Most bang for your buck

 I been working on developing a frugal style that works for me and my
wife.  I wanted to ask where do you see the most savings for the least
amount of time and effort.

The obvious answers that suggested themselves to me were (I could be
talking out of my backside but I am writing trying to figure that out)

1. Have at a single credit card that is used and payed each month in
order to insure good credit history and secure emergency cash
flow(although a cash reserve should be created as soon as practical),
do not use cash more than necessary as it is more difficult to track.
Use long term credit only when the purchased item is a necessity and
the interest rate is lower than what your investments are currently
bringing in.

2. Information,  track every purchase that you reasonable can.  That
allows you to more accurately compare your actual spending to your
budget, and decide if the budget or the spending is unreasonable.

3. More information, beware of assumptions about where your money is
going.  Track energy use, and service costs, even when those costs may
be deducted directly from your paycheck by your employer.

4. Even more information, pay attention to what alternatives are
available, that includes everything from generic food and drugs to cars
and life insurance. Entertainment is a major one here as so many
alternatives exist.

5. Yet more information, take stock of what is essential to you, write
down your priorites and give them a relative rating of importance.
Write down where your time and money are going and compare the numbers.


Ghostwriter

 

That'll backfire on you.  If you spend cash (as opposed to purchasing with
check/debit card/credit card), you have a better idea of how much REAL money
you are spending.  Studies have shown that if you spend cash on the same
types of purchases, you tend to spend LESS, as you are more aware that you
are spending money.  -Dave

 
Forgot to add, that's exactly why casinos and arcades, etc., want you to buy
chips/tokens.  Even if each token is worth 25 cents, you will spend more
tokens than quarters.  -Dave

 Mike T. wrote:

Good advice, I read that people typically spend 30% more during a
"purchase session"  when using a CC because a CC seems like play money.

I know people who were in constant CC debt and the way they got away
from it is to write out a budget and use cash for everything possible.

 

Depends on what kind of person you are. Some can handle credit, some can't.

If you are the former, get two Citi rebate cards and you'll get $600 back
per year. Track your purchases online and you will see what you are wasting
money on. Never carry a balance.

You will probably buy more with a CC just because it is EASIER. So drop and
do 10 pushups each time you use it....LOL