4 Ways To Help Your Budget

As tough as the economy is these days we all are looking for ways to save money. Something that will help us all get to the end of the month a little bit more intact. When we are not looking to save a little money we are looking to make a couple of dollars wherever we can. I have rediscovered a few ways that might help everyone get over that financial hump a touch easier. The great thing is that most of my suggestions are also environmentally friendly.

1. Flea Markets: A flea market is a great way to both make money as well as save it. For a small fee in most cases, one can take all that unused stuff luring in one’s closet and turn it into cash in the pocket. It is a great way to spend a Saturday morning. In addition, it allows the whole family to get in on the fun. If you have children this is the way to get them to clean out that toy box holding those action figures they never play with anymore. 
 
It also gives a person a chance to socialize with people you might not meet in your everyday life. One of your trinkets might take a would be buyer down a memory lane of their own. A woman looking at your old baby clothes might share the joys and fears of her own upcoming child. A college student might ask for advice on how to decorate her dorm room after becoming inspired by a set of sheets on your table. A widow might decide to share the memory or two of that one who touched her heart for many years.  The possibilities are endless.

If you are not one of those who likes to sell things, there is also the deal factor. There is always a deal at the flea market. You can find wholesale clothing at reduced prices. There are rows of vegetables grown by local farmers. Then there is the food that is almost like the food you would buy at the fair. Everyone there wants to make a deal and if you are lucky, you can walk away a winner.

2. Thrift Stores: This is another forgotten method of catching a deal. Most towns have at least one thrift store. A place where people donate gently used items to help others. You can find a cute outfit or that one piece that pulls your whole living room together. Your purchase usually goes to helping the disabled or the homeless in the local area. Usually the items are one of a kind so you can be the envy of your family and friends.

3. Recycling: People have been doing this for years. Some saving soda cans in order to make a few pennies. Others go bigger by scraping old cars. Some make a decent living by recycling. They haul your old metal away for profit. Of course, this helps the environment as well as your pocket-book and it is a way you can get the whole family involved.

4.   Rolling your own cigarettes: For those who just can't quite, try to roll your own cigarettes. Back in the “good old days” people use to hand-roll their cigarettes in order to save a few pennies. Now these cigarettes were filterless and you had to be hardcore to use this method. Even so, if you wanted a smoke and did not have much money this was the way to go.

As with everything else times have changed. The advancements have made this method a little easier to handle. For the investment of a machine, a bag of tobacco, and a box of tubed filters you can go from spending forty to sixty dollars a  week for a carton of cigarettes to only spending a little over twenty dollars a week. All it takes is a little time and effort.

Jessica Bosari is a freelance writer and blogger for various publications and her own telecommute writing jobs blog. You can read more of Jessica's work here. If you have any comments or questions about Billeater or about saving money, leave your comments in the form below or email jessica@billeater.com. Thanks!