Having no money, and I mean no money at all can be a very long means to no end. I can remember when I was so broke, I couldn’t even afford the necessities. When I had financial struggles that was the only thing on my mind, all day. I would get so depressed and down not because I didn’t have money but because I was never prepared for what happens next. Do you know what happened next? Almost every time a “financial crisis”. How can I cover this crisis and lived at my means everyday? There is no money to stretch, I have nothing saved.

When reading doesn’t do it for you…

I have a lot of financial books and workbooks in my personal library that I’ve read. All I have to say that they were definitely motivational, and had steps to take. I’ve read all the ways to be, Financial Free! That was a first step though, in all the books I’ve read, to Save. This is a small little word to say but I hard thing to do. SAVE, SAVE, SAVE…that all you need to do but How? Especially when you are Broke!! I’m going to be honest with you right now and say its very hard. It’s your determination that is going to give you peace everyday. To give you some guidelines these tips should expedite the process and help you accomplish this goal.

Keep the end picture in mind and you will remember why you started

Saving money while you're broke

The Golden Ticket…My Saving Tips

You can try these tips in any order, there are much more to add but the two I’m going to give you are the main ones. To put it plain, yes you have to save first but I’m going to tell you how to do it when you are “dead” broke. Depending on when you receive your income it can be hard to create a zero based budget,but I go over my tips here. If you want to save today, read my tips below. Each of the topics I will add in more depth how to do better in each category. Make a list of each one and make it a goal for every month. By the end of year you will have savings and money for those emergencies.

There are two ways to save, you can either Decrease your Expenses or Increase your Income. Accomplishing your goals only get completed on how fast you want to not be broke anymore. If you haven’t gotten to that brink of desperation and frustration it won’t help just to only be responsible. You need to channel lots of energy and determination to get there. If this post your reading caught your eye just for the same reason I’m telling you…You are ready to Save , and can’t wait for money to fall in your lap to do it.

Now let’s break it down more, first thing first….

Decrease your Expenses

You may have read this tip in previous post, but what is different here is that we have no money right now, so the way we need to cut back is more strategic. The first thing you are going to do is keep track of your expenses for 30 days. After that 30 days is up hightlight only the necessities. Compare the necessities to your income, are you still over the limit? Ok, now this is what we need to do…cut back on the necessities.

The Fixed Expenses is what I like to call are the items that are reoccurring every month and are the more important. If you need help budgeting different types of expense visit this page. Believe it or not, you can still cut back on these bills in this category.

The list below is for Fixed Expenses:

Utilities -monitor your usage for a month and track your peak times. Make sure appliances are not at use during certain times of the day and unplug them. Set a temperature for your home by season and use more frugal methods to warm up or cool down.

Car Insurance-Every six months, is a good time to check in with your insurance company to bring down your current rate. Just because you are a current loyal customer doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check out other companies, you have options.

Subscriptions- If you can live without it, cut it completely. If you cannot live without internet like me, lol…compare and look for cheaper packages.

Transportation-Look for deals on gas station prices, and definitely find someone to carpool at work some days . If you can run errands on the ride home, you can do less running around on the weekends.

Housing (mortgage, rent) -Your rent should never exceed 25% if so as harsh as this may sound you need to relocate. The fact of the matter is that housing is the largest bill most of us have to pay every month, by getting the number down it will make the most difference.

Increase your Income

Just know this can be temporary for the time being but you need to find additional sources for income. If you cut all your expense and your income is still coming up short, you need to increase the funds that are coming in. Your budget needs to find balance just like your sanity. There are many ways I listed below:

Find a part time job-see if you can work at least one weekend date for another company or a possibly do delivery or driving services. You might be exhausted just thinking about this but I know you can find something that will fit you needs. Be creative, take the time and look, read the details in job description. For example, Can you work from Home? How far is the driving distance from my other employer? not just my home.

Sell some items that you don’t need. Besides that, there might be some things that have a great value now, but will decrease in value over time. When you are in a better place financially, keeping an old computer won’t matter anymore.

Sell your services-do you have a talent for something you can monetize? You can monetize anything today. Some services may include, proofreading materials online, child or pet-sitting, crafts, handy-work, and car repairs…you name it.

Ask for a Raise at your current employer or look for another comparable company to work for a better rate. This tip is all about timing, if you are a loyal employee and have put in your time for the company your work for, having an evaluation on skills is necessary. Normally companies conduct these annually or semi-annually but it doesn’t hurt to consult with your superior. Advise them of you strengths and make an offer for your next evaluation. For the mean time take the criticism as what to work towards the next time.

Save Money while you are Broke — Saving money can be difficult especially when you don’t have any extra income. Its going to be hard to cut back and find money where there is none. You can do it! Get some motivation from the read and Happy Saving !

We ripped the Band-AID off, the awful truth…You need to Save

I can honest say, that in the beginning I can only do one or two of the tips I shared. And now after a couple of years I have experienced each of these even if it wasn’t my choice. I believe the toughest one for me was changing my employer. I had worked for my previous job for over a decade, and my loyalty and time spent blinded me to the truth…I’m was worth More ! Now I’m working for a company that doesn’t make me feel like I got hit by a bus at the end of the day. Today I still have energy when I come home. The most important part…the pay is more. So just when you say…”oh no I cant do that, but ill try this one, its easy for me”….Let me just say, what your are going through right now is not easy so you need to make tough decisions.

If you want a jump start into my budgeting technique you can check out this link. I go over how I divide my expenses by paycheck and percentage. I’ve found that percentages are the best way to go if you have variable income. My goals is to help each of my readers and be the cheerleader for you in tough times. Believe me, I have been there and I’m still working on it, but I’m in a better place. My worksheets are still coming along so that you can have materials to help you succeed.