Think Other than Cash to Control Spending

The commercial nature of our lives may have us programmed to think that everything requires money to purchase. It's simply not true. There are some things that require money, but many other items can be bartered or even gotten for free. When you need cash for an emergency bill, then cash is what you will use to pay that bill. Then, you might turn to your savings account, your family or friends, or a third-party source like credit cards or payday advances. If you know you can get something for free or by trading, though, then this frees up more cash for those emergencies and you can borrow less.

The trick isn't really in whether figuring out if an item is available somewhere, it is whether you believe you can actually get something for free or a trade. Many people can't even believe that people still barter in this day and age. Once you change that belief, you may notice your local swap shop; recycle store, or even online services like Craigslist.com, which has a regular barter and free area. Until you are willing to look for these things, you won't bother noticing.

If you only save $10 on one item, that's $10 extra dollars you have to pay the bills that can't use barter to be paid. If you are still short, the Internet also offers payday advances through various companies. The less you have to borrow, the more easily you can repay the payday advances when they are due, saving money in late fees and additional interest.

Contributing National Payday Staff Writer

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