There is no denying it. There is no ignoring it. There is really no way to avoid it. It has, does, and will continue to happen to all of us. Bills! Yes, bills. Each and every month, as adults, we experience the joy of those paper reminders that we, in fact, owe money to someone else because we choose to live our lives.
And each month many of us experience a certain dread of wondering how we are going to pay for it all. The stress caused by our finances, or lack thereof, is very real and can impact our lives in a negative way. How can we amend this monthly situation? Below are seven ways that can and will help reduce the financial stress we each face when our monthly obligations come due.
1) Make More Money
For example, let’s say you bring home $2000 in monthly income; however, your monthly expenditures total $2500. What are you going to do? The first way to over come this financial gap is to earn more money! Sounds easy enough; but how does one go about earning more money.
I’m assuming you already have a job – so the easiest way is to look that job. Ask your supervisor if you can pick up extra hours or even if a raise is possible. If you ask politely, you just may be surprised by the results.
2) Spend Less Money
Now that we have explored the make more money route, let us look at the other side of that coin. Reducing your spending is another great way to reduce your monthly financial strain. So how do we do that? First thing is to make a budget of all monthly income and debt sources.
Once you see where and how much money is coming in and going out, the easier it is to see if there are areas that you can reduce your money expenditures. For example, do you really need that $5 coffee six days a week? How about the Monday through Friday drive-thru lunches?
3) Use Coupons
Moving onto a third way to reduce your monthly financial stress. Stop being proud! Coupons are a great way to not only save money but reduce your monthly debt on things like food, clothes, and even haircuts. And they are virtually everywhere!
Clip them out of the newspaper or local magazines. There are several different apps that you can download to your smartphone. Heck just about every business has their own app that will help you save money at their storefronts. You can also set up a coupon exchange network where you trade coupons with family, friends, neighbors, or whomever is in the network.
4) Get a Part Time Job(s)
So, you still need to earn more money but asking for a raise or picking up more hours (in method one) didn’t pan out. No worries! There are plenty of part time jobs out there just waiting for an industrious individual, such as yourself, to fill.
And if one part time job is still not helping to cover your monthly expense, then get a second or even a third! No one said it would be easier or that no sacrifices would have to be made. Here, I’ll say it, it won’t be easy and you may have to make some big sacrifices; but such is life.
5) Win the Lottery
Maybe hard work isn’t your thing. Have no fear there is a method for you armchair workers. Get yourself some lottery tickets – scratchers, Powerball, Mega-Millions. It really doesn’t matter.
Just keep in mind that you will have to spend some of your limited resources to get the tickets. But we all know that you have to spend money to make money. But this doesn’t mean you have to go it alone.
You can get into a lottery pool – where everyone puts in a few bucks to be able to purchase more tickets than they could get alone and split equally any winnings among the members of the group.
6) Search for Sales
While you are waiting for your lottery ship to come in, you might as well spend some time searching out local sales. There are abundant in towns and cities across America. And it is a great way to save some money.
Some business will even double the discounts by combining a sale with a coupon! Again, check your local papers or the various smartphone apps for sale alerts. Ask your family and friends if they know of any upcoming sales. Social media is another great source of sales in your community.
7) Sell Blood or Other Possessions
Probably the least desirable method on our list but it can raise the necessary revenue needed to reduce the monthly financial stress. Sell your blood or plasma. These two resources are always in great demand in virtually every community – big or small.
Not to keen about needles? No problem. You can always sell the things you already own. Have a garage sale, visit a pawnshop, list items on social media platforms. You are only limited by how much stuff you have!
8) Sell Junk
I bet you didn’t know there is money in junk and a market for it as well! Junk sells. And many times you can get it for free. Old appliances sitting out on the trash pile can be picked up and sold to a recycling center.
All those soda and beer cans littering the roadsides, can be collected and sold. Simply by placing ads on social media sites for free junk removal can get you loads of things to sell for scrap or to be recycled for money. Don’t knock it until you try it.
Conclusion
I think we can all agree that no one enjoys living in debt and certainly no one enjoys worrying each month about if the bills will be paid on time or not. Hopefully as you have gotten to this point you have realized this this article is certainly tongue in cheek – satire. However, on a serious note, living under the constant weight of debt can be very stressful.
If you are feeling that stress, then please seek help from a professional finance counselor, create a household budget, talk to family and friends. There are a variety of ways to reduce your debt. Bear in mind that you may have to make some real sacrifices and tighten the old belt. It can be done. I believe in you. So now just do it. Oh and by the way, happy April Fool’s day!!