10 Ways To Save Money

There are many ways to save money. Just search on the Internet and you will find numerous suggestions! Here are ten of the more popular suggestions on ways to save money!

1. First recognize that God owns everything and the blessings we experience come from Him. Part of being a good steward of what we are given is to give back a portion of what He has entrusted to us. Malachi 3:10 is the fist place in the Bible that really directs the tithe: “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, so that there my be food in My house.” In the time of the Old Testament, the storehouse was a physical place where the Jews would deliver their offering of grain and animals. Today, the church should serve as the storehouse in God’s economy.
2. Make saving a habit. Many financial experts feel we should be saving at least 5% and preferably 10% of our income and place it in a liquid savings account. Don’t give up if you can’t save 10% instead just make it a practice to save something. Establishing a saving habit and saving consistently will eventually add up; even if you are only saving $5.00 each pay period. Once savings becomes a habit set your savings goal to maintain an savings account of at least three to six months income. This will prevent you from borrowing when you have an unexpected expense or in case of a period of unemployment.
3. If it is available sign up with your workplace’s 402(k) or a similar retirement plan in which your company will contribute matching funds to the plan in your name. Some companies will match 50 cents to the dollar. If this is the case you will get an immediate 50% return on your contributions!
4. Keep track of your cash spending. Each week decide how much money you want to have in cash and make it last. If at the end of the week you have money left over deposit it into your savings account.
5. Pay off your highest interest rate loans first. If you have more than one credit card take a look at the interest you are paying on the cards. Concentrate on getting that card paid off first. When you have paid it off, use the money you were using to pay off that card and start paying off the next card! After the second one is paid off, apply what was being paid on the first and second to the third highest and so forth.
6. Pay off Your Car Loan. Interest on you car loan is not tax deductible. Pay it off as soon as possible by rounding up your monthly payment to the nearest hundred and then add as much as you can afford to that amount.
7. Pay extra on your home mortgage. Once your credit cards are all paid off you can start paying extra on your home mortgage. If you consistently pay $100 extra each month on a $150,000 loan at 6 percent, you will save almost $73,000 in interest and shave more than 7 years off the original loan.
8. Open an IRA If your company does not offer a 401(k) plan set up an IRA immediately.
9. Evaluate Your Life Insurance. Check around and see if you can cut your premiums by changing policies.
10. Stick To A Budget. By establishing a budget and sticking to it you will be accountable for your money. If an expense is not budgeted for you should not be spending the money!

Living debt free is God’s plan for us. The blessings of being debt free are amazing. The last thing you want is stress on a marriage due to financial strain. Make it your goal to start saving money regular and make debt free living your top priority!