Where did my paycheck go?
A lot of people wonder how they have less money as they did after their last paycheck even though they cannot remember making any big purchases. After sighing and wishing they made more money, they buy a latte, drive home in an SUV, and skim this month’s Cosmo subscription for five minutes before throwing it into the recycling.
Maybe you make too many small purchases and they add up, which is why I will share with you three ways you can save money.
Have a good credit score
Your credit score is a three-digit number found in a credit report, and it corresponds to how creditworthy you are.
Therefore, having a good credit score is pretty straightforward: You pay your bills on time and it goes up, you don’t and it goes down. Other things, like paying rent on time, can affect your rating too.
Retail credit cards
Credit cards obtained from stores can help and hurt your credit score, but they only have around one-third as much of an effect as regular credit cards. So, if you owe Kohl’s $300 for six pairs of pants and you also owe Bank of America $300 for general purchases, pay Bank of America off first since skipping that payment will hurt your credit rating three times as much as skipping the Kohl’s payment.
Bring lunch to work
Brown bagging it is usually a lot cheaper than buying lunch at a restaurant. This is because the restaurant is trying to make money, so they are going to charge you a lot more than the components of the food are worth. Furthermore, they have to pay waiters, busboys, and chefs to make that food for you, but if you bring lunch to work the only people who have to make money are the stores and the farmers so you can save a lot of money by bringing your lunch to work.
Carpool to work
Meet someone from work who lives nearby and alternate driving. A lot of companies these days even help organize employee carpooling, as do some local governments. If nobody at your company lives nearby you might be able to find someone online who works near where you work and lives near where you live. You’ll end up spending only half as much gas, half as much on tolls (or less, since some states let carpoolers pay reduced or zero tolls), and half as much on work-related auto repairs as people who don’t carpool, and that’s if you only carpool with one person!
About the author: Murray Newlands is the CEO and Founder of Influence People, an online marketing firm.