Beating Broke

4 Ways to Find Extra Money to Put on Debt

January 9, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

If you’re in debt, the common advice to get out of debt as quickly as possible is to get a second job and/or sell stuff. But for some people, getting a second job isn’t an option, and there’s only so much stuff around the house you can sell. However, there are 4 small ways to find extra money to put on debt that aren’t labor intensive but can make an impact on your debt reduction.

4 Ways to Find Extra Money to Put on Debt

You may have more money than you realize that can be mobilized to pay down your debt:

Practice Doing Without a Bit of Money Each Week

For instance, the first four weeks that you do this, just take $1 out of your budget a week to go toward debt repayment. That is only $4 for the first 4 weeks, which almost anyone can do. The next four weeks, make it $2 a week, so now you have $8 for the next four weeks going on debt. By the last four-week cycle of the year, you’re at $13 a week, or $52 extra to go on debt for those four weeks. At the end of a full year, you will have put an additional $364 on your debt.

Save All of Your Change

4 Ways to Find Extra Money to Pay Down Debt — Photo by Josh Appel on Unsplash

If you make a habit of paying in cash, try to save the change that you receive rather than spending it. I used to do this quite regularly, and we would have anywhere from $250 to $300 in change at the end of the year, all of which can be put on debt.

Have a No Spend Month

At least once a year, try to have a no spend month. You can decide if you want the no spend month to be only for groceries, or also for entertainment. Now, this doesn’t mean that you don’t spend at all but that you try to avoid any extraneous purchases. You might “need” to spend $300 on groceries for the month so you stay stocked in produce, milk, bread, etc., but if you usually spend $600 a month on groceries, your no spend grocery month will have netted you $300 in extra money. Some people also say no to eating out or other entertainment during the no spend month to increase their savings.

Roll Extra From Any Budget Category Onto Debt

Let’s say you budget for $700 a month for groceries, but one month, there were great deals at the grocery store, and you only spent $643. You can take that extra $57 and roll it onto debt. Likewise, if your internet bill is $75 a month, but you call up your provider and negotiate a deal and now only have to pay $56 a month for the next 12 months, roll the savings of $19 each month onto your debt.

If, at the end of the month, you sweep all of the extra from any budget category onto your debt, you’ll likely have anywhere from a few dollars to a few hundred dollars to put on your debt.

Windfall Money

Any time you have unexpected money come your way, put it toward your debt. You just got $1,600 back on your tax return? Put it on your debt. You got back a surprise $48 from your former employer? Put it on your debt. You use Rakuten regularly and just got a Big Fat Check for $7.47? Put it on your debt. No amount is too small.

Final Thoughts

While the common advice to pay down debt faster is to get a side gig, if you can’t do that, know that there are many other ways, even on a tight budget, that you can accelerate your debt repayment process.

What other ways have you found to pay down debt more quickly without getting a second job?

Incidentally, if you’re reading this because you’re in debt, but looking to get out of it, consider surfing over to our debt free family, they have a nice set of debt reduction tools that you might find helpful, here.

The Worst Way to Prepare When Expecting a Baby

January 6, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

When you see two pink lines on a pregnancy test, you may be ecstatic and ready to go into full on nesting mode, buying clothes, diapers, and other items. However, doing that can actually be the worst way to prepare when expecting a baby.

Here’s some of the poor purchases expectant parents make that they later regret:

Buying Diapers in Bulk

There are two problems with buying diapers in bulk that most first-time parents don’t think of.

Your Baby May Be Bigger or Smaller Than You Think

You don’t know what size your baby will be when born or how quickly he will grow. Some babies are tiny and stay in the smallest size diapers for months, while others outgrow them within a few weeks.

Before we had our first child, several people gifted us with size 1 diapers. The problem? Our son came 17 days overdue, and he was almost 10 pounds. Plus, he grew rapidly. He only fit in those size 1 diapers for a few weeks, and we had plenty of leftovers. We saved those for future kids, but all of our kids were over 9 pounds and fit in those diapers for just a few weeks.

