Tag Archives: Saving Money

Timeless Ways to Live Frugally

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Sure, we might be living in 2024 – however, there are ways to live economically that will never go out of style. Last month we gave you some frugal habits you might enjoy – but keep reading to find out even more simple, yet effective ways to live frugally.

Cook at Home with What You Have: Cooking at home instead of going out to eat or buying takeout, will undoubtedly save you money. Not to mention, it can become a fun family activity that’s inclusive of everyone in the household and something that you can all look forward to doing. It’s also a good idea to use simple recipes with fewer ingredients, as well as plan your meals around what you already have in your fridge, freezer, and pantry before going out to the store for additional ingredients. Use any refrigerated food that will go bad quicker, first. Waste not, want not!

Declutter and Organize: Getting rid of clothing items you no longer use and posting them on apps like Poshmark and Mercari, or books and furniture no longer needed and selling these items at a yard sale – can bring in a little bit of income that you can put into your savings account or use to pay a utility bill. In addition, organizing and going through what you already have may save you from purchasing a new item when you either can’t find the original – or think you don’t already have it.

Plant a Garden: With spring coming soon, it’s the perfect time to learn how to experiment with growing your own vegetables and herbs. If successful, you can go right into your backyard and pick your own – rather than purchase them at the grocery store. Not to mention, spending time outdoors in the fresh air and learning a new hobby can be therapeutic.

Canning: Learning how to can and preserve your own food in glass jars is another old-fashioned way to save money by making your own sustenance. This skill will allow you to store fruit, vegetables and make flavorful jams and sauces that could last you months at a time. Certain items like making your own jelly, can even be given as gifts. You’ll need to initially invest in some supplies, but over time the initial cost will make up for itself.

Buying Secondhand Clothes or Swapping: Checking out your local thrift store or an estate sale might score you some real bargains on quality pieces. Another idea to save money on clothing that won’t cost you a dime, is to trade or swap them out with a friend or family member. Find someone who is the same size, and borrow some new items for your wardrobe to expand it without having to buy anything new.

As you can see, these ways to live frugally will never expire. Your great-grandparents and your grandparents experienced them – as well as your ancestors before that. They’re proven to stand the test of time and can be passed down to future generations, which is a win-win in financial literacy for all.

For more money-saving tips and insights into managing your finances, don’t forget to check out our website and subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter.

Ways to Manage Price Inflation and Increasing Costs

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You’ve most likely noticed increasing prices as you check out at the grocery store and fill up your gas tank lately. Last month, consumer prices on goods took a huge jump and increased by 7% from the previous year. This is the highest inflation rate our country has seen in 40 years!

Here are some ways you can manage the current inflation environment and help your bottom line at the same time:

Shop Your Cabinets and Pantry First. Before you hit the store – check your cabinets, pantry, and shelves to see what non-perishable items you already have at home. This will allow you to see what you have already bought previously, shorten your grocery list, and save you some money on your food shopping bill. This also goes for checking toiletry items and cleaning supplies you already have at home, as well as look in your freezer too. It’s easy to forget what you may have already purchased and didn’t realize you had!

Meal Prep. Planning your meals ahead and making a grocery list based on the ingredients you’ll need for the week, will allow you to (hopefully) stick to the list in front of you and not buy extras. Try not to deviate from your list, oftentimes these additional purchases end up spoiling before you get a chance to use them and then end up in the garbage can.

Reduce Waste. This goes hand in hand with meal prepping. Plan out your meals and ingredients for the week ahead. Try to find recipes and ingredients that you can use in multiple meals. For example, say you purchase and cook a whole chicken on Sunday. Use the leftovers for lunches for the week ahead by making a grilled chicken salad on Monday, chicken noodle soup on Tuesday, and a chicken burrito bowl on Wednesday.

Try Using Store Brand Products. Most of the time, you’re going to pay more for a name brand product. While in the store, comparison shop. Typically, you’ll find that the generic store brand is cheaper and is essentially the same exact item.

Buy in Bulk. When you can and if you have the storage space, it’s usually cheaper to buy items in bulk. Think toiletries and household cleaning supplies, pasta, rice, cereal, etc. If you don’t have the space or need that much at the moment, see about splitting the items and costs with a friend or family member.

Cut Back on Meat. Meat tends to increase one’s grocery bill. Try going meatless once or twice a week if you can, and switch to less expensive protein alternatives on those days like beans, lentils, and cheese.

Save on Produce. Try to buy produce that’s in season, which will be cheaper – or buy from your local farm market. Also buying frozen fruit and vegetables will help you save money too.

