How to Live Cheap After a Divorce

Cheap Meal

A divorce is more than just hard on a person's emotions. Often times a family operates and pays bills with two incomes coming in to the home. Once a divorce occurs, both parties must learn how to live on one income. It is important that each party begin living without spending much money as soon as possible to minimize any debts that could build up. It may take some getting used to, but it is not hard to do.

Things You'll Need

• Library Coupons Thrift stores Discount stores

Instructions

1. Cut down household expenses as much as you can. If you use the Internet to work, then keep it. Otherwise, cancel your service until you get back on your feet. The same goes with television service. If you have a home phone and a cell phone, keep one and cancel the other.

2. Check out movies and books from the library, free services that will cut down on entertainment expenses. Most libraries feature new book and movie releases, making them a great choice for saving money.

3. Switch to store-brand foods, which are cheaper than their name-brand competitors because they don't spend money advertising. Splurge on a name-brand product only if you have a coupon that makes it cost less than the store-brand version.

4. Find a smaller house or apartment, which offers a less expense mortgage or rent payment. It could mean a few hundred dollars per month extra in savings that you could use to buy your groceries. In addition, it will cost less to heat and light a smaller house or apartment, which could be the money to put gas in your car.

5. Find someone to take over your car payment if it is too high and start saving money to pay cash for a used car. That will leave you without a monthly car payment, which can be a big relief when you need to live cheaply.

6. Shop at thrift shops, dollar stores or other discount outlets to purchase clothing or household items.

Tips & Warnings

• Finding coupons for products that are on sale is like finding cash laying on the street. Sometimes you can even get the product for free.

• Don't spend money on anything you don't need. You may have been able to overspend during the marriage, but you no longer have that luxury.