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How many of us are in this situation? We have month at the end of the money, instead of money at the end of the month.

It’s too bad schools don’t focus more on budget setting and financial awareness, which are two skills that should be learned when we are young.

These are skills we will need to use our whole lives long! Being out of debt and able to save money is so important.

If you have young children at home, do them a favor. Teach them how to live on a budget and how to save money for what they want.

It will help them throughout their life and it will show them the benefits of having money at the end of the month, instead of the other way around.

Having Money at the End of the Month

Here are a few ways we can save money and keep a bit more cash in our jeans:

Check your banking fees

Do you bank at one of the Big 5 here in Canada? Are you willing to spend an hour or two and explore the actual fees you are paying each month?

Do you write a fair number of cheques every month. If so, make sure you aren’t being charged a per cheque fee.

In addition, do you have more than one service through one bank (like a chequing account, plus a line of credit or a savings account)? Make sure you are entitled to be credited every month for your fees, since you have multiple accounts.

If your bank doesn’t offer that, maybe it’s time to look elsewhere to park your money.

There are also lots of online banks where you pay minimal if any fees at all. Just make sure your are FDIC covered (each bank should cover $100,000) worth of deposits.

Some of these online banks give you cash back on all your credit card purchases, which can really add up!

Use credit cards wisely and actually use their “money” for free if you are smart about it. Just never carry a balance and always pay on the due date.

Using credit cards in a smart way can really help you save money over the long term.

Look at your cell phone contracts to see if you can save money

Are you financially better off to have a three year contract and be able to use the phone as much as you want? Or, are you able to just buy a cheaper phone and have minutes put on, instead of signing a contract?

Take a good look at how much you use your phone and whether you can get away without the contract. Maybe you will find you can save money by NOT being on a contract.

Do you have a computer maintenance contract? 

This one is coming from a personal perspective. I pay every year to have preventative maintenance done on my computer. Another bonus is,  I get any problems fixed with one phone call.

Perhaps you are computer savvy enough to be able to do all the necessary fixes yourself. I am not; I don’t have the time for it. Therefore, I am willing to pay so that the problem becomes someone else’s headache.

That being said, on a recent phone call with the company, they tried talking me into a $99.00 charge so that they could install a particular program which would keep my system running problem free. I declined, saying I wanted to think about it.

Really, WHY would I pay this extra fee? I already pay them to look after the system. Also, if I go ahead and buy the other program, I am spending MY money in order to save THEM time. Ummm, no thanks!

More Tips for Saving Money

Check out all our posts on Spending Less to try and save money on all of your purchases, whether it is food, clothing, recreation, travel, house expenses or vehicles.

There are almost always extra deals to be had, if you are willing to take the time to find them! There are almost always ways to save yourself more money.

It is easy to get caught up in the daily living and end up spending more for convenience and saving time. If you have lots of money, do whatever you like.

But if you’re like most of us and need to watch your pennies, look into every part of your life where money is involved. Remember, the goal of business is to take money OUT of your pocket and put it into THEIR pocket.

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