Sep 25, 2008 10:42 am US/Eastern
Expert: Saving Money Doesn't Have To Be A Chore
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Experts say building up your savings could be as easy as re-working your budget and making some simple sacrifices to help stretch your paycheck.
CBS
This year as food and energy costs soar a new survey finds 43 percent more Americans say they're now living paycheck to paycheck, reports CBS station WCBS-TV in New York City. But there are some surprisingly simple changes you can make to your budget to help break this vicious cycle.
How are you making ends meet these days?
"You can't do as much as you wanted to do in the past in terms of having fun and enjoying life," said Joe Corona of Queens Village.
Workers WCBS spoke to say they're struggling to get by, often counting down the hours to pay day.
"There's nothing you can do but get a second job," said Ellen Breslau, executive editor at Women's Day magazine. "What you want to do is come up with a spending roadmap."
But experts say if you re-work your budget and make some simple sacrifices not only will you have money left over at the end of the week, you can start to pay down some debt and maybe even save a little.
"First, call your credit card company and ask if they'll lower your interest rate," Breslau said.
Credit card delinquencies are now on the rise, so companies are more apt to lower your rate, even work out a payment.
"Next, look at all your insurance needs. You might be paying too much for life insurance for your auto insurance," Breslau said.
Breslau says you can save up to $500 a year by reducing insurance coverage you don't necessarily need. She also recommends bundling your phone, Internet and cable services into one bill -- for savings of about $30 a month.
"We all have these pantries that have so much food in them," Breslau said. "Instead of going to the grocery store, don't shop for a week and use what you've got make it like a game."
As for a strategy to pay the bills, Breslau suggests lining them up in order of smallest to biggest balance and then …
"Pick a payment you're going to make every month to each card. Pay off the first one, then take the payment from that card and add it towards the second and pay that one off."
Also, think about ditching those costly maintenance contracts on everything but your computer. Brown bag your lunch and go back to the library to get your books and movies -- for free.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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