget their money now. It’s a great money lesson and life lesson.

As young kids it might be something as simple as: tithe 10%, spend 40%, save 50%.

When they get older they may want to break down their spending and saving categories further.

Once they are bringing in more money and have more expenses, teach them to write down their income and expenses and make (and stick with) a budget. Car insurance, gas money, cell phone, outings with friends, gifts, trips etc.

Let them learn while you are there to assist and help. Then, when they are off on their own they will (hopefully) simply continue what they already know.

Additional Resources:

Dave Ramsey has a set of storytime books for kids ages 3-10
Dave Ramsey also has Financial Peace Jr
Larry Burkett has a book Money Matter for Kids
Larry Burkett also has Money Matter for Teens and a workbook as well

Raising our children and teaching kids about money can be a daunting task. One that we won’t ever do perfectly and that’s okay.

Hopefully these ideas on teaching kids about money will help as you are on the parenting journey! You don’t have to make it difficult or time consuming, just start the conversation and begin taking steps to give your children the opportunity to handle money wisely.

piggy bank and teaching kids about money

Examples of Financial Goals to Change Your Year

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Do you want to set some financial goals but are struggling to come up with ideas? Here’s a great list of examples of financial goals to help you out!

stack of coins with a plan growing out of it talking about examples of financial goals

Start on the road to financial freedom today – you can change your family’s life!

Let’s Get Started!

There is no right or perfect time, so whether it’s the beginning of a new year or the middle of a summer month start making a plan and gaining traction on your money goals.

Let’s start with remembering that goals have to specific and measurable. Having “saving money” or “paying off debt” as a goal might sound good, but they don’t make the cut.

Instead, have your goal be something like this:

Have $1,000 saved for our house fund in 6 months or

Pay $200 extra on our mortgage each month this year or

Pay off our student loans by December 1st.

Give yourself a starting a date (now), an ending date, and state exactly what you want to do.

Examples of Financial Goals

Pay x amount off of your mortgage
Pay off your mortgage
Save x amount to purchase a house
Save x amount for a certain house project (windows, air conditioner, kitchen, furniture etc.)
Save $2,000 for our emergency fund
Save x amount for 3-6 months of living expenses
Pay off your car
Save x amount to pay cash for a new car
Pay off student loans (or certain amount extra toward them)
Pay off _______ credit card (or certain amount on it)
Pay off any other debts you have (fill in amount and what debt)
Save x amount toward summer vacation this year (or dream trip in 3 years)
Save x amount to give to a cause you believe in
Save x amount toward child’s college fund (or your college fund)
Save x amount toward child’s wedding fund (or your wedding fund)
Make a budget with your spouse by x date
Monthly (or weekly) budget meetings for the next year
Input expenses into budget daily/weekly for the next year
Use cash envelopes for 6 months and see if you save money
Put x amount towards retirement in the next 12 months
Put x amount in other investments in the next 12 months
Read x books about financial planning/investing etc
Do Financial Peace University by 6 months from now
Reduce grocery spending by x amount each month
Take extra jobs to increase your income by x amount each month
Don’t use credit cards
Purchase Term Life Insurance for you and your spouse
Spend less than you make
Stop x addiction and put the money towards _______
No spend month in ___________
No non essential purchases until _____________

You can do this!

Everyone’s financial goals will be different. If you are low income and have a lot of debt, don’t despair. Baby steps will get you to where you want if you persevere and work hard! Don’t compare yourself to anyone else. You are doing great.

If you are already debt free, you still need to tell your money where to go! Don’t blow money, instead purposely put it towards different goals and saving plans.

I hope this list of examples of financial goals helps you as you sit down and make a plan for you and your family.

stack of coins with a plan growing out of it talking about examples of financial goals

How to Pay Off Mortgage Faster

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Do you want to pay off your house! Check out these great tips on how to pay off mortgage faster! Picture of beautiful home.

One of the biggest purchases any of us will make in our lifetime is a house. If you are anything like me, signing that dotted line is a little scary and you want to know how to pay off mortgage faster! Nothing like multiple tens of thousands of dollars you owe to someone else to make you want to hustle.

When we purchased our house I was excited and hyperventilating at the same time! To go from debt free to having mortgage is a big change. We wanted to put an end to those payments asap!

