How can I save money or make more money?

I hate it, I'm living from paycheck to paycheck. My husband works in roofing, and he gets paid every week as long as it's not snowing, raining or extremely windy; and I get paid every two weeks. But we can't seem to save money. We want to remodel our house, but at the rate we're going that's never going to happen. I'm tempted to do one of those "get rich quick" schemes. Is there a way to make extra money at home? and How can I save money? HELP!!!

do you have a budget? a budget makes saving easier. think to yourself, do i want that or do i want a new kitchen? stop spending on unessesary things.

Self Control and discipline. Even in my household, we buy a lot of things we dont need. My husband and I have no savings either. Its awful cause if there is an emergency we have nothing! What I started doing a few weeks ago was to save US dollars. (We live in the Caribbean) Everytime I recieve them I don't exchange it, I put it under lock and key. In three weeks I have $150. I'm praying for the discipline to keep it up.
Debt can also steal your savings. I took out a loan a few years ago and wasted it all. NOw I have to pay the bank a lump sum every stinking month. Thankfully I only have about six months left, so I hope to make better choices when its done.

1) Set some goals: what would you like to save. Start with a goal of one month worth of expenses in savings, then two months, and so forth. Set a big goal of what it would take to remodel your house, too, something you can visualize.
2) Pay yourself first. Even if it's a small amount, take it out of every paycheck at the start, so you can't spend it.
3) Put your credit cards in the freezer in an ice tray, so you have to really think about taking them out in order to buy something.
4) Put cash in different envelopes for what you need: one envelope for groceries, one for entertainment, etc. Then spend only that.
5) Keep a journal of every penny you spend, first for just a week, just to see where the money goes. For example, if you make $25,000 a year, and you spend just $3 a day on coffee, then you're spending 3% of your income each year, $750, on coffee.
6) Look for where you can cut expenses. If you go out to the movies more than once a month, renting DVD's from Netflix will be less expensive. You may have to cut treats like dinner out until you're more stable, but if you know what your goals are, it will be worth it to you.

Oh, and the ones who make money quickly are the ones who promote the "get rich quick" schemes, not the suckers who sign up.

Good luck!

You need to reduce your expenses or increase your income. Reducing expenses works best for me. The biggest ways you can do this are in expense categories that are recurring--those you must pay every month that represent a big part of your income. The quickest to address are downsize your car expenses ASAP. You can do this by selling what have at top price as listed on KBB.com private party value. If you take your time selling you should be able to get "Private Party" value for your car. Then plan to buy a lower cost, reliable used car that Consumer Reports rates as most reliable. That way you can minize your repair costs--this is typically a huge ongoing expense for most people. I have four older cars that are of these types that Consumer Reports recommends most reliable: Honda civic and Odyssey, Ford escort and Suburu (mine has 284,000 miles on it). Also, these cars get good gas mileage. Another priority when you buy to help you save $. When you buy use KBB.com and try to find cars selling for well under the Private Party value. I always buy well used cars this way. I wait until I see one advertised well below the private party value, then I call asap, give seller a $50 deposit and write up a contract I will buy it subject to my mechanic finding no major problems. You want to buy an older car for cash (like $1,500) so you don't have to pay any collission or other extra insurance and that reduces your expenses more. I have a Ford Escort wagon (I like wagons and vans because cops pull you over less on these family cars--we have way too many cops, not that I get tickets. But I digress . . .) I bought my Ford Escort wagon for $1,500 five years ago and it has 180,000, miles and looks great, drives like a dream and has had the lowest repair cost of any car I owned. That is my dream car because you can buy them so cheap, about 1,000 for a 1993 easy. Then be sure you shope insurance coverage among various companies--Geico tends to have cheap coverage--to get lowest cost insurance. If you own a home, you can do that same idea by looking for a bargain house. With the depressed market this is a great time to buy a fixer upper well below market to reduce your housing expenses asap. Sell your current home at market rate. If you rent, you need to own because you reduce your expenses by deducting the payment from your taxes. If your credit score is above 500 you should be able to get a loan or find a lender who can help you get your credit score up. By the way, better to buy one of those well used cars with a loan to reduce your car expenses. In general you need to become a serious bargain buyer on quality cars and on houses. You can find bargain houses on the HUD website of foreclousres using a realtor. Your husband sounds like he could do the fixing up and you could immediatly buy equity and build your wealth. Just be sure to bid way low on HUD foreclosures--realtors will suggest you bid too high. Be cheap, cheap, cheap and you will reduce your monthly expenses on these things.

