How To Survive On A Low Income Budget

If you don’t have much to live on, knowing the art of minimalism may be required for financial survival. If you need to learn how to survive on a low income budget, this may mean you lack an emergency fund or a savings account in great shape.

Summary: Survive on barely anything. Have enough dough (not just from the bakery). Instead, have the kind of dough that’s easily traded for goods or services. So without further ado, read on.

Two things are important – how to budget and how to become debt free.

With this knowledge, and importantly… action, one can begin to get back on track in living.

Living becomes easier with less focus on the self and less stress over all the negative things about life.

Before success comes trial, at least for the individual living under debt or just trying to get by while having concern over tomorrow.

Like a habit, taking one step in the right financial direction makes further steps easier. Don’t get overly anxious, as this may take more than a day or a year. Don’t get too down either. Many others live with debt and struggle also.

So turn to a mindset of “I can get there with some dedication.” Dedication and discipline are not bad words. They just seem hard to undergo.

Like a seed that is planted and given time to grow, financial discipline and dedication can sprout to something pleasant. Look at it this way instead.

And now… how to budget, survive and also become debt free.

How To Budget Money On A Low Income

There are small things to budget and there are big things. Covered here are three big tactics for how to budget money on a low income.

Live Below Your Means

Living below the standard of one’s financial intake has got to be the number one thing to hold in mind when having quite a low income.

Writing a list from top to bottom, or greatest to least monthly spending amounts, can reveal where all the money is going. If you haven’t done this, you may want to. It can help tremendously with getting a grasp on things.

As an example, begin with what is the largest money void for many people.

Generally, one needs someplace to live. This is the biggest expense most likely. There are ways to reduce overall monthly expenses by 10%, 20%, or even 25% through this main expenditure being lowered.

Other than that, the mentioned article will help underscore some of the ways to save and budget. And for low income people, acting on one or more of these can be very crucial to survival.

Get More Side Work

This is a great alternative financial survival method.

Don’t wait until the last month, day or hour in which you’ll really need more work just to get by. Take advantage of having free time and of control over more of your future.

Getting income is crucial if you have time to do work related tasks. With some of your free time being given to another job, surviving becomes easier.

The key to having life is to survive, if nothing more. Instead of waiting for the mountains to crumble around you, try to find some part-time or full-time work before you really, really need more to survive.

As an example, a 20 hour part-time job that pays $8 could bring back $120 weekly or $500 monthly after taxes are taken out. And this could be a real positive change for paying more rent or living expenses down.

Think Before Shopping

Don’t buy things unnecessary.

Heed this rule and have a positive impact (or less money leaks) on your financial life. Just steer clear of thinking you deserve all sorts of things you can’t afford. Life is too short for trying to fake “keeping up with the Joneses” and being mired in debt for years.

Before making any purchase, work up the shopping hierarchy.

If you get to the end without stopping, that’s when you purchase something as new. Other than this, there’s a way to save money here. So stop when the need can be solved. Otherwise, work up the hierarchy.

This is serious business. This list of steps can save serious money over time.

1. NEED is there. Do you absolutely need to have something? If it’s a need, then maybe. If it’s a want, the answer is no and you can stop here without buying.

2. FREE opportunities. Look online for the thing or a similar object. Try Offerup, Craigslist and Freecycle. There are people who just give away things, and you may find sections labeled as “free” on the sites.

You could check back at these sites every day or week for awhile, if the need is not immediate. If email alerts are available for any of these sites, then set these up for better optimization.

3. BORROW from a friend or neighbor. This is great for just needing something for one occasion. No need to buy, just borrow. Then return the favor by lending in time of the neighbor’s need. Just state to ask you if they need some tool or other object at a later time.

4. CHEAP alternatives. Is there something around that can do the job? Look online if you need to learn how to do something. Do a web search for “alternatives to” and complete with the product name on the end.

5. DELAY for a month or year. If something doesn’t need to be bought on the current day, could it be delayed even further? Really think of it’s absolute necessity to your life.

In the meantime, online alerts could be set with both IFTTT and Google programs that’ll inform you if something related is found online. The alerts may inform you if the thing becomes available for free, for barter or low cost.

6. MAKE it instead. Okay, type in “make a” and complete with the product name on the end. This may actually be possible depending on the feasibility.

Making something workable (or as close as possible to actually making something that works can be a fun experience. In the end, you may even end up giving praise over a wonderful creation.

7. USED purchase. There are discount stores all around. These contain clothing, discount movies, used appliances and more.

