Beat The Money Monster Or Turn And Run

The recession was hard. Many went under and many more were on the verge of going all thanks to money. Many of us have found it easy to blame the bankers but, if we're honest, we all played our own little part. Remember all those outragesously priced, monstrous flat screen TV's? Well, manufacturers would make them if they weren't being bought. Enough said.

The days of going without hurt many of us and it's not just the luxuries that we missed. Many families were finding it hard to afford everyday goods. In fact, there are still a lot of people without much cash in their pockets thanks to the recession.

So what's going to happen if it hits again? More people will undoubtedly go under but, if you're careful, there are ways to squeeze every bit of value out of you pennies. Here's 5 ideas for you:

1. Spend less on your clothes. We go through clothes at a fair rate of knots; especially kids but there are ways to start saving. Don't buy designer labels – they're usually expensive. If you must clothe yourself in the very latest designer labels try to find a discount code or coupon.

2. Waste Less. I'm talking about food. It might still be (relatively) cheap but that doesn't mean we should be throwing piles of food in the bin. If you don't need it, don't cook it. In fact, cutting back on your food intake will not only save you money but it might also save your waistline

3. Drive less. This might be hard for some of you that live out in the wilds but, generally, we can all get by without having to use the car every two minutes. Recent fuel price rises have hit the commuter hard. You might argue that this is also good for the environment. Sadly not. As fuel costs force private vehicles off the road public transport replaces them. Do yourself a favour – walk a bit more.

4. Get rid of you Sky/cable TV. I know, it's hurts to not be able to watch sport at the weekend but do you really need to spend all that money? Before satellite and cable television came along we did just fine. There's no reason why we can't do fine again.

5. Ask for more. Ask for a better deal. Ask for cheaper broadband. Ask for lower gas bills. It doesn't hurt. It's highly unlikely to kill so just ask!

5 simple tips to help you save money in, and out, of a recession.

My name is Andrew and I write for a number of websites. If you want to find more ways to save money try this article about killing your debt.