How would you like to earn more in 2020? Up to $4000 more?
The answer is not by earning more, although that can help, it’s by cutting back
on your daily expense. We work to earn a living. We live paycheck to paycheck.
Never have money left over at the end of the month? Where does it all go? You
can probably account for the majority of where your paycheck goes. Housing, vehicle
payments, college loan payments, bills, food. But where do all those other
dollars go?
You might be surprised how much cash you spend every day
without really knowing it. Let’s start with your transit to work. Long commute?
How much fuel do you use a week commuting? Are there ways you can reduce that? Public
transportation, cycling or walking to work? Do you have to pay for parking? If
you have to park in a downtown area anywhere in the county you are probably
spending $8-$12 or more per day. Can you find a less expensive place to park
even if it means walking a few extra blocks? A job where you don’t have to pay
for parking can save you $100-$200 a month.
How about the morning coffee? $30-$40 per month? Do you
bring your lunch or eat out every day? $3-$10 a day is another $60-$200 a
month. Don’t forget the snack out of the vending machine and your afternoon
soda break. There is another $35 a month.
If you add it up you are looking at spending $300 a month or
$3600 a year that it is costing you to work. These are just some of the daily
expenses you may have, not including other work-related expenses. Now divide
$300 a month by how much you make per hour and you will know how many hours you
need to work just to be able to work!
You don’t have to give up everything at once but if you
start to cut back now when you get your next raise you will have even more
money to put away. The easiest thing to do now is simply keeping track of your
daily expenses for the next few weeks. You may be surprised just how much you
are spending. Once you know where your money is going then you can start to cut
back.
Don’t get in the habit of going to the cash machine every
few days and where possible use an app to track the ins and out of your bank
accounts. If you want to keep more of your hard-earned dollars start to budget
today. You will be glad you did.
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