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Cost savings can be achieved in any of the following ways:

· Budgeting (ie. Planning what you spend and adhering to the plan)

· Finding bargains (Some places are cheaper than others). But don’t fall into the trap of buying something simply because it’s cheap. Do you really need it or do you just want it? Ask yourself that question. Otherwise, while you may think you are getting a bargain, you are actually throwing money away purchasing items you don’t need.

· Buying in bulk.

· Buying only raw materials, and making the finished product yourself (eg. Cook meals rather than going to restaurants, make clothes, buy seeds and grow vegetables, etc).

· Change your lifestyle to reducing your needs (eg. Keep fit and create safer environments so you don’t need health care as much, entertain more at home and go out less).

· Check your current insurance expenses(car, health, life, house, everything). Have you got the most economically viable, cost effective plan available? Research other insurers to see if they are offering a better deal.

· Reduce the cost of Credit (For some people or organizations a major cost is interest repayments)

· Seek reductions in household bills (check that your insurances, phone, gas & electric etc cannot be cheaper. As these are in a competitive market, prices can be matched or lowered when gaining quotes from a variety of companies.)

· Cut out goods and services that are not essential, or reduce them.

· Check your storage areas. If you have built up a stack of items you no longer use, get rid of them. Sell unused items through ebay, the local paper, advertisements at work or the pawnbroker. Use the extra cash to pay off debt.

· Don’t leave lights on when you go out or are in another room. Turn electronic gadgets off at the power point.

· Buy birthday/Christmas gifts when you see the right gift on special and store them for the future. Don’t wait till the last minute or you will be rushed and have to pay top dollar for the gift, card and wrapping. Preparation will save you.

· Opportunity/thrift/second hand shops offer clothing, shoes, kitchenware, furniture and other items at prices often up to ten times cheaper than buying new.

· Consider replacing current light globes with the newer technologically advanced cost saving globes.

· Fix your current computer instead of buying a new one. Many people buy another computer just because theirs is running too slow or crashing all the time because they don’t know what else to do. By getting your hard drive cleared completely so it is blank, and reinstalling all your programs and data from scratch, you computer should run almost like new again. If you are not experienced at doing this, find someone who is. Make sure you back up all your data carefully on external storage first.

By continually checking and reassessing your cash flow and expenditure you can monitor your current financial position.

Article by Staff of ACS Distance Education

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