[Do I need a spoiler alert if I tell you how long it took us? Consider yourself warned!]

Getting keys for your house! How to pay off mortgage faster.

We closed on our house in December of 2009 and made the final payment in February of 2016.

6 years and 2 months.

It was an emotional day when we made that last payment and again when the letter came in the mail from the mortgage company.

Wow.

This time there was the good kind-of hyperventilating. 🙂 (I’m sure being 9 months pregnant helped increase the emotional aspect and I’m positive the 2 1/2 and 5 year old thought their mom was losing it!)

Before we get into how to pay off mortgage faster, I want to tell you that I am not wealthy (by western world standards). We are a normal middle class family. My husband works in Christian radio (good health benefits, but not exactly the highest paying gig around) and I work part time for my church.

If we can do it, you can too! Yes, it takes work and energy and sacrifice but it is possible!

I also want to take a moment to say that there is NOTHING wrong with renting. We rented a small duplex over the first 3 years of our marriage. My sister and her husband rented an even smaller duplex the first 7 years of their marriage.

Don’t think you need to buy a house. Don’t think that renting is throwing away money. Sometimes it is the best possible thing you can do.

I’m sure you’ve been told that you can buy a house for the same that you can rent. Most of the time that scenario doesn’t take into account house insurance (much higher than renter’s insurance), property taxes, and all the expenses you are all of the sudden responsible for. Those expenses can often times be costly – as in thousands of dollars costly. Suddenly buying a house isn’t as cheap as you thought.

I’m not trying to scare you from buying a house – we really do love it! I just don’t want you to regret renting and rush into buying a house too soon.

How to pay of mortgage faster. These tips will set you up for success.

How to Pay Off Mortgage Faster:

Before you even sign on the dotted line there are 5 things you should do as you consider how to pay off a mortgage faster:

Big Down Payment

Don’t even consider a 0% down mortgage or a 10% mortgage. You will spend so much money on interest and be upside down for a long time. Instead commit to saving up a minimum of 20%. I recommend at least 30%. (We put 30% down on our home.)

15 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage

Get a 15 year mortgage instead of a 30 year mortgage. Sure, you might have to have a slightly less expensive home to keep the payments so that they aren’t burdensome, or save up a little longer so you can put down a larger down payment (and thus need a smaller loan), but the amount that you save on interest is worth it!

Don’t buy more house than you can afford

In fact, its better to buy less house than you can afford.

Don’t trust the number the bank says they will lend you. Look at your own budget. Don’t forget about the added bills and repair expenses that will be coming your way in addition to a house payment.

Dave Ramsey says that your mortgage (including taxes and insurance) should be no more than 25% off your take home pay.

If you buy more house than you can afford, life will be a lot more stressful.

Realtor that Respects You

Make sure you have a realtor that listens to you!

You want an individual who will show you houses in your price range and not just ones the bank says you are approved for but you aren’t comfortable making the payments on.

Try asking your friends and colleagues what realtors they used and who they recommend.

Inspection

Always, always have an inspection done before you purchase your home. There’s nothing that will slow down paying off your mortgage faster than having one large unexpected expense come up after another.

This isn’t to say that things wont go wrong if it didn’t show up on your inspection, but it should help you ward off at least some of them.

The next tips will be how to pay off a mortgage faster after you are a home owner.

Pay Extra Each Month

After we bought our house, we put extra toward our principal each month when we made our payments.

We didn’t have a set amount we’d put toward it, but it was whatever we could do depending on the circumstances and expenses of the month. Some months it might have only been $50-$100 and other months several hundred.

Don’t think that an amount is too little, it will add up each year.

Track Your Progress

Have a visual marker where you can see the amount taken off of your loan amount. When the amount is still large, you might want to do $2,000 or $5,000.

As you get closer to paying it off, track by each thousand dollars.

It is so exciting to see that number lower. It will encourage you and motivate you to keep going even when it’s hard.

Say No

Paying off your mortgage (or any debt) sooner requires sacrifice. If you go into it expecting everything to be easy and all fun, you will be frustrated.

Realize that you will have to say no to things: Big vacations, new cars, expensive clothes, steak dinners, outings with friends that cost money (come up with some frugal alternatives) etc.

There is nothing wrong with any of those things, but for a time you are making a choice to say no!

