{"id":2953,"date":"2012-03-06T09:30:44","date_gmt":"2012-03-06T14:30:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/?p=2953"},"modified":"2012-03-03T21:23:40","modified_gmt":"2012-03-04T02:23:40","slug":"how-to-save-money-right-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Save Money Right Now"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Recently at a sort-of tech-related Christian meta-blog called Digital Sojourner, I wrote a series of articles on the perfect PC Bible<\/a>. In one of the posts I mentioned that you can\u2019t just up and buy a laptop: you need to research, you need to plan, and you need to save<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But how can a Christian, or anybody really, save money to buy a car, or a house, or get an engagement ring or whatever? If I were a bit less me, I\u2019d say it this way: how can a Christian be a good steward of his or her money? Too often our purchasing habits are restricted to seasonal shopping (because we think that\u2019s when we deserve it) or to an impulse buy with the intent to pay things back at a later date.<\/p>\n

Now mind you, my pocket is tight. With three homeschooled kids and a recent move to a more expensive neighborhood, and a salary that is still short of what I made several years ago, finances are rough. I write this post for myself; feel free to look over my shoulder.<\/p>\n

So here are a lucky\u00a0fourteen\u00a0<\/strong>ways, in no particular order, that you can save money, right now.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

One: Don\u2019t have the money, don\u2019t buy it<\/strong>. Credit is so easy and this is so hard. This gets complicated when it comes to purchasing a house or a business, but it functions as a general rule.<\/p>\n

Two: Consolidate debt.<\/strong> You don\u2019t want multiple credit cards with varied minimum payments that aren\u2019t impacting the debt. If you can, consolidate your debt onto a single low interest card or a single low-interest loan leaving you better off in terms of budgeting and debt reduction.<\/p>\n

Three: Budget.<\/strong> Consider all your monthly expenses and all your incoming dollars. When you see it in black and white, you\u2019ll know how dire your situation really is and what you can easily trim. (Budget Simple<\/a>, Mint.Com<\/a>)<\/p>\n

Four: No one needs<\/em> cable.<\/strong> With high speed internet ranging anything from $14 \u2013 150 a month, you can watch most of your favorite television shows right on hulu<\/a>. And in fact, if you have a modern television with a digital tuner, and live close enough to a television transmitter, you can probably get all of your regular network channels over the air with an $11 antenna. Check this antenna guide<\/a> to see what you can do.<\/p>\n

Five: Smart phones aren\u2019t smart.<\/strong> If you run your own business it\u2019s a different story, but \u00a0you probably don\u2019t need a smart phone or the required 30 dollar a month data package. Quite honestly, if you don\u2019t travel outside of your neighborhood you might not even need a two year contract. Check out the network of TracPhones<\/a> or a similar<\/a> product<\/a> which offer smart phones for more than half of what you would normally pay with one of the big companies. And when that\u2019s all said and done, take a hard look at your land-line and ask \u201cif I have a cell phone, do I really need that?\u201d And no, you don\u2019t save money with those fancy triple packages.<\/p>\n

Six: Save on your commute.<\/strong> Living closer to work saves on gas (and more<\/a>); you can even ride your bike<\/a> there. If you can\u2019t, use public transportation. And if you can\u2019t do that, car pool. And if you can\u2019t do that, have a conversation with your boss about telecommuting<\/a> one day a week.<\/p>\n

Seven:<\/strong> You probably don\u2019t need it. <\/strong>A new shirt? New boots? New shoes? If you really need it, check your local Consignment Shop or the Good Will<\/a>. Unless it\u2019s an interview. Then yeah, you do need it.<\/p>\n

Eight: Be a smart grocery shopper.<\/strong> Don\u2019t shop when you\u2019re hungry so that you don\u2019t make impulse buys. Make a list that falls within your budget. Use coupons but only on products you normally buy. Family packages of meat are a great savings especially if you split it up into zip-lock containers and freeze them until you use them. Use a freezer. Don\u2019t bother with Costco\u2019s: the bulk size items are usually not that well priced when you compare ounces to ounces and the membership fee is an unnecessary cost. Combine your shopping trips with other activity. If you pass the supermarket from work, that\u2019s two birds with one stone.<\/p>\n

Nine: Automatic deposit into a savings account.<\/strong> You can usually set this up with your employer. I would suggest something manageable at first, like $25 dollars into savings, the rest into your checking account, every pay check. If you can\u2019t set it up with your employer, you can set it up with your bank by having an automatic transfer to your savings every two weeks. Again, just start with something small at first.<\/p>\n

Ten: 401K is good; company matching is great.<\/strong> If your company has a dollar matching with a 401k then contribute up to that dollar amount. That extra from the company is like a pay raise that rewards you at retirement.<\/p>\n

