Tip of the Day 2 October 2009

Use Gift Cards to Stay on Budget

If you have trouble sticking to your grocery budget try this trick. Once a month buy a gift card at your supermarket to the value of your grocery budget for the coming month. Each time you shop, use the gift card to pay for the groceries. As the balance decreases, you'll be aware of how much is left in the grocery budget to do you until the end of the month. Seeing the shrinking balance will help you track your grocery spending for the month and keep you from over-spending the grocery budget. You can apply the same principle to petrol and any other regular fixed budget categories you may have. You'll also be more inclined to stick to your budget because the gift cards can generally only be used at specific stores.