It can be easy to get into the “poor me” mindset. Don’t. It’s a choice you are making and you are excited about! Attitude really does help.

Use the money you’ve saved to put toward your principal. Here are several ways to save money that we used while paying off our house (and most of them we still use)!

Make Money

Find some ways to earn a little extra money. Again, little amounts add up (just don’t squander it away – make sure it actually goes to the bank)!

See if you can pick up extra hours at your job.

Pick up a part time job.

What hobbies and skills do you have that could be marketed on the side? Maybe you could babysit a friend’s kids after school, offer your baking talents for people that don’t have time to be in the kitchen, look on Fiverr and see if you can do something that’s marketable there, sell the crafts you make that everyone raves about on Etsy.

How to make extra money is going to vary completely depending on each person.

Think outside the box and try something!

I hope these ideas helped you start thinking of how to pay off a mortgage faster.

You can do it! As someone who has been though the process before, I’m here for you: encouraging you when it’s hard and cheering you on when you hit each milestone.

Have you paid off your mortgage? What would you say if someone asked you how to pay off their mortgage faster?

If you start on the exciting journey, keep me posted!

Easy Ways to Save Money On A Tight Budget

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I’m sure there are a lot of us wanting easy ways to save money on a tight budget. Whether we are trying to save money up for a big savings goal or because of the lack of money coming in.

picture of small plant surrounded by coins and words easy ways to save money on a tight budget

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When we were in the middle of paying off our house early we were always looking for easy ways to save money on a tight budget. Every little thing added up.

Now that our house is paid off, we are still trying to save money where we can. Retirement needs more put towards it, taking a vacation, and saving some money up for kids’ college funds are all on the list of goals. Watching what we spend, budgeting, and making our money work for us is a part of life.

Some of them we are doing for a season and others are a pretty permanent part of our lives but together they are allowing us to live on less so that we can put more toward whatever our savings goals might be.

10 Easy Ways to Save Money on a Tight Budget

1. Lower Your Grocery Budget

This is one of the first things to look at when you are trying to save and my personal favorite of the easy ways to save money on a tight budget. It’s easy to gradually start spending more and more on groceries over time. If you don’t want to keep it super low forever, that’s fine but do it to help out while you income is lower or your are trying to reach a savings goal.

This is a big one in our house. In fact, our most popular post is on how I keep my grocery budget at $150 a month. Over the next year, these tips are especially important for us as our extra money that sometimes went toward grocery splurges is now all going to the house.

Some favorite ways to lower your grocery budget: cook from scratch, menu plan, and using meat as a condiment.

I have my favorite menu planning template available for all of my newsletter subscribers. A lot of money has been saved using this method.

2. Simplify Birthdays, Christmas, and Holidays

It is super easy to go overboard. How often do we keep on finding one more present for our child or want to give them the newest and best gadget. Even the Easter basket has to be piled high.

There’s nothing wrong with any of these things, but you might want to consider scaling back. Set a smaller budget and stick to it. Spend time with your kids and make memories with them instead of spending.

You or your spouse can consider doing without gifts altogether. As an adult, it’s easy to understand why and see the big pictures. Shaun and I aren’t giving each other birthday or Christmas presents and we keep things simple with the kids.

If you minimize your gift spending try using the next tip and you might be able to cover a good portion of your gifts without spending anything out of pocket! Here I have some tips on Christmas Presents on a budget and taking the emphasis off of gifts at Christmas!

pictures of clock and stacks of coins

3. Earn Gift Cards with Swagbucks for Presents

I love Swagbucks. It’s an easy way to earn points you can redeem for gift cards. If you follow tip number two and cut your birthday and Christmas spending down, the gift cards you earn will pay for a good chunk of the presents.

If you work at using Swagbucks (and have a smart phone) you could earn over $300 in a year. This post has some of my favorite easy ways to earn Swagbucks on your computer and this one is about earning them on your smart phone!

4. Drink Water

Forget the pops, juices, coffees, and teas for a while and just stick to water! Not only is it good for you, it’s also the most affordable! The costs of all those other beverages really add up. I promise your kids won’t die without milk at every meal and juice for breakfast.

Milk for drinking and juice are super rare purchases in our house and it really helps save money. Over three years later, this is still true at my house.