Eleven: Mind your taxes<\/strong>. If you\u2019re freelancing, save about 45% of every dollar for taxes down the road. If you file the EZ tax form, you can probably do it yourself via the phone but if you\u2019re a homeowner, or have kids, or run a business, or are a landlord\u2014get an accountant. The $200-300 that it costs to cover the accountant will be rewarded with their expertise and knowledge of new tax rules. They can answer questions which computer programs don\u2019t know to ask.<\/p>\n

Twelve: Share finances with your spouse.<\/strong> If you keep the finances a secret two things are possible: (1) you might spend in secret and thus dig a hole in secret or (2) your spouse might spend unknowingly. Get your spouse involved in budgeting and bills so that you\u2019ll both be aware of the current financial situation.<\/p>\n

Thirteen: Careful with Seasonal Sales<\/strong>. Sometimes the prices are good; sometimes they aren\u2019t. Black Friday is notorious for selling product whose prices had been inflated for weeks before to make the drop look dramatic. Use tools like Camel Camel Camel<\/a> to trend product prices before buying.<\/p>\n

Fourteen: Pack your lunch.<\/strong> Don’t bother eating out. Cook a big dinner and take leftovers to work or school.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Recently at a sort-of tech-related Christian meta-blog called Digital Sojourner, I wrote a series of articles on the perfect PC Bible. In one of the posts I mentioned that you can\u2019t just up and buy a laptop: you need to research, you need to plan, and you need to save. But how can a Christian, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[13,21],"tags":[736,738,737],"class_list":["post-2953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-human","category-personal","tag-finances","tag-money","tag-saving"],"yoast_head":"\nHow To Save Money Right Now - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How To Save Money Right Now - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently at a sort-of tech-related Christian meta-blog called Digital Sojourner, I wrote a series of articles on the perfect PC Bible. In one of the posts I mentioned that you can\u2019t just up and buy a laptop: you need to research, you need to plan, and you need to save. But how can a Christian, […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reyreynoso\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reyreynoso\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-03-06T14:30:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/money.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rey\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rey\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"rey\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa\"},\"headline\":\"How To Save Money Right Now\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-06T14:30:44+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1066,\"commentCount\":5,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/money.png\",\"keywords\":[\"finances\",\"money\",\"saving\"],\"articleSection\":[\"human\",\"personal\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/\",\"name\":\"How To Save Money Right Now - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/money.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-03-06T14:30:44+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/how-to-save-money-right-now\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"http:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/money.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/money.png\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Rey Reynoso and The Bible Archive\",\"description\":\"Notes and Thoughts from An Unabashedly Plymouth Brethren Blogger\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":[\"Person\",\"Organization\"],\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa\",\"name\":\"rey\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1\",\"width\":\"1000\",\"height\":\"288\",\"caption\":\"rey\"},\"logo\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2012\\\/03\\\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/www.biblearchive.com\",\"https:\\\/\\\/www.facebook.com\\\/reyreynoso\",\"https:\\\/\\\/x.com\\\/reybeez\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/biblearchive.com\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/biblerey\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How To Save Money Right Now - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How To Save Money Right Now - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive","og_description":"Recently at a sort-of tech-related Christian meta-blog called Digital Sojourner, I wrote a series of articles on the perfect PC Bible. In one of the posts I mentioned that you can\u2019t just up and buy a laptop: you need to research, you need to plan, and you need to save. But how can a Christian, […]","og_url":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/","og_site_name":"Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reyreynoso","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reyreynoso","article_published_time":"2012-03-06T14:30:44+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/money.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"rey","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rey","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/"},"author":{"name":"rey","@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa"},"headline":"How To Save Money Right Now","datePublished":"2012-03-06T14:30:44+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/"},"wordCount":1066,"commentCount":5,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/money.png","keywords":["finances","money","saving"],"articleSection":["human","personal"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/","url":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/","name":"How To Save Money Right Now - Rey Reynoso's Bible Archive","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/money.png","datePublished":"2012-03-06T14:30:44+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/how-to-save-money-right-now\/#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/money.png","contentUrl":"http:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/money.png"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/","name":"Rey Reynoso and The Bible Archive","description":"Notes and Thoughts from An Unabashedly Plymouth Brethren Blogger","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":["Person","Organization"],"@id":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/e8c55a4aab6df13bed13eae5edfab9aa","name":"rey","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1","width":"1000","height":"288","caption":"rey"},"logo":{"@id":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/cropped-tba_banner.jpg?fit=1000%2C288&ssl=1"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.biblearchive.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/reyreynoso","https:\/\/x.com\/reybeez"],"url":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/author\/biblerey\/"}]}},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pbR50-LD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2953","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2953"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2953\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2953"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2953"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/biblearchive.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2953"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}