One other point, if you find yourself overspending on consumer stuff you buy, you need to get self control. Best way to do this is not a budget but fasting. Start skipping a meal and then work up to where you skip food one day per week. I fast a day a week regularly and am unbelievalbe disciplined. I must be because I provide for a family of 6: with 5 older girls, two in college, etc. Talk about expensive! But I never buy anything in a store on impulse because fasting has trained me to be way disciplined.

Let me know any other questions if you happen to ready this! Just realized you have a ton of responses. rosupplee@yahoo.com

gather up coins and turn them in a coinstar machine! that`s what i do!

well invest in some financial education, there are many websites, books, Cd's, tapes and tools to assist you. My grandfather was a janitor and people used to make fun of him. Now he owns 18 Hotels around the world. Becoming rich is not hard just involves a learning process. As long as you strongly believe "I can do it!!!" then you will.

Avoid "get rich quick" schemes. Work overtime or get a second job if you can. Also, cut corners. What are your priorities? If you want to remodel your house more than anything, maybe you can cut back in other areas:

Go to dial-up internet from DSL. Drop the HBO package or drop the cable/satellite altogether. Buy store brands instead of name brands (they're essentially the same). Carpool. Sell some of that junk in your closet you'll never use again. Open an online savings account with ING Direct or HSBC Direct to earn a higher interest rate on the money you are saving. Play cards or board games instead of renting movies. Eat in instead of eating out.

Best of luck!

Here is a few tips that work for me and should work for anyone else.

1.) Throw all your change into a jar, bottle, can, whatever container you can think then take it to the bank and dump it into a savings account (Hint: Find the biggest container you can that way you can save at least $150 in change).

2.) Throw your $1.00 bills into a jar, bottle, can, whatever container you can think of then do the same as above take that to the bank.

3.) Shop at the thirft stores (I have found so much brand new brand name items such as Bebe, Rampage, Guess, Coach, Channel, Fendi. I luv Guess and I have found so much brand new Guess products there for way less then you would have to buy it. Go early because the best products seem to go early.

4.) Find hobbies that you could spend little on and make a few bucks with.

5.) Tell your neighboors that you could shovel snow off their roofs and other areas of their house for a fee.

6.) Search the internet for tips on savings and hints on making money without using the get rich quick schemes (those schemes work but you have to do the work and reading and studying before you actually see a check).

It's okay, we're remodeling ours too. It's very hard to answer your question about making money, but as for saving money, I can answer that. First of all, you need to find some good stores that you can depend on for having good deals (focusing on price, quality, and quantity). If stores repeatedly have good deals, you should obviously go there. Then, you need to buy healthier. Things that are healthier tend to cost a lot less. One last bit of advice I have is to buy large quantities of things that are on sale UNLESS it is food you are buying. Simply having food will often mysteriously cause it to *disappear* as I have seen in my own family. I know these are very small pieces of advice, but they have proven to add up in my household.

well you have to cut on all unnecessary expenses like takeways...i think cooking at home will be just fine. try having two bank accounts and allocate a portion of your money to one of this accounts so that you dont touch that at all....trust me it works with a lot of people....so that account money will be used for your remodel of your house....in a year or two you will be able to save more than enough....stop buying unnecessary items like extra clothes, jewelleries etc. and to get rich it takes time....trust in your dream and god....he will definetly help you out!

maybe you can try to get a part time job for awhile

Scorpio,

If you are thinking of a website, take a look at some affiliate programs like the one at www.global-wills.com (which I am linked to).

In terms of setting up an online business, take a look at www.marketingtips.com. I employed these guys to assist with my business and they were pretty good. Education is the best way forward........not some get rich quick scheme!!!

. Beware of get rich quick schemes you loose what little money you got.Sit down and make a list of things you have to spend money on.Whats left over you can use for your remodeling.you need some self discipline by the sound of it .Roofers are doing allright to my experience.

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