Ben
Having a monthly budget is great. Improving your monthly budget is even better! This article will help you do just that. I have listed 4 ideas to help you improve your monthly budget and overall personal finances.
Replace One Expensive Meal with One Cheap Meal Every Month
If you are like me then you probably go out to eat every so often. Try to gauge how often you go out monthly. Make a committed decision to cut out one of the higher priced dining experiences with an outrageously cheap alternative.
For example, I go to brunch on Saturday mornings. I decided that once every month I would skip brunch and the 35$ check that came with it. Instead, I eat 2 eggs and toast at home which costs me under a 1$.
This move saves me 34$ a month or 408$ every year!
Rent Out a Room
If you have space you can drastically improve your monthly budget by renting out a room. If you are able to charge 600$ a month then you will drastically improve your monthly budget and earn an extra 7,200$ a year!! That kind of savings is huge.
Creative Side Hustle for Fun
One of the best ways to improve your monthly budget is to make more money. The problem with this is that it typically means more work for less pay. However, I bet if you are creative and give this some thought you can use your unique situation to come up with a side hustle that’s fun and quite profitable per hour.
The trick is to leverage the unique aspects of your life and talents. For example, I work for a tree service. I also like to work out and go to the gym. So I came up with the idea of selling firewood. Whenever we come across some logs that are going to be dumped I take them home instead. Then on weekends instead of going to the gym, I split wood for a few hrs the old fashioned way. By the time it’s winter, I have thousands of dollars of firewood to sell. The wood cost me nothing and I get a great workout on the weekend.
Another fun side hustle is blogging. I have always liked business and finance so I started a personal finance and small business blog. I have a lot of fun doing it and there are many ways to monetize a website.
Improving Your Current Debt Management and Spending Habits
My final idea is a bit broader. I wanted to leave it this way because your unique situation will ultimately dictate the best financial move here.
I’m convinced everyone can save a bundle by changing the way they are spending money or managing their debt.
For instance, if you are not giving any thought to how you use credit cards and make purchases then by simply making sure you are utilizing smart credit card habits you may be able to save thousands of dollars a year.
Also, many people have high-interest loans that could be consolidated by a home equity loan or another financing method.
I’m a believer that if you are truly honest with yourself and take a good hard look at your spending, purchasing, and borrowing habits that you will find an obvious way to make a smart financial change and save a bundle.
