If you lost your income tomorrow or found that food prices went up again by another 50-100 percent, could you provide for your family? I have been discussing ways of using frugal living techniques to be prepared for worse economic times ahead. If you missed the first two posts, you can catch up here. Preparing for Worse Times Ahead and Preparing for Worse Times Ahead 2.
Now let’s talk about adding to that emergency fund.
You can also find little ways to make money even if you are at home or need to work around your kid’s schedules. Sell items you don’t need online. You would be surprised how quickly this can add up. Don’t spend this extra money, but put it away. You can also provide a service where you can either have your kids with you or do while they are in school or when your spouse is available. Some ideas include dog walking, cleaning houses and baby sitting.
Resist all of the great sales on items that you don’t need. If there is a way that the item will contribute to living frugally then this might be an exception, but be careful. Yes, that big TV may reduce your going out for entertainment, but so might $20-50 worth of board games. You want to avoid ringing up debt that you might not be able to pay for later. If your shoes have holes in them, go ahead and buy some new basic ones on sale, but tape up the old ones and use them in the house or in the garden to reduce wear on your good shoes.
Apply the good stewardship you have with your own money to good stewardship at work. Find new ways to save your employer money or discover new ways of being efficient. If you are valuable to your boss, he or she will look elsewhere when needing to make budget cuts. This may give you some additional job security.
Click here for more articles by Mary Ann Romans.
Appreciating the Little Things
75 Things You Can Do to Save Money
75 Things You Can Do to Save Money (2)
Pay for Your Gas with Your Scrap Metal
Are you subscribed to the Families.com Frugal Living Blog? With the click of a button, you can receive an email notification anytime a new blog is posted in the Families.com Frugal Living Blog!
Just look to the right of this blog and find the subscription center (it looks just like this picture, although you’ll have to find the “real” one just above the category listing ). Click on “Subscribe via Email”. You’ll be instantly subscribed and the email address that you registered at Families.com with will receive an instant notification whenever we post a new Frugal Living Blog! Don’t miss a thing – subscribe now!