5 Tips to Help You Stick to Your Budget and Stretch that Dollar

Do you feel like there always seems to be more bills than money each month?  Use the following tips to stick to your budget and make that money last. 

1. Budget All Your Income: All of your income needs a purpose. Whether it’s bills or savings. Budgeting to zero doesn’t mean you spend every dollar you earn. Budgeting to zero will help you grow your savings and help you be prepared for the future. 
2. Order Your Groceries Online: This tip not only saves you time but keeps you from buying unnecessary items or put things in your cart because you are hungry. This will lower your grocery bill because you’ll buy only the necessities based on what you are cooking this week. 
3. Check on Your Bills: Internet companies drive me crazy because they often increase your service costs without bettering your services. Set aside time every couple of months to call and check on discounts for bills like your Car/Home insurance, internet bill, phone bill, and other bills that tend to increase. 
4. Track your Expenses: Track your expenses for 3 months. Once you have the information see where you are spending large amounts of money and decide if that area is worth that much money to you. For example, I no longer have cable TV because $59.00 a month for something I may have watched a few days a month just didn’t make sense for me. 
5. Use a Money-Saving Browser Plugin: I’m a huge fan of Rakuten because I earn money shopping online, and I absolutely love shopping online. It’s easy to use and they even help you find coupon codes.