Well, we're in a weird situation, but our home and property and vehicles are all paid for. We just owe property taxes and the usual bills.
With that said, we have invested in certain things.
This is the breakdown, basically:
1. We live on 65% of our income. Save about 75% of what's left for emergencies, in a savings account. Use the rest for investments, or home improvements, stuff like that.
2. If you can, grow a garden and preserve food. That saves a lot of money. It's a little work, usually requiring some Mason jars, seals, lids, and a pressure cooker. That's a small investment of about $100 at first but it pays off in the long run.
3. Don't eat out often. Instead, cook at home, and take advantage of food sales. If you can, invest in a freezer and a food vacuum sealer. You can get meats on sale, and vacuum-seal them for later use. If you have room for a pantry or shelves, buy canned goods on sale and store them for future use.
4. Use leftovers for work lunches, or next-day meals. Try not to throw food away if it's good. Freezing leftovers can work as well.
5. Shop at dollar stores, and cheaper grocery stores. Usually paper goods (paper towels, toilet paper, etc.) are cheaper at the dollar stores.
6. Recycle old clothes into cleaning cloths. Old clean flannel shirts and t-shirts and underwear -are good for dusting and polishing; old jeans are great for cleaning the vehicles.
7. Service vehicles regularly and always keep them maintained. This saves on issues later, and don't put off minor fixes; they can result in disaster if left ignored.
8. Always set up a budget for any major purchase and keep well below it. In other words, a BMW may be nice to have, but a Toyota would work just as well and be a lot cheaper to maintain.
9. Do NOT use credit cards unless it's a dire emergency, ever! If you do have to use a credit card, pay it off as quickly as possible. Good credit is priceless.
10. Don't buy expensive pets unless you can completely afford them without going into debt. If you like certain dog or cat breeds, some breeders will sell them at a reduced price if there's a flaw in their coats. Otherwise, go to shelters. Try to avoid puppy mills; sometimes those poor little puppies have health issues that can get expensive ... or worse, heartbreaking.
11. Keep extravagances to a minimum. I love Vera Bradley purses, so I have two; a winter purse and summer purse. I have two Vera Bradley backpacks for work as well, but I got all these on eBay at a super cheap price. I never pay full price for anything. My hubby Ben loves tools and shops sales and eBay. Never pay full price for anything if you can help it.
12. Set aside a "fun fund." Maybe 5 or 10 dollars a week or so, after a month, it can add up to a nice dinner out or a day trip for a treat to somewhere interesting.
13. Eat healthy, exercise, and get regular doctor checkups. Don't smoke, drink alcohol, or use illegal drugs. Lots of fruits and veggies, if you can't grow them, are available at farmers' markets and produce stands cheaper than at grocery stores. Replace high-calorie sodas with fruit juice, etc. And watch your weight. If you need to lose weight, speak to your doctor about a healthy weight-loss program.
14. Don't allow a spouse or child to over-spend. Set limits if a spouse or child seems to want things off the budget. Teach a child to save; I don't have kids, but we are teaching our little precious neice how to save money and make wise spending decisions.
15. Don't clutter up your home. Keep it de-cluttered and clean. Clutter is sometimes a fire hazard, and if there is too much clutter, your homeowner's insurance could be cancelled.
16. Make sure you have more than the minimum of homeowner's insurance if you own a home. Shop different policies from different companies and compare the coverage. The same goes for car and business insurance. See if bundling these will save money.
17. TV and Internet. If you don't need 600 channels, don't buy it. In our experience, we can get a lot more from subscriptions like Netflix and Hulu, and free stuff on the internet like YouTube and other free streaming sites. We did away with cable TV and have a good indoor antenna which picks up all the local channels with all the news and weather we need. We have ATT dsl, which provides all our internet needs, and that saves us a lot of money as well. Unless you can't live without HBO, try to find a chepaer service or plan.
18. With homeowner's insurance, take photos of everything, especially if you upgrade things. Make sure your policy replaces things with new, not current market value. It may cost a little more, but if your home is damaged by a fire or flood, it will cover everything with new things. The same goes for renter's insurance. By all means, if you are renting an apartment, make sure your things are covered, like TVs, computers, furniture, all that. Take pictures, and keep your insurance updated.
19. If you have a used car that you bought, make sure to keep an eye out for TSBs and recalls. TSBs are Technical Service Bulletins sent to dealerships. Often these are warnings of a problem, and you can take your car in to get the problem looked at and fixed for free most of the time. Recalls aren't always sent to used car owners, so make sure you Google your make, model, and year to the model car company to check for a recall. This can prevent a mess.
20. Never buy "seconds." Sure, four new tires for $30 a piece may seem like a good deal, but seconds have flaws in them. And watch the warranty as well. Be sure you know what's covered and what isn't. Plus, spending a little extra on good tires could prevent an expensive accident.
21. Never, have things like wiring or appliance installation done by a handyman. Make sure you get a licensed, bonded professional to do the work, and make sure it's warranteed. Check your local BBB for good professionals. If you get an unlicensed handyman to do work, if it fails, you have no recourse and worse, if the work damages your home, the homeowner's insurance will not cover it.
Well, I think I've covered every financial issue I can think of without, as one person pointed out, using Biblical stuff or anything.
I've provided some common-sense stuff instead, and I hope this answers the question.
All good things
Emmy
