(This is one of my more tongue-in-cheek articles)

Everyone always wants to find ways to save money. Why? There are so many ways that it is easier to just throw money away, without even really thinking about it. Here are a few of those.

1. Never wash a full load of laundry. In fact wash only one or two pieces of clothing in a machine load. It is so much better that way, as not only do you waste power, water, and detergent, you can get the extra work in that it takes to wash clothes in several loads. Use lots of soap, so that you have to run them through the rinse cycle twice to get it all out. At least your clothes will be clean!
2. Wash your dishes with the water running all the time. Make sure it’s as hot as you can possibly stand it, too. With both of those, then you can waste water and gas at the same time!
3. Always take baths. Baths use more water, so that way you can throw money down the drain. Of course, that isn’t the case if you decide to have a shower that is so long that you run out of hot water. That would be even better. And make sure to do it every day, twice a day, if you can.
4. Water you lawn every day for the greenest grass in the neighbourhood. Heck, make sure that the water runs all over the sidewalk and is on full blast! Also do it at the hottest time of day, that way the water evaporates quicker, making it less efficient. And do it for at least two or three hours, just so that the lawn gets a really good soaking!
5. Use every light you can in the house. Never open curtains, as that lets in natural light that is better for your eyes. Always use the old style light bulbs, too. These bulbs take more power and don’t last as long, so that makes them even better for the electric company.
6. Keep your thermostat as low as you can in summer, so the A/C runs full blast. In winter, keep it as high as you can tolerate, so the heat works overtime. This will make sure that you use the maximum energy you can. Don’t ever change this for vacations or when you’re at work, either.
7. Use your gas fireplace at every opportunity, even in summer. Hey, it looks cool and makes for great conversation! If it gets too warm, you can always open a window.
8. Always buy brand name! This work for everything, from groceries to clothing. Everybody knows that generic products are usually brand names repackaged or something manufactured exactly the same way with the same ingredients (for drugs and food), but just to be sure you’re getting your brand buy the ones with the right labels. At least you know what you’re getting, then.
9. Always buy new! This is especially true with technology. Having the latest technology trends shows how cool you really are. It doesn’t matter if the price will drop in three months to 50% of what you pay, and then all the quirks and bugs will be fixed. You gotta get it now!
10. Wait on auto maintenance as long as you can. If the manual says 3000 miles / 5000 km for the oil change, then wait twice that, that way you know you’re getting your money’s worth. Of course if the engine seizes, that might be cool, too. Who has seen that? At least you’ll have something new to talk about! Same goes with tires. Don’t check them, ever. Just wait for the inevitable blow out, so that you can have a little adventure on the freeway when it happens.

What other wasters are there? I’d love to hear them!

• To keep a medium sized, mixed breed, spayed female dog the yearly cost will be approximately $1,196.00 per year (this does not include emergency medical care, initial vaccinations, obedience classes, the cost of fencing, or bed).
• To keep a spayed female, domestic long haired cat, the yearly costs will be approximately $899.00 (This does not include emergency medical care, initial vaccinations, the cost of an outdoor cat run or bed).
• To keep a domestic rabbit the yearly cost will be approximately $449.00 per year
• To keep a domestic guinea pig the yearly cost will be approximately $420.00
• To keep a domestic hamster/rat/gerbil the yearly cost will be approximately $225.00

None of these include one time costs for things such as vaccinations, collars, cages, feeding bowls, care products (brushes, clippers, etc). And of course any medical costs are not included, as they vary depending on the health of the animal.

A lot of people do not really think about the ongoing costs of a pet. And if you have a pet that does such things as destroy your property by chewing or messing in the house, then these costs only escalate. Also consider the impact that a pet will have on your lifestyle. Pets take care. They do require a lot of time and energy, and while that might be very worth it to some people, not everyone realizes the true commitment it takes in terms of personal time and effort.

If you decide to have a pet, also consider the long term health care costs. If your pet is a larger animal, such as a dog or cat, then the veterinary bills as the animal gets older can be considerable. Put this into your budget! There is pet health insurance available, which in many cases is a good idea (I used to have it for my dog). You could also self insure through a savings plan, such as putting $25 or $50 a month aside into your savings account and have it allocated to pet costs for the future vet bills.

Always plan your budget thoroughly, and remember each cost that you have!

Of course most people don’t do such serious mistakes in their budget – at least if they have one. And everyone should! Usually if someone blows their budget it just means that there is going to have to be some tough scrimping in another area in order to make it – and it’s often the savings or emergency fund that suffers. This isn’t good for the future, is it? If you don’t pay yourself first, then how are you going to be able to have the eventual financial control and freedom that most people want?

So How Do You Stay on Track?

There are multiple ways that people use to motivate themselves to stay on track and keep their budgets in line. One person I know keeps a small notebook in her pocket (really small), which she uses to track everything, and she has kept this for years. A new notebeook every month, since they only cost her about 25 cents each. In the front is her list of things that she needs to track when she is out and the amount that she can spend for the month. She has a little separate section in the book that she uses for each category, and she keeps a running total. This woman is, of course, hyper-organized. But she also has the lifestyle of anyone I’ve known in her income bracket (she’s in a very modest income bracket), simply because she is able to stick to her budget so well.

Other people will allocate an amount, such as with the envelope method (without the envelopes), and when it runs out, that’s it for the month. Still there is also the issue of tracking, and a lot of people end up “blowing the budget” because they don’t track. One should always keep track of the budget and spending! It’s important that this be done, because it is way too easy to blow it.

A lot of people will only add things up at the end of each month and then realize where all of the spending has gone. Sometimes this is when the budget goes over in some areas – usually because of how the money is spent: through credit cards, or having your savings lumped into your spending account, giving you easy access to it. Don’t do that! Keep your savings separate, and only use credit cards for emergencies or automated payments that you pay off every month.

Tracking on a daily basis is important, so find a method that suits you. Whether it’s the notebook method or simply having your own version of the envelope method, track your expenses to that you don’t falter in sticking to your budget!