Saving money is one of the hardest things I have to do in my day to day life. Not because I don’t want to save, but because I struggle to bring in the income needed to sustain my family. Thankfully Kansas isn’t a super expensive state to live in, but I’ve lived paycheck to paycheck my entire life. My mom and dad both came from struggle. Growing up wasn’t much different for me, however my mom did the absolute best she could for us and I’m grateful always.
Today I want to share some things I do to stretch my income, save money, and budget better!
1. Establish a Budgeting System
There are tons of online resources to help with budgeting, the different systems people use, etc. I prefer envelope budgeting, it’s a system created by David Ramsey (check out his website HERE). Essentially you break down everything you spend into envelopes with allotted amounts. You can do this with savings as well. Here is an awesome video more about envelop budgeting HERE.
2. Identify your “Why”
This is honesty the first step, but you need to figure out why you’re starting to save money and budget better. Maybe like me you’re tired of not maximizing the income coming into your household? Maybe you are just moving into your own place and need to make sure you don’t fall under (I’m twenty so if I can do these steps you can too!)? Maybe you’re in debt and need to make extra room in your income to start paying them off? Or maybe the new Xbox came out and your husband is all but begging for it? Whatever your reason is, identifying it will help you remember why you started on this path.
3. Use Coupons or Cash Back Apps
Now this might seems like a extra step, but using coupons and cash rewards apps can help cut down on your essentials. Most coupons are for food and household items- things we already buy so why not look into it! And cash back apps are even easier to use, I like Ibotta (here is my referral link if your interested HERE). It’s simple to use, make sure to save your receipts!
4. Establish what you're saving for and a goal
Figuring out your savings and goals are really easy. If your savings have an end goal especially. You want to establish a few things...
At what amount if any will your savings stop
What system will you use for saving
Where will you store your savings
Where will you record your savings amounts and progress
I have a budgeting binder with a multitude of different printable that work best for me. They walk you though recording your savings and tracking it. I also know that I don't like to keep cash on me, I think its unsafe so I have determined most of my savings (aside from a small emergency amount) is put in the bank. If you don't store your money in a bank I advise getting a safe that can't be moved easily. I like to use a unique systems for recording my amounts that if anyone's interested I will write about! My savings envelopes are for a house deposit, first months rent, U-Haul, and emergency fund. We are looking to move back into our old town and so our savings are being poured into that. Yours may look a lot different!
5. Use the DWC Rule
DWC stands for...
D- Do I need it
W- Will I use it regularly
C- Can I live without it
This is something my VERY smart boyfriend came up with when I asked for his advice to add to my blog. A little background on him is that he is a huge penny pincher (thankfully). Neither of us like to spend money but have struggled with saving in the past. This rule/way of thinking is good when you need to cut most spending out completely to save. Currently my boyfriend and I are doing this to find a new place to live! I find it easy to break down what I'm buying during a serious saving time using this acronym.
6. Learn to tell yourself no
An important part of saving is not breaking down and spending your saved money. Nothing should be financially more important than your saving goals and essentials (aside from emergences of course). It's hard to say know when we really, really want something, but its important to not loose sight of your goal.
7. Stop your unhealthy habit(s)
Most habits that are bad for us are generally expensive. For example, smoking, eating out, drinking soda, etc. The first thing I did when my boyfriend and I needed to save as much money as possible was to stop eating out, stop drinking everything but water, and I stopped vaping. Not only did all of my habits have a huge impact on my physical health, my wallet was really impacted too. As hard as it may be, this is a huge tip to saving.
8. Use cash- put the debit/credit card away
While it's not a great idea to carry your savings around or huge sums of cash, grocery money, gas money for the day, is a different story. When using a debit card its easy to loose track of purchases and not think before buying. I tend to watch how much I spend when I physically see the cash disappearing from my wallet. Also living with ADHD my memory isn't the best so I have to see what's in-front of me before hurting my wallets feelings.
And those are my best money saving tips for the upcoming year! (It's still 2021 but I will be carrying these tips into 2022). What, if any of these money saving tips are you going to be using? What is your best advice for anyone struggling with their finances?
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