How to Survive Having More Month than Money

This is not a new phenomenon. More and more people are joining the more month than money club. For some reason the money seems to run out earlier and earlier each month. There is a way to shorten the gap between the month and money, but it takes some time, patience and consistency.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Know how much more month you have than money. It's best to sit down and take a look at your bills and find out exactly where the money is going. You might be surprised to find out that you don’t actually have more month than money; you’re just spending your money in the wrong places.

2. Prioritize your bills. When your money runs out before your month does you don't want your mortgage or rent to be unpaid. You may have to forgo that double coffee latte or the movie you wanted to see, but the rent or mortgage must be paid. Prioritize your bills in order of needs and wants.

3. Put some money aside for an emergency. Yes this is a difficult step because you already have more month than money but think about it. Do you really think that setting aside $5, $10 or $20 a week or a month for an emergency will really make much of a difference in your ability to pay bills? You’re already giving the bill collectors everything you have and are falling short, why not regularly set aside a few dollars for yourself. This way if your car breaks down, you’ll have money saved to fix it to enable you to get to work (by the way, if you had practiced this little savings habit before, you wouldn’t be in your current situation).

4. Look for ways to tighten your belt. This may entail incorporating a new way of shopping. You may have to buy and cook whole foods from scratch rather than processed foods or and eating out. It might mean buying designer knockoffs rather than the designer shoes and clothes. Find creative ways to tighten your belt.

5. Seek ways to make more money. After you have tightened your belt the only thing left to do is make more money so that your month and money match. Before you say, “I don't have enough time.” Yes you do. You’re going to find the time to reverse the more month than money trend. Look for online opportunities. Whether you decide to earn residual income through freelance writing for sites like eHow, Suite 101 or Associated Content or earn up front pay writing for Demand Studios or Textbroker.com, you can supplement your income in your spare time.

6. Seek quality affiliate programs. There are a host of affiliate programs that are willing to pay you to sell their products. Shareasale.com, CommissionJunciton.com and eJunkie are a few that are free to join.

Tips & Warnings

• It doesn't look like economy is going to get better any time soon, therefore you need to change your thinking and adopt new ways of making your money and month match.

Resources

• Earn Money Writing for Suite 101
• How to Chip Away at Outstanding Debt

[Tidbits]

on 10/10/2008 Sorry to hear about your hubby. It seems that more and more of us are put in this situation. We've got to press on.