If you're anything like me then something you ask yourself ALOT is... "Why. Why. Why am I always broke?" Im a girl who loves to spend and has a hard time saving. Its like money is sand slipping through my hands. As soon as I get paid most of the money is gone by the next day! It seems that there's always a bill lurking around the corner, a ticket that needs paying, or someone's birthday coming up. As soon as I think I'm recovering from paying something off and I think I can rebuild my savings, here comes something else taking money out of my pocketbook. I aspire to be like this man when it comes to thriftiness.
If you're not familiar with the show, Terry Crews plays Julius, Chris Rock's ridiculously thrifty father. Here's some ways you can build your emergency savings, pay off some debt, not live paycheck to paycheck, or just make STACKSSSSS.
1) Buy cheap or don't buy at all. I struggle with this because I wanna have what everybody else has. I want the Michael Kors watch, Kate Spade bag, 22 inch Brazilian, and new Ivy Park gear. But right now I'm at a stage in my life where I just simply cannot afford it all at one time. I'm not a fan of knock-offs, but I will buy a good quality watch or handbag that's really cute and I feel confident wearing it. Without those little (slightly tacky) initials all over a bag the price is miraculously cut in half! This bag from Target is suuuuuper cute! Gosh, I LOVE a good tassel!
1) Buy cheap or don't buy at all. I struggle with this because I wanna have what everybody else has. I want the Michael Kors watch, Kate Spade bag, 22 inch Brazilian, and new Ivy Park gear. But right now I'm at a stage in my life where I just simply cannot afford it all at one time. I'm not a fan of knock-offs, but I will buy a good quality watch or handbag that's really cute and I feel confident wearing it. Without those little (slightly tacky) initials all over a bag the price is miraculously cut in half! This bag from Target is suuuuuper cute! Gosh, I LOVE a good tassel!
Now the second clause is don't buy at all. Sometimes my friends ask me to go to the mall and I calmly say "nahhhh fam" because I know that I have no self control when it comes to Crabtree Valley Mall. I'll take a trip to the mall and I will convince myself that I cannot live without a midi dress that I didn't know existed 30 minutes prior. I'll tell myself that I won't be the same girl without a fresh tube of Marc Jacobs lipstick. I'll convince myself that I deserve to spent a little money on myself, tell myself that I'm getting paid at the end of the week. Then I end up spending $80 on things I could do without and eating ramen noodles and using my piggybank money for gas money. Soooooooo, I've defaulted to just not going. Some people can't handle the bar, some can't handle the strip club, I can't handle the mall. It's too tempting for a broke girl.
2) Get a side job. There's plenty you could do. You can babysit, mow lawns, get a part-time job, tutor kids. Take a hobby to the next level. I sometimes style people's hair when I'm low on cash. If you're a good singer or musician you could probably find some good paying gigs.
3) Sell clothes or other unusable items. Some clothes can be hard to part with, but if you really need the money..... Hey it's better than selling your body! Try to gather as many items of clothing as you can. I like to go through my wardrobe and pick out things I haven't worn in over 6 months, things that I bought but never wore, and things that I bought online in the wrong size. Find your nearest Uptown Cheapskate, Plato's Closet, or a local thrift store and sell.
4) Never pass up free meals. Since I'm an undergrad student this is super easy for me. There's always some organization giving out free food or snacks. If there's a meeting on campus there's usually free food as well. Also, some restaurants have free or low priced food from time to time. Ihop recently had .25 cent pancake stacks (basically free). Jimmy John's had $1 sub day, which I enjoyed tremendously. There was a new restaurant, Pieology, that opened in Raleigh recently and they were giving away free pizza, so sometimes you just have to be aware. This kind or thing is difficult look for, but easy to come by.Some businesses, like Starbucks, Honey Baked Ham, and Denny's, offer free food on your b-day. This site has a lot of good food freebies and also keep your eyes peeled and follow restaurants on social media and you're sure to come by some free opportunities. Food is one of my biggest expenses, so when I go home on breaks I raid the refrigerator and pantry. Haha, say what you want about me but I call it being resourceful. Sometimes if I go to the grocery store with my parents while I'm home I'll just start dropping anything I need into the shopping cart and they usually won't object. Always use your resources ;)
2) Get a side job. There's plenty you could do. You can babysit, mow lawns, get a part-time job, tutor kids. Take a hobby to the next level. I sometimes style people's hair when I'm low on cash. If you're a good singer or musician you could probably find some good paying gigs.
3) Sell clothes or other unusable items. Some clothes can be hard to part with, but if you really need the money..... Hey it's better than selling your body! Try to gather as many items of clothing as you can. I like to go through my wardrobe and pick out things I haven't worn in over 6 months, things that I bought but never wore, and things that I bought online in the wrong size. Find your nearest Uptown Cheapskate, Plato's Closet, or a local thrift store and sell.
4) Never pass up free meals. Since I'm an undergrad student this is super easy for me. There's always some organization giving out free food or snacks. If there's a meeting on campus there's usually free food as well. Also, some restaurants have free or low priced food from time to time. Ihop recently had .25 cent pancake stacks (basically free). Jimmy John's had $1 sub day, which I enjoyed tremendously. There was a new restaurant, Pieology, that opened in Raleigh recently and they were giving away free pizza, so sometimes you just have to be aware. This kind or thing is difficult look for, but easy to come by.Some businesses, like Starbucks, Honey Baked Ham, and Denny's, offer free food on your b-day. This site has a lot of good food freebies and also keep your eyes peeled and follow restaurants on social media and you're sure to come by some free opportunities. Food is one of my biggest expenses, so when I go home on breaks I raid the refrigerator and pantry. Haha, say what you want about me but I call it being resourceful. Sometimes if I go to the grocery store with my parents while I'm home I'll just start dropping anything I need into the shopping cart and they usually won't object. Always use your resources ;)
5) Sell your blood. When I was a freshman in college I dated this guy who would sell his blood plasma to take me on dates. It was sweet in a weird way. BTW despite all the effort, it didn't work out. But I think he was getting around $50 per unit, which is pretty good for something that you don't really need. Okay, well you kinda need it, but not all of it. And it's for a good cause!
Follow some of these tips and you'll be well on your way to countin' bandz!