There are some money habits that allow us to live below our means once again. We could modify our spending methods, so we could stretch our budget to the end of the month and avoid using credit cards to buy fuel, food and other essentials. We should stop thinking that we will win big by buying lotteries. By stop buying ticket, we should be able to save more money. To avoid using credit cards in coffee shops and restaurants too often, we should learn to cook. True, everyone could make scrambled egg and simple pasta meal, but we should learn how to cook tasty, alternative meals quickly. We could also take turns hosting dinner party with friends and it is also a good idea to go potluck. When we plan to choose restaurants, we should choose places that offer large enough portions for the whole family. When going to restaurants, it is important to avoid overpriced appetizers and we may also look for gift certificates in Restaurant.com and other online sources.
Fuel is another source of excessive spending and we need to avoid it. Daily and weekly errands should be properly planned and we should make sure that our trip involves less driving. In general, it is a bad idea to pay gas with our credit card, because we will pay significantly more for each gallon. For this reason, it is important to avoid going to the same place twice in a short duration of time, because we forgot to buy something. Fluorescent lamps can be more efficient that incandescent bulbs, they will last up to ten times longer. In order to avoid using credit cards, we should go to garage sales. We should go to nearby garage sales during the weekend to check whether sellers have items that we really need. It is a good thing to do before we go to stores, because our neighbours could have used items that still work well. To avoid using credit cards in restaurants, we should bring our lunch to work. It could feel rather peaceful to choose a quiet place in the office where we can eat without disruption.
Again, we should avoid saying no when it comes to using vending machines. Many of us habitually drink soft drinks, tea, coffee and alcoholic beverages. In this case, many people actually need to re-learn drinking plain water. To further save money, we could use filtration system to improve the quality of tap water, even if it is claimed to be potable. It is important for smokers to stop smoking entirely. In some countries, people could spend nearly $2000 each year on cigarette packs. It is also essential to quit drinking and again, it is a better solution to choose plain drinking water. Instead of buying books and using our credit cards in bookstores, we should consider looking for online articles that match our preferences. In many cases, we could find much quality reading materials in common websites, such as Wikipedia.