{"id":37116,"date":"2011-09-27T16:30:05","date_gmt":"2011-09-28T00:30:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=37116"},"modified":"2011-09-27T18:20:02","modified_gmt":"2011-09-28T02:20:02","slug":"how-to-save-money","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=37116","title":{"rendered":"How To Save Money"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Most people find it easier to cut spending rather than increase income.<\/p>\n<p>Over the past 17 years, I&#8217;ve maximized my personal freedom by cutting my expenses. I like doing what I want to do when I want to do it.<\/p>\n<p>Here are some money saving basics:<\/p>\n<p>* Eat at home rather than at restaurants. Do without the Starbucks coffee. Make your own. Pack your own lunch. Don&#8217;t go out drinking. <\/p>\n<p>* Drop your home phone and rely on your cell phone. Drop your cable and rely on Netflix streaming for just $8 a month.<\/p>\n<p>* Make a list before you go grocery shopping. Don&#8217;t do it on an empty stomach. Keep an eye on the expiration dates for perishable goods. <\/p>\n<p>* Buy in bulk and buy generic. <\/p>\n<p><A HREF=\"http:\/\/www.dumblittleman.com\/2008\/01\/30-easy-ways-to-save-money-and-no-you.html\">More tips<\/a>:<\/p>\n<p>Use grocery store bags to line trash cans: This may not work if you use a massive trash can but we use a small sized one for which the grocery bags are a perfect fit. This not only helps us save some money, but reduces our environmental foot print and avoids the kitchen from stinking from a huge overflowing trash can.<\/p>\n<p>Consolidate and pay off debt as soon as possible: If you carry any debt, focus on consolidating it to a lower interest and paying it off as soon as possible. Money paid in interest is money thrown away! Why spend your hard-earned cash to make the financial institutions rich?<\/p>\n<p>Pay your bills on time and avoid late fees: Get organized about your regular bills. If possible, automate the payments. Most utilities and other recurring bills can be set to be charged to a credit card or deducted from a checking account these days. Also, many banks offer free bill pay programs. So there really is no excuse for forgetting to pay a bill on time and forking out the late fees. Say, by chance you do forget a bill, if you are a first time offender, call the company and request politely to waive the late fees, and more likely than not, they will oblige.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most people find it easier to cut spending rather than increase income. Over the past 17 years, I&#8217;ve maximized my personal freedom by cutting my expenses. I like doing what I want to do when I want to do it. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=37116\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162],"tags":[27926,27929,27928,27925,27927,18980],"class_list":["post-37116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-economics","tag-empty-stomach","tag-perishable-goods","tag-personal-freedom","tag-starbucks-coffee","tag-time-offender","tag-trash-cans"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t<!-- All in One SEO 4.9.9 - aioseo.com -->\n\t<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Most people find it easier to cut spending rather than increase income. 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