Try to Save on Gas Prices. Can you carpool to the office or work from home at all? If not – look into signing up for a fuel rewards program, use a credit card that offers cash back on gas purchases, or download a comparison app to see which gas stations near you are the cheapest.

Share. Instead of making large purchases during these times, for items that you probably won’t use every day – see if you can share with or borrow from a friend or family member for expensive tools, appliances, or equipment.

While it may seem that prices and cost of living continues to increase, the suggestions above can certainly help you save some hard-earned money these days. Don’t forget to review this list before you visit the store next!

Article Source: The Penny Hoarder

3 Ways to Stop Overspending During These Times

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Given the current pandemic that continues, you’re most likely more mindful of your finances these days. Even if you have a budget set up, you may still find that money feels a little tight right now. The last thing you want to do in these current times, is rack up unnecessary debt or spend too much money. Here are 3 easy ways to stop overspending.

Cut back on takeout: It’s great to support local businesses right now, but don’t overdo it. Have you been consistently making trips to your favorite fast food drive thru or ordering takeout/delivery? If your takeout budget has increased, your grocery budget needs to decrease. Be mindful of what you are spending on food and if the takeout is taking over your budget.

Pay with cash: After you pay your bills for the month, try to use cash for anything else. Other than necessities that you may still want to purchase online for health and safety reasons, are you shopping online and using a card just to pass the time or buy items you don’t really need? Using cash may prevent you from adding that one extra item to your Amazon or other online shopping cart.

Make do with what you have: Delayed events are happening all over. Movies and concerts have either been pushed back or cancelled. As much as you might want to spend money you normally would spend on summer concert tickets on something else, keep it in your savings account. For now – watch a movie on Netflix you haven’t seen yet, or on your cable network’s free on demand movies. You can also login to YouTube and view a past live concert at no cost. There are many ways to improvise and save money!

Article Source: John Pettit for CUInsight.com

How to Stop Thinking Your Paycheck isn’t Enough

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Do you ever feel like your paycheck just isn’t enough to do everything you’d like to do? Maybe in some cases it may not be or you may have to find other ways to supplement your income, however most of the time – this feeling is a mindset that you can make positive changes to.

Here are five ways to change your thinking:

1. Stop comparing yourself to others. Social media is very good at allowing us to compare ourselves to other people. You see your friends posting a brand new car, going on lavish vacations, buying expensive shoes or clothes, and the list goes on. If you want what others have, you will always be disappointed. You also don’t know another person’s financial situation – maybe they put all those vacations on a credit card and will spend the next five years trying to pay it off. The bottom line is, stop looking at what others have and focus on all the good things in your life that you are grateful for.

2. Pushing your lifestyle ahead of schedule. What you can afford is different if you earn $20k a year, $100k a year, or $1 million a year – and for everything in between. If you make $50k a year but are trying to live a lifestyle of someone who makes $100k or more – your paycheck will never be enough and you will probably be in a great deal of debt. Change your mindset and live and spend within the means of your annual salary and your annual salary alone.

3. Take note of what you have, not what you’re lacking. If you make an espresso in a regular large coffee mug, it won’t look like a lot of coffee – right? The answer here is that it’s not about volume, but about contents. Don’t look at the glass as half empty, but instead half full. What are you thankful for? Try to appreciate what you do have rather than what you think you’re missing.

4. Cut off your spending on occasion. This idea is in relation to things that are not necessities. For example, think about any subscription services you pay for (cable, Netflix, gym, Amazon Prime, etc.) or extras that you might buy (coffee each morning on the way to work, snacks from the office vending machine everyday, and so forth). Do you “really” need these to survive? If you take a break from them do you miss them, or can you find other ways to satisfy these habits? This exercise will make you realize what are truly necessities and where you can scale back on your spending and save the money for something else more important.

5. Look for alternatives. There is probably a cheaper option out there for pretty much anything you want to do or purchase, you just have to do a little research. For example – do you really need brand name food? Opt for the store brand instead, you are guaranteed to save money and most times it is the exact same product. If you’re looking to cut your cable bill you might try using just Internet service and connecting through an online subscription like Hulu to save some money. The possibilities are endless, you just have to experiment and find what works for you.

The moral of the story here is that if you think your paycheck is never enough, it never will be. The goal is to change your mindset, save as much as you can, and research cheaper alternatives to getting what you want. You can do it!

Article Source: David Ning for Moneyning.com

How to Actually Save Money Every Month

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It’s easy to stop pulling out your wallet every so often, but in actuality it’s our recurring expenses that typically get us into debt. Many people often ignore monthly expenses because they are subconsciously used to just paying the usual bills each month. However, there are a few areas that when you eliminate them or find ways to cut them down – you can actually save yourself some money on a monthly basis.