People go for new a lot. There is also a lot of debt out there. If you’re really asking about how to survive on a low income budget, buying used over new is a helpful answer.

Buying used is for when there’s nowhere to go after having progressed through all the prior steps without any solution available.

8. NEW as the final option. Hold on though, this is where saving gets exciting. Try to push paying full price out even further. Follow these details in an exact orderly fashion, for the best approach.

– Look for coupons or discount codes online or within the newspaper.

– Failing coupons, wait for a sale if the wait is doable.

– If waiting is not doable then try to haggle. It’s been stated that around 70% of those who haggle for appliances are successful. And the savings could amount to $80 on the average. That is amazing! Don’t fail to haggle for expensive things, as it doesn’t hurt to at least try. This could especially help if the product has some small flaw found.

– If haggling with the store doesn’t help, ask for the manager. Ask what could be done, or mention a better deal somewhere in the hope of securing somewhat of a discount. Managers may have sales quotas to meet and this may be successful.

– Finally, if everything before fails… you may pay full price if the thing is affordable.

There.

Though, here is one final bonus way to save money as a frugal individual.

Form A Neighborhood Sharing Group

Instead of competing with neighbors, maybe share with neighbors. Form or join a neighborhood group that doesn’t mind sharing things.

As an example, have everyone within a group of five families split the costs of lawn care equipment, video game systems, outdoor sporting equipment, or whatever comes to mind.

Then allow certain weeks of part-ownership to each residence. So each week, things are traded off. Of course form your own adapted way.

This concept is far easier with fewer participants. Things can get too messy and complicated when too many people are involved.

However, one way perhaps better than exchanges could be simply contacting neighbors when devices are needed.

Look at the weekly needs for the objects.

If lawn care devices are exchanged every week between four families, each residence can mow and perform weed control once per month.

But when calling a neighbor who has the device, lawn care can doesn’t have to wait until grass is overgrown too much. The same “ask as needed” approach can also apply to sporting equipment, barbecue grills, and many other things.

Look at the numbers when it comes to potential savings.

In effect, this is like paying 20% of full costs for the five families involved. Or it’s like 33% if three families want to try this out. This concept is very adaptable and has the potential to work out nicely for neighbors that get along okay.

If you only team up with one next door neighbor, that’s 50% off. Let’s look at these numbers.

Buy a nice $300 barbecue grill.

This is like getting a $150 fancy grill. After that, let’s presume both neighbors want to part ways later and get out of the deal. Sell it for $180 and both get $90 to spend on basic pits or grills. Sure, both are out $60. This is better than losing $120 though. And just that $60 could mean a few years of nice summer parties or big family gatherings.

Buy a nice $200 inflatable boat.

If both parties live near the water, this could work out. This is a great opportunity when only special occasions call one to go water sporting. Just seek to split the cost and ask a neighbor if they’d be interested in the same thing. Why pay a lot when hardly using something?

One thing to notice is that the less something is used, the easier dividing costs may become. And that’s because people may be willing to buy into the thing if they know it’ll be readily available often (water ski equipment, tree trim equipment, other expensive things).

One last thing if you’re unsure if any of this applies to your situation.

It doesn’t hurt to ask and explain to someone how you can work out a deal, listening to each other’s needs with the product in question.

How To Become Debt Free On A Low Income

This is very difficult to do. Two reasons prevent solving the question of how to become debt free on a low income.

Both having to spend that low income on basic necessities while also trying to pay down debt can be extremely difficult. This takes a dual effort and discipline toward succeeding.

It’s tough to live on a low income. It’s tougher to live on one while dealing with debt. What in the world is one to do?

And when debt is not faced, the problem becomes more interest, and then even greater debt and payments to creditors.

Take Charge Of Debt Anytime

Whether you begin early or late to take charge of any debt situation, it’s important to do just that and begin. The longer things go, the more unnecessary spending occurs toward the interest payment itself.

And that truly is like throwing away money or setting it aflame.

By doing something difficult now, the future doesn’t need to be so hard. Being willing to take difficult steps toward debt relief is the kind of mindset needed for the task.

So pick one or more solutions to the problem.

– Win the lottery.

– Get a large inheritance.

– Get to work at a second job.

– Perform side jobs around town.

– Look online for any work available.

– Sell some things no longer needed.

– Legal begging at some street corners.

The problem needs to be solved. And the earlier, the absolute better the outcome will be, as less money is wasted.