TEXAS, USA — Coming off of 2020 many of you are looking for ways to save some money. If you are not careful dollars just, "slip away." But here are a few ideas that might lead you toward getting ahead for the second half of 2021.
One of the first things that Certified Financial Planner Rolandus Johnson does with his clients is go over a budget. He always finds places people overspend.
“People say 'I don't have any place to invest money,' or 'I don't have any money to invest.' And so, we look at the budget and there's always, nine times out of 10, there's always money there," Johnson said.
Here’s an amazing statistic. The average cable bill in America now exceeds all other household utility bills combined. The average household cable package is now $217.42 per month.
When you look at contracts, it appears that the cost of cable just goes up every year. So, is it worth it?
"Unless you are just sitting at home watching TV all day cable is kind of useless. This is my personal opinion and I see this a lot, so I say to people, well your cable bill is $180, how much do you watch TV? Maybe a little at night or one night or two nights a week. That might be a place right there to save a $100 or more per month."
Johnson said another place to watch out for is eating out. It may suck up a lot of your expendable cash.
"A lot of times you have a $300 per month food budget to go grocery shopping, but you are spending $250 a month going to eat out every day. Simple things like that, eat out less that could give you another $100 to $200 a month extra to throw into a savings account or invest."
Johnson said there are always ways to get what you want and to save money.
"Find the things on discount! We're in a social media age where we love to show off, that's the social media deal where we love to show off. But hey, if you've got a chance to get a $100 item for $50, go for it! I have a saying and my dad says this a lot: Live like no one else today, so that you can live like no one else tomorrow.”