by Jana Martin

Created on: August 24, 2008   Last Updated: September 12, 2008

Living on a tight budget is not easy to do when you feel there is no end in sight. Our first encounter of living on a tight budget came when my husband was laid off from a company he had been with for ten years. It was quite a shock to our system but it was during this time that we learned some valuable lessons of how to stretch our budget.

Examine Your Lifestyle. Are you living within your means or putting everything on a credit card? If you are doing the latter, it's time to stop. Have more than one credit card take the one that has the lowest interest rate and cut the rest up. Call up your card company and see if you can lower your interest rate than put that card somewhere far away from your wallet. Whether it's in a safety box or in your freezer keep it in a place where you have to wait and think about the purchase you are about to make.

Find Your Money Pits. What is your device eating out or buying new shoes? Examine how much per month you spend on your money pits and then scale back. Buy a new pair of shoes each week scale it back to once a month. Eat out every other day eat out only once a week or even better once a month.

Saving Time and Money. One of fastest ways to eat up any extra money you have is on your food and gas bill. Shopping discount food stores, using coupons, growing your own food, eliminating eating out and limiting the amount of junk and prepackaged foods will help you save money on your food bill. Learn how to grocery shop once a month. Pick a day where you have the whole day to do errands and grocery shop. Find someone to carpool with. Live close to work walk or bike. Limit activities that require you to go long distances. Have a gas-guzzling car? Shop for a car that has better gas mileage around the end of year when they are trying to get rid of last year models.

By implementing these quick tips to your budget, you will begin to find room to start paying off bills and saving money in no time.

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