5. Skip the Vacation

Our vacations consists of trips to see family and a season tickets to a theme park 5 hours away. This year, since we knew we were going to be pinching pennies, we decided to forgo the season tickets.

We aren’t saving a ton on money because as far as vacations go, it really is quite affordable but the ticket purchase and gas costs for driving there several times still will save us hundreds of dollars. If you take bigger vacations, this could equal thousands of dollars.

I know it doesn’t mean skipping out on the vacation is easy, but remember the big picture and make it a goal to save up for a fun little trip down the road.

In the meantime, find ways to have fun and memories locally.

6. Shop Your Closet

Avoid the mall and all the clothing deal sites for a while and just wear what you have. I’m already a big fan of buying used clothes and shopping clearance racks but sometimes you just need to take a break from even that.

A perk of this, is after wearing all your clothes (instead of having the stash you never touch) you’ll know what items you want to keep and which you should pass on. A more organized closet is never a bad thing. 🙂

7. Eat at Home

It’s nice to get a break from cooking, but restaurants aren’t cheap. You have the cost of a meal and then add the tip in and you could cook a lot of meals at home with what you just spent. Even at a fast food or fast casual restaurant things add up when you are buying for a family.

If eating out is something you love, put gift cards on your birthday and Christmas list (and use coupons when you go out to make them go even further). Otherwise, think about your big financial goal or view it as something you are giving up until your finances increase.

8. Cut the Cable

Get rid of your paid television service. No more cable or dish.

It’s okay. I promise you’ll survive. I know these might be ones that don’t seem like an easy ways to save money on a tight budget. 😉

When we got rid of it several years ago I think my husband was pretty skeptical. It really hasn’t been that bad. Then take it a step further and don’t replace it with Hulu Plus, Amazon Prime, or Netflix. How much TV do we really need to watch anyway? Utilize your library, free Hulu, and free streaming on network sites so you can keep up with your favorite shows.

dollar bills with easy ways to save money on a tight budget on top.

9. Cheaper Cell Phone Rates

Cell phones are straight up expensive but there are a few things we’ve found to do to save money.

Save money by negotiating lower rates with your cell phone provider. We saved an additional $15 a month by talking to the retention department.
My husband has a smart phone and uses Google Voice instead of paying for a texting plan. It has its quirks, but it is fine for his needs.
Use a dumb phone. I’ve occasionally thought about getting a smart phone over the years but it’s something I can’t justify doing right now. An extra $15 to $30 a month might not seem like a lot, but all those things add up so I keep my basic talk only phone. (Yes, I even have texting turned off). Maybe after we get our house paid off or our income increases I’ll reconsider, but right now it works.
3 years later and I now have a smart phone. It wouldn’t have happened except that I was needing a new phone and we found a great deal and a new affordable plan.

10. DIY Lawn Care and Pest Control

Okay, so honestly weeds in the yard are something that doesn’t really bother me. Let them grow. (Bonus: it would mean no toxic chemicals I have to worry about.) My husband, on the other hand, can’t stand them. Plus it makes all your the people in your neighborhood upset if you don’t take care of your yard. Instead of paying a lawn care company to come take care of it, he went to the local lawn and garden store and got their recommendation on what to use and when. It takes a couple hours a few times a year but it saves a lot of money and we can put the money saved toward something else.

The same goes for spiders and insects. I’m not a lover of toxic chemicals being sprayed around the house, but I’m also really not a fan of venomous spiders (or actually any kind-of creepy crawly insect) in my house. You can pay someone or once again you can go to the local store and get recommendations for your area and do the spraying yourself.

11. Read Good Books!

Go to your local library and find some books with inspiration to help you come up with easy ways to save money each month. Try The Tightwad Gazette, More Than Just Making It, You Can Stay Home with Your Kids!: 100 Tips, Tricks, and Ways to Make It Work on a Budget or even Dave Ramsey. If your library doesn’t have any, don’t forget you can ask them to purchase or interlibrary loan them.

This is just the start of the easy ways to save money on a tight budget that we’ve used in our house. I think a part two might be coming.

Those little things that you don’t think make a difference really do add up. Put them together and you’ll find you are saving a decent amount!

What are some of your favorite easy ways to save money on a tight budget?

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plant and stack of coins with words easy ways to save money on a tight budget square stack of dollar bills saying easy ways to save money on a tight budget