To Be, To Be. Tutubi.

Now that pay-out for our 13th month pay is near, we should spend that hard-earned money wisely and not just use it to buy things that we don't really need. We should not get carried away and use the coming season to spend unnecessarily. We should always remember that saving should be taught to our children and to all members of the household so that it could be a way of life for all us. There are also areas of expenses that are non-negotiable for all of us,(like health card for my kids in my case) but we should always be on the look-out for other ways where we can save without sacrificing the needs and comfort of our families.

And here are very useful tips from the Father Blogger:

"There are a lot of ways to save money for the whole family, and most of them are practical and easy to follow. However, it is within ourselves who will make decisions if we will follow them or not. Below is a good list according to applicable categories such as Food, Education, Shopping and others, which I have compiled for easier reading. Most of them are now being practiced by my family.

Just remember that these were created to save money, and not to sacrifice the necessities of the family."

General

1 Make a strict budget and stick with it. Discipline your self.
2 Save time in everything you do. The time you save can be spent to earn more money.
3 Plan your family according to your income and status.
4 Manage your debt. Do not add loan in payment of another loan.
5 Learn the do-it-yourself activities like washing your car, cutting your hair, and minor troubleshooting of appliances.
6 Do not be excited with insurance programs. Have enough time to choose them before joining.
7 Do not join the lottery. Do not take chances on luck and work harder instead.
8 Save at least 10% of your earning no matter what happens. Cut it off it automatically every payday and consider it as part of your tax.
9 Coins are heavy on the pocket, so keep them at home and let them grow.
10 Make a list of your daily expenses, make a graph and analyze it during weekends. You will know which one you should cut off.
11 Learn the art of banking, and how to choose the best bank for you.
12 Watch out for identity thieves. Protect your ATM cards, and memorize your PIN instead of writing it.
13 To avoid transaction fees, do not withdraw money using ATM card to machines that do not belong to your network group.
14 Train your children to save energy which can be converted to money.
15 Teach your children all that you have learned. The earlier you do it, the better.
16 Live a simple life. Do not spend more than what you earn.
17 Identify your NEEDS and separate your WANTS. They are the two different things at home.

Food

18 Do not cook for dinner. Instead, make your lunch the same as dinner to save one cooking.
19 Besides junk foods and soft drinks, avoid coffee creamers, excess food seasoning and other non-value add on food.
20 Prepare our own snacks especially for children. Instead of eating outside with them during weekends, attract them with different recipes.
21 Have a vegetable day at least once a week. Use vegetable in replacement for meat for spaghetti and others.
22 Instead of flowers and other attractive plants in your backyard, plant common vegetables.
23 Learn how to cook recycled foods. Fried fish can be cooked again with tomato soup with egg.
24 Wrap the vegetables such as carrots and celery in a foil before you refrigerate them. They will stay fresh for a longer period of time.

For the complete list, head over to Father Blogger.