This week’s lesson on honoring God with money focused on practical money-management tips. These ideas have been culled from books, magazine articles, and internet sites, including Crown Financial Ministries and Christian Financial Concepts.
Today’s tips focus on ways to save on vacations and recreation, gift-giving, as well as general savings tips.
Saving on Vacations and Recreation:
- Take a stay-cation. Take days trips to sites of interest in your general locale, go on picnics, visit museums, etc.
- Consider a camping vacation to avoid motel and food expenses. Christian friends can pool the expenses of camping items.
- Use Netflix or Redbox instead of going to the movies. Also, saves on popcorn and soda.
- Have family games nights.
- To reduce expenses and increase fellowship, consider taking vacation trips with two or more families
- If flying, use the least expensive coach fare (i.e., late night or early morning usually saves 10 percent to 20 percent).
- Check out books and movies from the library.
Ways to Save on Gift-Giving:
- Shop ahead for birthdays and anniversaries. Look for sales.
- Make gifts. Learn new skills, such as sewing and knitting.
- If your family is large, draw names. Or only buy Christmas gifts for young children and immediate family members.
- Help children earn money to shop for gifts.
- Consider sending cards rather than gifts.
General:
- Look for things you need on Craigslist.
- Take unwanted items to consignment stores.
- Have ‘planned’ leftovers for lunches and dinners on busy nights.
- Use your curtains and/or blinds to hold in heat in the winter and keep out heat in the summer.
- Wash clothes in cool or cold water. Washing in cold water rather than hot water saves 60 cents per load.
- Don’t buy bottled water or $3 cups of coffee.
- Hang clothes out to dry.
- Cut out or reduce cable expenses.
- Reduce cell phone expenses. Consider eliminating your land line.
- Down pay for music downloads—burn CDs at the library
- Eliminate magazine subscriptions and look for articles online.
- Dishwashers save more water than hand washing dishes.
- Take reusable bags when you go shopping.
- Reduce, reuse, and recycle.
- Frame your own photos and art work to hang on the wall.
- When ordering online, look for free shipping.
- Don’t spend change. Put it in a jar and cash it in at the end of the year.
- Put half of birthday money/gifts in savings.
Will your family be taking a ‘stay-cation’ this year? What fun activities do you have planned?
What other tips do you have for saving money?
Susan's Reflections 