Saving Money During the Holidays

As the holidays approach, people are starting to shop. If you don't moniter your payments and how much you're planning to spend and how much you spent, your cash can get out of hand and you'll wonder where it went. Plan your shopping trips and clip as many coupons as you can to save some money.

Start by writing how much you've spent on all holiday products in a notebook. Also make sure you keep your receipts even if you don't think you're going to return anything. It's good to save your receipts just in case something breaks or something went wrong, you can return it and not lose any money.

Clip coupons! Getting to this time of year again, everyone is looking to save money and stores are looking for ways to pull you in and buy from them. There are plenty of coupons and sales on food and products. If you know you're going to need canned cranberry sauce, buy it earlier rather than later just in case prices go up.

Things like video games are good to buy a month or so early. If the game just came out, they will sell fast and prices might also go up, hours before the holidays. Usually the earlier you purchase, the cheaper it will be.

Follow these steps to save some cash. Holidays can be extremely stressful on families when they feel they don't have enough money. Just relax and try to be conservative and everything will be fine.

A Little Extra Money

If you have already eliminated the need for credit cards in your life but you haven't quite payed off your debt, there are a few ways to make some extra money. Some ways are online, and others are things that might be laying around your house. They might not bring in so much money that you're able to pay off all your debt, but they can be helpful.

One is to write articles online for eHow. They pay you for writing articles and after you've earned $10, they'll send you a payment through PayPal at the end of the month. The important thing is to write articles that people are going to be looking for. You also need to get a good foundation. The first month you might not make a huge hit but that payment goes up and up every month.

Have a yard sale. You probably have a ton of things around your house that you could be making decent money off of. Whether it's old toys that your kids don't play with anymore or a brand new computer that has a broken part, people will be willing to buy. Even if you don't make a ton of money, you'll still be cleaning your house, garage, basement and attic out.

Another helpful hint is to save your change. Usually after you go shopping or even after getting a coffee, you end up with a pocket full of change. Place an empty jelly jar on your bureau and every night when you're getting undressed, empty your change into the jar. After a few months, roll the coins and then trade them in for cash at the bank. If you don't want a ton of change, use it when you buy something. Cashiers like change so they don't have to open a roll of coins.

Combine all your errands into one trip to save gas. This not only helps because you're not driving as much, but because you use more gas when your car is cold. When you combine your trips, it stays warm. You don't have to take your car to the shop as much either. Also ride with friends to work. Ride in their car one day and in yours the next. You save mileage on both of your cars, you save time between services and you save gas.

Living Without Credit Cards

Credit cards have taken over a lot of lives in the past few years because people think, "Great, a free loan!" The problem with that is that they don't keep track of how much they're spending and how quickly they'll be able to pay it back. There's a reason why credit card companies are so successful. They are great to have, but when people misuse them, things go downhill and they make tons of cash because so many people that own them aren't able to pay them back right away. The interet just keeps rising and rising. People that get into credit card debt are usually people who don't have a lot of money in the first place because if they did, they probably wouldn't be using them. By following these steps, you will affectively eliminate the need for credit cards in your household because you will have paid off your debt and saved enough money to buy what you need or want.

The first step to living without credit cards is to cut them up. Cut every single one up and cancel them if need be. The reason you want to do this is because you won't pressure yourself to use it. There will be no pressure if there's nothing there besides cash, a debit card or a check. You're already living life without credit cards and are on your way to being debt free.

Next, you want to learn where to put your money and how much to save so you can follow your budget. You should sit down once a month and plan your budget. That includes putting away the needed amount of cash for heat, electrcity, groceries, clothes etc. The money that you would be spending on your credit card bills, put in the bank once you've paid your bebt off. You could use a debit card, but if there's a charge, you could just subtract an appropriate amount of cash to spend on groceries, clothes or gas.

When the monthly bill comes for your credit cards, make sure to never pay the minimum balance due on your bill. The minimum balance is what your credit card company wants you to pay so they make more money off of you. Pay as much over the minimum balance due to pay off your debts quicker.

If you're trying to completely eliminate the need for credit cards in your life, you need to get rid of them. Get them out of your house so you can live without them. Remember, there's a reason why the companies are so successful. Learn how to budget properly and save the money that you would be spending on your credit card. Check into getting a debit card if it's free with your bank. Another important step is to make sure you pay more than your minimum balance due so you can easily pay off your bills and not get yourself stuck with climbing interest payments.