Have you heard the expression “there’s too much month left at the end of the money?” If your family is feeling squeezed by the rising cost of housing, childcare and grocery prices, this quip could be a reality. The following creative ideas can help reduce financial strain. Even better, most of them won’t change your quality of life.
Savings start at home
These tips help save on your most important investment and necessity, a safe abode.
Rent your basement, extra bedroom, or garage. This can generate more house money. When I was in college, I rented a basement apartment from a couple with children. I babysat for a set number of hours each month, and they charged me an affordable rent. It was a win-win!
Check in on your PMI: Homeowners purchase PMI when they don’t make at least a 20 percent downpayment. Lenders don’t automatically contact you when you qualify to cancel. Also, if the value of your home has gone up, your loan to value ratio may be less than 80 percent which can qualify cancellation.
Recast your mortgage: Recasting is when you make a lump-sum payment toward the principal and your lender recalculates your monthly payment based on a new, lower balance. It’s possible to use extra payments you have made in the past to recast, or you could use a tax refund, bonus, or raise.
Cut the cost but keep it cozy
Here are some ways to keep utilities from being a drain.
Give up the ghost: Standby, or phantom, power, is energy that household items use when they are off, but plugged in. Items with digital displays, computers with monitors and printers can be standby power hogs. Unplug everything at night and monitor the bill for a month. For more information, visit https://standby.lbl.gov/.
Stop flushing money down the toilet: The largest percentage of water usage in American homes is in the bathroom. The average toilet guzzles up to five gallons of water compared to the 1.3 gallons used by high-efficiency tanks. For more information, go to EPA.gov and look for the WaterSense logo, or to figure individual household water consumption, go to CSGNetwork.com and then type in “Water consumption Calculator.”
YouTube it: Leaky toilet? Expensive car repair? YouTube has DIY tutorials. Even if you can’t fix it, you’ll gain knowledge to make the thriftiest choices when hiring help.
Think beyond day care
Finding affordable child care is tough. Here are some fresh ideas.
Try a nanny share: If you know another family that needs child care, you can hire a nanny together. Each family would save about a third of what they would typically pay for child care.
Flex your dollars: If you have a flexible spending account with your employer, contribute pretax dollars for child care.
Explore Employee Assistance Programs: Employer Assistance programs help with childcare by giving direct payments or contributing to a flex account to employees with children.
Shop with intention
Trade in those latte trips and Target runs for these shopping savings.
Be a cherry picker: Try some Buy One Get One free items (BOGOs). On average, the rest of the items in the store cost more. When cherry picking, buy the sales items, but save other shopping for less expensive stores.
Let someone else grocery shop for you: Grocery pick-up saves time, stops impulse buys, and keeps a running total during online shopping. Some stores still take paper coupons even if you use pick-up. There are also annual plans to have your groceries delivered every week.
Stretch out fuel miles: Use a gas app like Upside, GasBuddy or Waze to find the best fuel prices in your area. Properly inflate tires, change the air filter and go easy on the gas and brakes. Don’t carry sports equipment or other heavy loads unless necessary.
Be a Dollar Tree hugger: Dollar Tree sells party items like helium balloons, paper plates, napkins, cutlery and greeting cards inexpensively. It also has great prices on school and office supplies, craft supplies, seasonal decorations, over-the-counter medications and plastic containers.
Tap into your circle: Who else in your friend and family network needs to save money? Don’t be shy about reaching out to share ideas.
Barter: Are you good at baking and decorating birthday cakes? Maybe you know someone who takes professional quality photos. Trade services with a friend and save.
Swap party: Get needed items free by organizing a swap party. Decide on a theme. Be clear about how to rate the condition of items and how many items each guest contributes. Send a listing of items and agree on ways to make exchanges if your party is online.
Switch up the ways you save.
Here are some unconventional ways to put more money in the bank.
Find missing money: You could be missing money and not know it. For example, if you moved and a utility company owed you a deposit and couldn’t contact you, the money went into an unclaimed property fund. To learn more, visit usa.gov/unclaimed-money. To search your name for missing money, go to missingmoney.com or unclaimed.org.
Round up savings: Trick yourself into saving money rounding to the nearest dollar when you record a check. At the end of the month, you’ll have a surplus. Many banks offer this feature, or use a round up app.
Start a “kick it” jar: Unhealthy habits and shopping addictions are costly. When the urge to splurge strikes, put money in the jar. As you see the money grow, so will resolve to kick the habit. Getting creative with finances can be fun. Shake up your savings strategies to be thrifty and thriving. Hopefully there will be a little more money in your pocket at the end of the month!
Janeen Lewis is a nationally published writer, teacher and mom to Andrew and Gracie.
