I don't know about you but I HATED living paycheck to paycheck. The last few days always killed us a family, making gas last, and having to say no to going out. We would become homebodies. This all taught me many ways to make our paychecks last longer. I want to share a few of them with you.

Clever Ideas to Make Your Paycheck Last Longer

1) Bring home more money. If it has been a few years since you began working for your current employer, it may be time for an update on your W-9 form. In many cases, a few changes here will allow you to bring home more money! You can also ask for raise if it has been a year or more since your last one. If  you can't get a raise at your current job you can always get a 2nd job or a side hustle to earn some extra money. You can add money to your income like I do with $210 or more of Amazon Gift Cards a month.

2) Have a Daily Budget. Come payday pay your bills, do your budget and buy groceries then take the money left and take the lump sum of say $200 and divide it by the amount until your next paycheck say 15 days. That gives you about $13 a day to spend. Keeping this in mind, you can not spend a few days to save up for something big or the days you don't spend you can put that money in savings.

3) Make it at Home.  There are 7 things I stopped buying and started making at home. This should include stopping to buy coffee, eating out etc. It is always cheaper to make it at home than pay for the convenience of someone else making it.

4) Do some repairs yourself. When something breaks, save the money and fix it yourself. Master YouTube to figure out how to make simple repairs. Repair your blinker, fix a door, and even fix a leaky faucet.

5) Cheap Entertainment. Take advantage of all the free things you can do in your town. Play tourist and walk downtown or head to another town and play tourist there. Take advantage of free admission weekends and buy memberships to local attractions that you want to frequent.

6) Menu Plan and Shop Once a Week. Make a menu plan for the month and only hit the grocery store. This saves you time plus the less you hit the store the less likely extra items make it into your cart and throw you off budget. Plus having a menu plan stops you from eating out which saves money and it will also stop all the ‘What's for dinner?' questions.