Your Child May Be Allergic to a Certain Type of Diaper

Many babies develop a rash when using a certain type of diaper, and may need to be seen by a pediatric urgent care doctor in order to get treatment and help you figure out what might have happened to cause this. What type of diaper, though, depends on the baby. My friend had oodles of Pampers, but her baby broke out in a rash when using Pampers. She could only use Huggies, so the stash she had of Pampers went unused.

Buying All Your Own Items

The Worst Way to Prepare When Expecting a Baby — Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Many expectant parents rush out to buy a play pen, crib, high chair, etc. But why? Chances are that, thanks to the generosity of coworkers, relatives, and friends, you will likely have several baby showers where you will get almost, if not all, of the items you need.

When we had our baby showers, we got every big items we needed such as a baby stroller, crib, baby bath tub, etc.

Buying Items In Gender Dominant Colors

When we had our baby showers, we didn’t yet know the gender of the baby, which turned out to be a blessing. We asked for gender neutral items and could reuse them for the next baby, regardless of sex. Our first child was a boy, but our next two were girls.

Time and time again, I see parents who are expecting a girl and buy every large baby item in pink. Then, when the next child is a boy, they have to buy these items all over again and vice versa. Don’t make this mistake. If you plan on having several children, buy gender neutral large items.

Final Thoughts

Children come with many, many expenses. In fact, most parents find that the expenses grow as the child grows older, and they continue until the child graduates from college. The worst way to prepare when expecting a baby is to rush out immediately and stock up on diapers and buy big ticket baby items. Instead, save your money for future child-related items and enjoy your pregnancy.

5 Easy Ways to Cut Electric and Gas Expenses

January 2, 2020 By MelissaB Leave a Comment

If you’d like to find a little extra money in your budget to put toward savings or toward debt repayment, take a close look at your budget and your daily living habits. Chances are, you can make small changes such as these 5 easy ways to cut electric and gas expenses that can free up a little money without making significant changes to your lifestyle.

Run Major Appliances at Night

Call your electric company to find out when “peak” energy usage days and times are. If you run major appliances such as washing machines, dryers, and dishwashers during off-peak times, you may be charged a lower rate, lowering your overall electric bill. Some companies automatically have these peak and off peak times while others require that you sign up for a special program to take advantage of the lower rates during off peak times.

Lower Your Furnace Temperature in the Winter

How low can you go? If you normally set your thermostat at 70 degrees in the winter, try to go down to 68 or 69. You might not notice much of a difference, but you will see a decrease in your heating bill. Each winter try to lower the temperature another degree until you reach the point where you’re uncomfortable, and then move up a bit.

Raise Your A/C Temperature in the Summer

Just like your furnace temperature in the winter, raise your air conditioner temperature in the summer. We started out with our air conditioner set at 78 degrees, raised it to 79 the next year, and then 80 the year after that. We found 80 a bit uncomfortable, so we settled at 79. Just moving the temperature up a degree in our hot Arizona summers made a $50 to $75 difference in our air conditioning bill, depending on the month.

Use a Programmable Thermostat

5 Easy Ways to Cut Electric and Gas Expenses — Photo by Dan LeFebvre on Unsplash

A less uncomfortable way to save on your electric or gas is to invest in a programmable thermostat. When you’re going to be out of the house, lower the temperature for heat or raise it for air conditioning, and then program it to go back to the normal temperature that you usually have it on 30 minutes before you’re to arrive home. At night, you might lower the heat, too. You won’t have to do anything once you program the thermostat, but you’ll be saving money.

Unplug Small Appliances When Not in Use

The easiest way to do this is to have them all on the same power strip and simply unplug it when you’re not using the appliances. If you don’t want to put them on a power strip, simply unplug each appliance when not in use. For instance, we have a printer that we use only once or twice a week. This would be an easy appliance to unplug when not in use. You’ll see a small reduction in your electricity bill because even when appliances are not in use but are plugged in, they take energy.

If you’re utility bills are higher than you would like, these 5 easy ways to cut electric and gas expenses can help you save money, giving you more money to use elsewhere in the budget.

What other ways would you suggest to save money on electric and gas bills? Have you noticed a difference using any of the above strategies?