Are you broke or living paycheck to paycheck? So many people seem to be today. With inflation so high which is causing the cost of everything to escalate, it is not easy for people to make ends meet.
It took President Biden( or whoever was running the show) 4 years to screw up this economy by printing and spending money constantly that we as a country do not have. Yet I hear people say that President Trump will fix this. They believe that the minute he comes into office, things will change. You can’t fix inflation that took 4 years to build at the snap of someone’s fingers. Will things get better? Yes. But it is going to take time. We have been through this before with President Carter. He was the nicest man but he screwed this country up really bad. It took 10 years to recover from his economics. So President Trump will do what he can to help the country recover but we have to do the best we can also. We can’t control the governments spending but we can control ours.
I believe that our new government will cut back expenses. But you have to cut back yours too. You have to control your budget. No one can do that for you. Whether you make $ 38,000. a year, $ 50,000. a year or $100,000. a year you can’t spend more than you bring home. Yes, there are people who make $100,000.+ who are living paycheck to paycheck. I have read or seen many stories about them.
You have to live below your means. You have to save an emergency fund for things that happen all the time. Cars break, appliances break, furnaces and A/C break, homes need maintenance, medical bills don’t get paid by insurance, taxes come due, car and homeowner’s insurances come due, etc.
These things happen to everyone. Just in the past week, Hubby had to pay up front for some expensive medical tests that he needed. The medical facility was not sure that medicare would pay on them. If medicare doesn’t pay on them, our secondary plan won’t either. We had the money because we are always adding to our savings. Just a little over a year ago, we had to put out about $6000. because our central air conditioning unit died. In December we had a custom railing installed so that I can get out on the patio. I could no longer get down the stairs without one. That was $1600. Things happen and you have to be prepared for them. We have paid our own property and school taxes every year since we bought our first house in 1969. We have never had escrow. We know these things are owed every year and we budget for them. We get our tax bills one day and pay them the next. Our car is getting old but is still going strong. But we know it won’t last forever. We save so that we can pay cash for our cars. We have been saving since day one of our marriage and that was when we only made $6,000. gross a year. Savings came ahead of everything and it always has. We pay our homeowner’s and car insurance in March when it is due. We have a yearly policy so that we pay less than if we paid twice a year. They are bundled so that we get a discount. If you haven’t checked around for cheaper insurance when your policy is expiring, do so. Going to an insurance agency will really help you. They will find you the cheapest insurance. We did that a couple of years ago and are very satisfied with the company they found us. They don’t raise our insurance much every year. Most of the raise is because we have a homeowner’s replacement policy.
But I know so many people are living way above their means. The credit card debt in this country is staggering. I read and hear about people who are now paying their credit card debt by taking out a home equity loan. The worst thing you can do is secure your credit card debt with your home. That is downright stupidity. If you can’t make the payments, the bank WILL take your home.
Certain bills HAVE to be paid every month: your mortgage, your taxes, your heat and electric, a telephone whether it be a landline or cellphone, your water bill, your garbage bill, your medical insurance, etc. You know what they are. Everyone’s are different.
Other bills can be cut! Start with your grocery bill and cut where you can. If you owe any kind of money, you should not be buying expensive rib eye steaks, prime rib, or beef tenderloins. You should be cooking from scratch because it is cheaper. Make your own breads, muffins, cakes, brownies, and pies, soups, stews, and everything else that you cook. Processed foods are expensive. Buy ground beef, pork or whole chickens, chicken thighs or legs. Chicken and beef prices are rising but these things I mention are still the cheapest. Eat beans and rice. They are full of protein and fiber. You don’t have to have a 3-4 course meal everyday. Eat oatmeal instead of eggs for breakfast. Make your own French fries, hash browns, and mashed potatoes. Cut one meal out each day. Hubby and I have only been eating two meals a day for years. If you have a stockpile, eat from it. Hubby and I are so that we can use up things so they don’t go bad. Don’t buy beverages; drink water. If you drink many cups of coffee a day, cut that in half. I now only drink 2 a day down from the 5 I used to drink. Cut out beer and alcohol. Do NOT waste any food. Eat leftovers for breakfast or the next night. Food is too expensive to throw away.
Eating out is an easy one to cut. Restaurants and take out are very expensive. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, this will save you a lot of money. You can buy a lot of groceries and make a lot of meals with the money you use to eat out.
Cut everywhere you can on your heating and electric bills. I have mentioned many things that we do. Just search saving on electric and gas bills. Start with cooking on a grill outside or picking the cheapest appliance to cook with. We use a small countertop oven. Before we owned that a toaster oven saved us a fortune. We cooked everything in it. We have snow on the ground right now so we are not cooking out. If the ground was bare, we would.
Wash your clothes in cold water. It will save on heating the water. Unless you get filthy while working, cold water and detergent will clean your clothes. Use just 3 tbsp. of detergent. More wears your machine out faster. If you have a stain, put a little detergent on that. Hang your clothes to dry outside in warm weather and in the basement in winter weather or somewhere in the house.
Go in and out of the house into the garage during cold weather. Before you open the garage door, close the door from the house. Don’t let the cold air in the house.
Check to see if there is a cheaper company who can pick up your garbage.
Use Gas Buddy to see who has the cheapest gasoline in your area. Use gasoline points when it is more economical to do so. Run all your errands once a week and fill up with gasoline when you are near the cheapest station. If you work from home, that is a great savings on gasoline.
Do not pay for entertainment if you are living paycheck to paycheck. You can’t afford it. There are many free things you can do.
Stay away from Amazon and other stores that will cause you to buy something you don’t need. If you don’t browse, you won’t see something you absolutely need that you really don’t. Don’t go shopping because you are bored.
If you have a pet, check prices just like you would on your food. Buy where it is the cheapest. Only buy your food when it is on sale. Then eat from your stockpile. If a certain meat is on sale, I will buy at least 2-3 packages. Enough to last until it goes on sale again. One exception is I buy organic ground beef on sale at Aldi’s in the three pack. I will buy 1-3 packages and then I will wait until it goes on sale again. I do the same for everything including mayonaise, ketchup, mustard, etc.
Rarely do I buy anything that is not on sale. If I need something, I will wait until it goes on sale. So check those sale flyers and see who has what on sale and then make your list. If you have to go to two stores, do it and buy more than one of the sale items in each store. Never buy anything that is not on your list. Set a weekly budget for food and stick to it. I really like when I am under my budget. For those that don’t know I cut my budget by $100. a month for 2025. My budget is $400. a month for two of us and family when they are visiting.
I have to get some things done around here. So you will learn more as I post it. If you are new here, go back and read my many posts. I have been doing this quite a while.
I just wanted to quickly tell you that I have not been on here in about a week or so because I am busy taking care of Hubby. He needs a knee replacement but the surgeon’s schedule is months out. He is in so much pain, I really have to help him with everything. The doctor put him on a large dose of Advil in the morning. It helps for about 4 hours but then he has to wait until bedtime. He is using a cane but he can’t carry anything. So I am doing everything including shoveling the walk and porch. I wish the snow would stop. It has been snowing 2 and 1/2 weeks here. Just a few inches at a time but it is an annoyance every day. The only place I have been is driving Hubby to Doctor’s appointments. April or May can’t come soon enough for him and me. Also Eloise is sensing that something is wrong so she is stressed. I have been trying to write this for many hours today but I keep having to get up to get something for Hubby or to play with Eloise.
I am off to shovel again, bring the garbage and recyclable cans into the garage now that the garbage men came, and get the mail.
I am hoping I can find the time to write posts but please excuse me if I am not on here every day.
