With the 2011 holiday season being deemed a retail “success,” people are struggling with their debt in January 2012. Continuing with last week’s post, here are some ways to cut back reasonably painlessly in order to pay down your debt.
- Stop buying bottled waters or sodas – Instead of using the vending machine at work or school; buy a 12 or 24 pack of waters or sodas from the grocery store. At $0.75-$1.50 a pop, you can quickly save money by bringing your own from home. Also, remember to refill your water bottles from a fountain. If you don’t like faucet water, invest in a filter and get hundreds of clean refills!
- Replace your air filters – Remember to replace these in your furnace on the recommended schedule. They are inexpensive and will help keep your furnace running at its best efficiency. It will not only keep the air in your house cleaner, it will make your unit last longer and save you energy.
- Reduce your cable television package- Cable and Satellite prices keep rising every year. It is up to how much you actually watch TV, but now-a-days, most of the shows you watch on network TV can be found online for free. Cancel the extra channels that are going unused to free up some cash!
- Prepare and freeze meals – By cooking in advance, you’ll be less likely to splurge and go out to eat on nights you either don’t feel like cooking or don’t have the time. If they are already prepared, you can just pop them in the microwave or oven and stay in to save the cash. Visit the US Food Safety and Inspection Service website to see what foods can and cannot be frozen!
We’ll have more tips next week to help you save money to put towards repaying that holiday debt! Have any other ideas? Leave us a comment!
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