Money is a major source of stress in our lives, and it just never feels like there’s enough to go around and cover costs. Looking for ways to cut back on unnecessary spending to gain some financial freedom? Ready to make small lifestyle changes to increase your savings and pay off debt? Read on.
You’re Dealing with Debt
One of the reasons that someone might look to cut back on their spending is to increase the amount of money they put towards their debt repayment. For those with large sums of student or credit card debt, the knowledge that you need to make these payments can be stressful. For one, you don’t know how to handle all your payments.
What’s more, debt collectors can be aggressive and sometimes downright intrusive. For financial assistance from qualified financial professionals like Licensed Insolvency Trustees (formerly known as bankruptcy trustees) and credit counsellors, click here for more info about the steps you can take to address and eradicate your debt. With their help, you can establish a debt recovery plan and put a stop to those debt collection calls.
Use Public Transportation
There’s an unsavory quote from the “Iron Lady” herself, Margaret Thatcher, about public transportation. She once said that, “A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure.” For many of us today who are concerned about carbon emissions and saving the planet, taking public transportation can be a smart and socially conscious way to travel.
Some cities have more established transportation systems than others, so using public transportation is relative to your location. Still, taking public transportation is an easy way to save money on transportation while also relieving yourself of the costs that comes with car ownership.
Carpool or Use a Rideshare Program
If driving makes more sense that taking public transportation, then consider alternative ways of using a car. These days, people are getting creative with the ways that they share things like cars and homes, with a boom in the sharing economy seen through recent business booms from Uber, Lyft, and AirBnB.
To cut back on the costs that come with regular car payments, insurance, parking, gas, and maintenance — try using a ride sharing program that lets you easily rent a car whenever you need it. You can also carpool with coworkers or friends and split the cost of gas with each other, another way to reduce the amount of money you spend on a car.
Change Your Cell Phone Plan
Do you really need a phone that lets you check social media every hour? Are you paying for phone series that you don’t actually need, but simply use because you have them? You can save a lot of money by going for a bare-bones cell phone plan.
Look for minor carriers with good service that offer contract-less service. After all, we’re constantly hearing about all of the ways cell phones are bad for us. Scaling back on your mobile use will save your money while improving your health and happiness, too.