Take note of the following bills – can you cut any of these out completely or down?

  • Cell Phone. First look to see if there are any items you can cut from your monthly plan that will save you money on your bill. If not, consider switching carriers – there are often plenty of deals out there. Something else to look into is a prepaid cell phone plan. This may not work for everyone, but many have had success with saving a lot of money on their monthly cell phone bill this way and only using their mobile phone when they truly need it.
  • Home Phone. Is this something you actually use, or can you get away with just using your cell phone as your monthly bill? If you are still paying your cable company for a land line and you don’t use it – find out if eliminating this can add some savings back into your bank account each month.
  • TV. More than likely you probably pay way too much for your favorite shows through your cable provider. Have you sat down and looked at what you can still watch through avenues such as Hulu or Netflix for a fraction of the cost?
  • Gym Membership. Do you actually go to the gym and use your membership? If you do go daily, this would probably be one bill worth keeping. However – if you rarely go and continuously pay money each month, this may be one membership to consider cancelling and instead jog outdoors when the weather is nice or run at your local park instead.
  • Other Subscriptions. Included in this category would be newspaper or magazine subscriptions, warehouse shopping clubs, meal prep services, and so forth. How many subscriptions do you really need? Be honest with yourself. Are you paying a lot more for groceries by using a meal prep service? Really take a good look (and a calculator) at how much you are spending per month in this category and cut out as much as possible.
  • Utilities. Make sure your lights and electronics are off and unplugged whenever you aren’t in the room or using them. Open the windows and use fans during interim seasons when you don’t need the air conditioning yet. Besides helping your utility bills, these actions also help the environment.
  • Medications. Always ask to switch your prescription medications to the generic brand when possible. This will save you a lot of money. Also when you can, see if you can purchase a 90 day supply of maintenance medications. Usually this is a cheaper option instead of going to the pharmacy every 30 days for monthly refills, and more convenient too.
  • Vehicles. In the nicer weather, you will save money by washing your own car at home instead of going to the car wash. Also look for coupons and deals online before you take your car for regular maintenance such as oil changes or tire rotations, there is usually always one available.
  • Insurance. Call around and see if you can find a better deal and pay less. This includes car insurance, homeowner’s insurance, renter’s insurance and the like.

Things to try:

  • Don’t Bring Your Credit Card Out for 1 Month. At first, you will probably feel restricted but this exercise will help you realize what you are spending money on. Which most of the time it’s probably an impulse purchase or an item you don’t truly need. When you pay with cash, you’ll often find you are more conservative with your purchases.
  • Pretend You’re Broke. Try this for 30 days – live on ramen noodles like your college days, and so on. This will show you that the salary you work hard for now should not be wasted on things that aren’t absolutely necessary.
  • Add Up Your Monthly Subscription Costs. As mentioned previously, jot down how much you are paying out in subscriptions every month. Even something that’s $40 a month adds up to nearly $500 a year. That’s a lot of money.
  • Check Your Statements. Watch out for those monthly automatic payments. Review all your monthly purchases and really scrutinize what you are buying. It always adds up to more than you think.

Need some help creating a monthly budget? Check out our easy fillable PDF budgeting worksheet!

Article Source: David Ning of Moneyning.com

5 Tricks to Save Money

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Always use cash.

We now live in the days of Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other digital wallets. Holding your phone up to a machine really doesn’t feel like you’re spending money – but if you check your account online, you’ll see that you definitely are. Even if you don’t want to take out an exact amount of cash each week, just spending cash will feel a little more personal each time you complete a transaction. This may be enough to keep you from buying things you don’t really need.

Write down every penny.

Instead of checking your mobile banking and making sure “it looks right,” try keeping a spreadsheet of every receipt you’re spending. This is highly annoying and it just might make you want to accumulate fewer receipts, which means less spending. Just make sure you have fewer receipts because you are not spending as much, and not because you stopped keeping up with them.

Be kept accountable.

Want to spend less? Tell your friends and family. Tell them you want to cut back and you need their help. You might be surprised about how your habits change when others are constantly asking you how you’re doing financially.

Get a blanket and a fan.

If you want to save money the easy way, turn down that thermostat in the winter and turn it up in the summer. You may be hotter/colder than you’d like, but it’s an easy fix and it will definitely save you some money.

Don’t buy name brands.

Sometimes the store brand is just as good (and probably manufactured in the same facility) as that name brand you may be paying double for. Giving up a few of your name brand purchases each month could pay for your Netflix account, gas for the week, and so on.

Article source: John Pettit for CUInsight.com