5 Ways To Add Some Wiggle Room To Your Budget

You say you don’t have the money, and I know exactly how you feel. But I also know something else: You can create wiggle room in your budget – you just have to know how!

I am passionate about making investments that will improve your quality of life and health and/or save you money.

And, of course, the things we’re passionate about? Those are the things we talk about. And as a result, I hear a lot of objections from all the people I talk to.

Objections aren’t bad. After all, everything isn’t a good fit for everybody.

But there’s one objection I hear a lot, and I bet you already know what it is:

Money

Here are a few examples:

• “I’d love to have a grain mill, but I live on a fixed income”
• “I wish I could use coconut oil, but I can’t afford it. It’s too expensive by the ounce to buy in small quantities, and I can’t get enough money saved to buy it in bulk”
• “I want to do grass-fed beef, but buying half a cow is a huge commitment – who has that much money?”
• “I’d love to try essential oils, but I’m on food stamps”

I completely understand each and every one of those objections – especially after having spent some time being dirt poor (although I can’t say I’ve ever been on a fixed income – just a zero income!).

But I also think that it’s all too easy to get into a rut, believing that you can’t get out of your current financial situation, not realizing that there are things – even small things – everybody can do to rise above if you will.

While I wholeheartedly believe in being happy whatever financial situation happens to be, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t seek to change things.

If you want to add some wiggle room to your budget so you can make improvements to your quality of life, get out there and make it happen!

• You could work SwagBucks to earn “free money” in your spare time. It’s as simple as getting rewarded for using their search engine instead of Google. You can read more details about SwagBucks here. (BTW, I just cashed out a $100 Target gift card with SwagBucks, so yeah, it’s worth it!)
• You could do your online and even some in-store shopping through eBates to earn a percentage of what you spend back in cash. This effectively makes everything you buy cheaper, so you can afford to buy more things – like the jar of coconut oil. And you can actually also earn a lot by inviting your friends to save money through eBates too! Click here to learn more about eBates.
• You can challenge yourself to a no-spend week to save to create a cushion for months. That will allow you to have a “stockpile” of cash that, if spent wisely, will lower your cost of living, as we teach in the Complete Grocery Budget Solution.
• You can get a cheaper cell phone. I maintain a cell phone bill of about $25 a month – and yes, I have a smartphone – just by switching to a cheaper provider.
• You can challenge yourself to stop buying new clothing. Find a Goodwill store, and take it a step further by committing to only buy clothes when they’re on sale. You won’t find everything you want every time, which I find is actually beneficial because sometimes, the things I think I want, I realize after a while, I don’t actually need after all. That alone has saved me hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on clothing throughout the years. 

You can also go beyond earning rewards and saving money by starting a “side hustle” or business venture in your spare time – sometimes at no initial cost!

For a more comprehensive list, check out the guide “Ten Ways To Make Money From Home”

1. Sell your stuff. Go through your house, gather up the stuff you don’t want or need, and sell it.

   Big things can be sold through Craigslist or local Facebook groups

   Small things can be sold through eBay. The awesome thing about eBay is that it doesn’t cost you anything until you make a sale – they take a percentage of the sale price, and it sets you up for business. Take the money you earn from your sales, reinvest it in more stuff, and sell again. (you can read the eBay guide for beginners by clicking here)
2. Make things to sell. Is there a craft you’re good at? Sell it on Etsy! This one does cost you upfront in crafting supplies and in listings – $.20 per listing – but it has the potential to create a powerful business! I’ve bought everything from jewelry to workout tees (because I’m a sucker for witty quotes) on Etsy.

   Don’t write yourself off as an Etsy seller because your product doesn’t seem mainstream. My sister is a very successful Etsy seller, selling hand-crocheted bookmarks and downloadable patterns so you can make your own. Who would have ever thought that crotched bookmarks would be a thing?! But people shop on Etsy for something unique, so anything is possible!

3. Start a blog. You’re reading a blog right now. In fact, this is the blog that brought us up from the rock bottom of dirt poor. How? You ask. Well, for starters, I started this blog on the free Blogger platform and didn’t start paying for anything until later (not something I recommend if you want to be a professional blogger!). But to answer your question more directly, through ad revenue. When I first put ads in my blog’s sidebar, it was like a miracle! every time someone visited, I would earn a small amount of cash (typically 1/2 to 1 cent per person).

Five years after starting my first attempts to make money online, I’ve learned that the internet is a gold mine of money-earning potential, and there’s a place for every single person who has a will to make it work.

• I have several friends who buy clothing at thrift stores and sell them through Instagram
• My husband sells handmade custom kydex holsters using the internet
• My sister sells on Etsy
• My brother is a freelance web developer
• Another friend sells handmade babydoll beds on Etsy
• Another friend helps people buy groceries online
• Another friend builds her Multilevel marketing business through Facebook
• I run a blog-based business, as do many of my friends (to be fair, I met these particular friends because of my business), where I earn money from display ads, affiliate links, multi-level marketing, working with brands, and selling my own products. 

It’s crazy, but the bottom line is, with a little creativity, the possibilities are endless! And because of these endless possibilities, it won’t be long until you can make those investments in your life that you never thought you could afford.

You can do this!