personal finance
Nickel and Dime-ing You Way to Love
As the economy has spiraled downward, many of us have had to re-evaluate our budgets. This may mean cutting back on going out to dinner, going to the movie theater, or going out on dates—what NO dating? Now, relax, you don’t have to give up dating. Just because you are on a budget doesn’t mean that you can’t do anything special for your dating partner. You just need to plan out and find ways you could be saving money for your dating experiences.
First, make of list of things that you can live without. Maybe, you stop every day at the local coffee shop for a latte and danish. What does that set you back–$5.00? If you made coffee at home and ate at home, you could save $25.00 a week. All right, so you don’t drink coffee, but you eat out for lunch every day during the work week. Same concept as the coffee. Just bring your lunch from home, and you save at least $25.00 a week. Again, the money you saved can be put into your dating fund.
Secondly, make a habit of gathering up loose change and putting it in one place. You will be amazed how much money you can find by searching your pockets before doing laundry, looking in the couch cushions. Also, ask your bank if you can deposit this change into your savings and checking account, but be careful since some banks charge fees for this service.
Finally, look for ways that you can reduce costs. For example, if you live near public transportation, take the bus or subway rather than driving yourself. Maybe you and a co-worker live near each other, you could always suggest car-pooling. This has the immediate money savings, but also save wear and tear on your vehicle.
As you plan your budget, if you follow these saving techniques, you can have a great date that won’t break the bank. Your dating experience will help relieve your financial stress and not add too it!
How to keep an eye on your personal finance
When the state of the economy and public finances are in such doldrums, you will have no recourse but to look closely at the condition of you personal finance. This involves having a close look at your income and expenditure statements so that you are able to balance the two and remain solvent. There are a lot of people who paid scant attention to personal finance when the going was good. They took out huge mortgages, ran up credit card debt and generally made a lot of bad personal finance choices. Is it any wonder that when the economy ran aground, these people were left high and dry, with no solution in sight?
This is why when you want to look at your personal finance, do consider how much money came in, net of tax and also how much money you spent and on what items. After all, people who are poor in personal finance do not watch their expenses and often end up paying more than what they actually should be. They borrow way above their ability to repay and then lament when the creditors come knocking wildly on the doors. If you are wise, you would make a budget and have your personal finance in order by living according to the budget.