Save Money, Save Planet

 

If you have ever been in the financial hole, you know how hard it is to make ends meet.

 

It requires some creative juggling and being extremely tight on where you spend and how much. Every expense is weighed, every option is reviewed, and creativity is flowing to stitch everything together.

 

At these times, you might wish you were a little more frugal when times were good.

 

And you know what they say: “make hay while the sun shines,” which also applies to your financial management. The goal should be to never get in a situation where you have to scramble for money. Instead, you will have looked at every angle and cost-saving option beforehand.

 

If you’ve had a financial setback, this article may help you.

 

Here are some important tips that apply to both your personal and business environment, which have a positive impact on the world as a bonus.

 

Change Is Hard

 

The reason that people don’t diet, don’t exercise, and don’t resolve bad personal relationships is that change is hard. As a result, we don’t really, truly change and grow unless we’re in real pain. When we’re at that point, the pain of change is less severe than that pain of not changing.

 

Discipline and time

 

With discipline and time, I think most people can accumulate far more wealth than they think is possible. But growing wealth requires change- which is precisely why most people don’t make the effort. The changes I’m suggesting involve an old friend:

Delayed gratification

 

Some decisions are relatively small:

• Dropping a subscription music service and just listening to the free version (Pandora, for example).
• Making coffee at home two days a week, which means that you stop by Starbucksless often.
• Buying afew more generic products when you go to the grocery store and Target. (I’m not going generic on salad dressing, however).

 

Since these are smaller decisions, the amount of gratification you’re delaying is small. You don’t mind listening the commercials on Pandora (I certainly don’t- I just turned down the sound), and the coffee at home isn’t bad.

Other decisions are much bigger. StudySoup wrote this great article on the average amount of money a college student saves by having a roommate. The average savings over four years is over $15,000. Now, having a roommate is a big sacrifice, because you lose a fair amount of privacy. If privacy is really important to you, it’s a true delay of gratification (until you graduate, get a job and can afford to live alone).

 

Read this article, and improve your credit score.

 

So, what do I get?

 

OK- so what do I get out of all this delayed gratification?

You build wealth- which can give you peace of mind.

Here’s a practical example: By making changes to your spending and building a savings account, you create a $1,000 emergency fund. If your car brakes down, you can pay for the repair.

 

Cut Down on Overhead

 

An excellent place to look for wastage is, well, in the waste bin. Look at all the food waste you might be generating, or perhaps the amount of paper that gets printed to end up in the bin anyway. The waste bin is the perfect indicator of things that can be saved on.

 

In terms of food waste, the solution is to portion appropriately. In general, food waste is a global problem, so why not start with yourself? It might require some discipline, but with time and dedication, you can cut back appropriately so you can reduce not only wastage but also save money.

 

In terms of printer usage, you will find a lot of people still needing to print documents to review them. Granted, reading documents on the screen is not everyone’s cup of tea, but printing them will cost energy, ink, and paper. Setting a policy to ask people to reconsider before printing might help create an attitude that saves not only money but also the planet.

 

Solar Panels

 

A good way many people are saving money (and saving the planet) is to install solar panels.

 

If your home or business is well isolated, fitted out with energy-saving light bulbs, properly set up sleep timers, and “A” energy class devices, you can decrease your energy usage tremendously. Add to that solar panels, and if they are well placed, and the sun has been out in force, you can nullify most of your electric bills.

 

Some households can even run a surplus, generating more electricity than usage, which means you are contributing to a sustainable world. In some cases, you can get a federal solar tax credit towards your initial investment.

 

Smart Technology

 

It might seem quite gadget-ty, but smart technology can be a cost savings and better for the environment over the long term.

 

Take smart thermostats, for example, which can maintain the room temperature at a much more sensible and efficient manner than we humans can. Smart technology can help us do things much better while saving money along the way.

 

Reduce waste, don’t print when not needed, install solar panels, and start relying on smart technology; these are the things you can look at when the sun is shining. You’ll be happy that you did if you feel another tough time coming on.

 

Use these tips to save money- and to help save the planet.

 

Ken Boyd

Author: Cost Accounting for Dummies, Accounting All-In-One for Dummies, The CPA Exam for Dummies and 1,001 Accounting Questions for Dummies

(email) ken@stltest.net

(website and blog) https://www.accountingaccidentally.com/

(you tube channel) https://www.youtube.com/user/kenboydstl