More Ways to Earn by Not Spending

Yesterday I posted ten ways to earn money by not spending it. My savvy friend Melody also posted ten ways she earns money by not spending it. She and I are very similar in many ways and are constantly sharing ideas for saving and earning money with each other.

After publishing yesterday's post, some additional things I do to keep money in my budget came to mind so I thought I would share those before I get too busy.

My grandmother used to quote the following saying to me, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." This has been a guiding philosophy for me pretty much my whole life.

7 More Ways to Earn by Not Spending

1. Don't replace anything before it is necessary. Don't be a compulsive up grader. If your computer, couch, shoes, etc. are still in good, usable condition then continue using them. Keeping up with the Joneses is expensive! They are most likely broke and living on credit cards anyway!

2. Give careful consideration to where you decide to live. My husband and I purchased 3/4 of an acre and set up a large mobile home on it outside of the city limits of our small town. Our property taxes are under $1,000.00 per year. Our utilities are much lower than those of my friends who live in the city limits of our town. My home isn't increasing in value but I also don't have the large house payment many folks I know do and I can improve my basic home to be whatever I would like it to be as time goes on.

3. Find a beauty school in your area and use its services. Beauty schools offer hair cuts, colors, permanents, highlights, facials, manicures, and other services for a fraction of regular beauty salons. The students are supervised by qualified instructors. I have been very satisfied by the services I have received at the beauty school nearest to me.

4. Learn to bake and decorate birthday cakes for your family. Many craft supply stores host cake decorating classes for a nominal fee which often includes cake decorating supplies and discounts for the purchase of additional cake decorating supplies. My children loved the theme cakes I made for them when they were young and I loved the savings over bakery purchased cakes.

5. Buy a haircut kit and learn to cut your family's hair. Developing hair cutting skills saved us hundreds of dollars over the years I was raising my five children.

6. Learn to groom your pets. We acquired a darling little Shih Tzu a year ago who requires regular trims. I didn't realize until we got him how expensive having a dog groomed can be so I am learning to groom him myself.

Watson taking a break from being groomed. You may notice his name tag doesn't say Watson. He needs a new name tag because the one he is wearing has his previous name on it. 

7. Get your pets vaccinated at local vaccination drives held by various organizations. Pet vaccines from your vet are much more expensive than those at these vaccine clinics. Our local grocery store hosts a pet vaccine clinic at least every other month.



I hadn't realized that these ideas and the ones I shared in yesterday's post are not commonly done until my youngest son relayed a conversation he had with someone awhile ago. In the conversation, my son shared how we exist on a very low income. The person with whom he was speaking was incredulous at hearing that our family lived on under $25,000/year for quite a while. People have lost the ability to do many things for themselves and don't even realize that they CAN do the things they pay others to do.

People have been conditioned by the media and the government to think that a certain income means a certain lifestyle. While it is true that the problem for some folks is that they have a low income, for many others the problem is that they need to learn to use their income more wisely. I would rather enjoy my life on a lower income than to work all the time to earn more money and not have time to enjoy my life.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this and related topics!