Saving Money On A Tight Budget Without Selling The Dog

5 Ways To Save Money on a Tight Budget
You’re on a tight budget but you want to save money. It can’t be done. You’ll end up in rags. Your children will starve and you’ll have to sell the dog to pay for more coal for the fire!
Rubbish! Believe it or not most of us have experienced times when we were short of money. We’re still alive (and the dog is still in its bed).
I didn’t say it wasn’t hard to save money on a tight budget. If you’ve coming here looking for answers then it’s time for a reality check. Whether you want to eliminate debt or simply save more cash, you're going to need to work hard. Here we go…
Add Up All Your Shopping Bills

You really need to start looking at what you buy. Can you afford it? You’ll need to keep hold of all your receipts for each week and look back over them. Identify stuff that you’ve bought that you don’t need.

We all suffer from the same weaknesses. The urge to buy stuff that we don’t need is ingrained. I’ve been there. I’ve been skint to the point of desperation. You need to ask yourself what matters. Is having a coffee from Starbucks every day more important than sorting your finances?

Get Your Priorities Right

You earn 50k per year but live like a king. It’s ok because your flexible friend can hoover up all that excessive spending and all you have to do is pay the bill each month. In fact, if you pay the minimum amount of interest you’ll be able to afford another spending spree.
Please, get a grip on your priorities. What is important to you? If this means surrounding yourself with worthless bling then carry on spending until your credit rating crumbles. If you’re more sensible start prioritising the most important things in your life and throw out the rest of the crap!
Leave Your Credit Cards At Home
Once you’ve decided where your priorities lie it’s time to ditch the credit card. I don’t like easy credit as it has got me into trouble in the past. Normally I’d say cut it up and burn the pieces. Don’t be in a rush to do this.
I have to admit that a credit card is a handy source of money in an emergency. Put it in the cupboard for a rainy day or as a source of funds for disaster recovery. Don’t take it shopping for your day to day goods.
Start Walking
In 1943, a German soldier, Clemens Forrell, escaped from a PoW camp in Siberia. He then spent 3 years trekking thousands of miles until he reached his homeland. His odyssey took him over ice covered plains, freezing tundra and mountain ranges and he successfully evaded Russian troops for months on end.
Walking into town to get your weekly shopping doesn’t seem like such a hardship now, does it?
Charity
Sometimes it’s nigh on impossible to keep any money aside. Charities are there to help. Don’t be too proud or frightened to ask for help. If you are at the bottom of a financial pit don’t jeopardise your mental or physical health just because you don’t like the word charity!
5 ideas to help you save money even when you're on a tight budget. You might disagree with some of them but you know they make sense for you and your dog. My name is James and I write for moneysavingzone.co.uk. I hope to see you there sometime soon.