Lesson 7
COMMON SENSE SPENDING
These are some ideas for you to think about. If
you think before you spend, you can save money. The following are
some examples:
- When you go grocery shopping you should
always buy the freshest date. Take milk for example, if
the expiration date is March 31 instead of March 26, it
will not only be fresher but last longer in the
refrigerator. Do not be afraid to pull a couple gallons
of milk from the store cooler. The fresher ones are
toward the back.
- Pets- if you must have one, get it from
the animal shelter. It is much cheaper than buying one
from a store. It costs $30 a month to keep a dog and $28
a month to keep a cat. Best bet, invest this money. Get a
pet when you retire. If you insist on a pet or already
have one, buy pet food in bulk.
- Watch for sales before you buy. Shop
around, use coupons from the Saturday paper (maybe the
Saturday Bangor Daily). The more money you save
now the more you have to invest now. The more you invest
now, the richer you will be later in life.
- Shop at yard sales or places like Goodwill
and Salvation Army. You pay a fraction of the price and
that leaves money to invest.
- Pick up as many odd jobs as possible
without letting them interfere with your schoolwork.
- Skip the brand names and buy store-brands
if possible. They are exactly the same, just packaged
different, and much cheaper.
- Free airline tickets- If you are flying
and your flight plans are flexible, offer to give up your
seat if the flight is overbooked. If the flight is
overbooked, you get flight vouchers or free tickets. Many
people know about this, so you need to go to customer
service. Get the paper work done ahead of time, and take
it to the gate of your departure. Since most other people
don’t do this, you will be at the top of the list,
because your paper work is done ahead of time. I have
been flying all over the country for 10 years for free.
- Watch out for the pennies and the dollars
will take care of themselves.
- Do any of you students have stories to
share that will save us money? If so, please let us know.
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