I’ve never considered myself super disciplined with money; I’m definitely not some personal finance guru. I really struggle to squash the squeal of “I need that!” whenever I see a cool new video game or a just-released book by my favorite author. And the worst? Cupcakes. My heart (stomach?) just cannot say no to cupcakes. However, once I understood the magic of compound interest, it was easy to make, “Save money, live better,” my new anti-spending mantra.
And that’s how, despite occasional impulse buys, I’ve managed to maintain this over the past year:
Yeah, that’s right. The mythical 50% savings rate.
My husband (thank goodness!) is great with money, and even better, at keeping me on track. I attribute 90% of my financial discipline to him (and the other 10%, of course, to YNAB). We knew early on that we wanted to be intentional about our financial goals and decisions, and maybe even do crazy things like buying cars with cash, paying off a house in five years, and eventually becoming financially independent.
So we hunkered down and took inventory of our monthly bills and expenses, created a budget, and committed to a savings plan. By putting aside a (large) amount of money each month and investing it, we’ve put ourselves on the fast track toward affording the Big Expenses in life. And—hopefully—early retirement.
Interested in learning more about how to save money? Check out our comprehensive guide.
We can save so much because our expenses are low, in no small part due to the fact that we don’t have kids and we live in an affordable state. Our apartment is economical, we have never bought new furnishings or decor (well, except one much-needed couch and one armadillo-shaped lamp from Target which may or may not have been one of my impulse purchases and is much cuter-looking than it sounds). We go to the grocery store and make the majority of our food at home, and we take care to stick to our YNAB budget.
New clothes? Rare. Phone upgrades? Only after the old one has become a fancy-looking brick. We’re still using the same starter cooking pot set I had from college, in all its chipped, scratched, teflon-flaked glory (okay, we probably need to replace those).
Younger people like us are in such a cool, unique position. Really. We’re (relatively) fresh from college, our careers are (finally!) starting to take off, and we’re getting an influx of money while expenses are still low. And while the natural tendency is to start purchasing upgrades and fall into the chokehold of lifestyle creep, we have the opportunity to take a step back and put a huge portion of our energy (and money) toward the future instead.
It might not always be Pinterest-pretty. Or Instagram-worthy. Not yet, at least. But by foregoing certain things now and being mindful about saving for future goals, we are in a position to make our future whatever we want it to be.
There’s another reason why focusing on your saving habits early is a good idea. And that’s compound interest.
If there was anything in this world you could call magic, compound interest would be it. Oh, you mean my money will multiply as it sits there waiting for me to use it? Yes, please!
Here’s a great illustration from Business Insider of how starting early can make such a huge difference—consider two hypothetical savers:
Emily (blue line) puts $200 into a retirement account each month. Dave (red line) does the same. They both have an estimated return rate of 6% and continue $200 monthly contributions until they retire.
But—and this is the key—Emily begins saving ten years earlier. And so, by the time Emily and Dave retire, Emily ends up with almost twice as much in saving as Dave.
So, yeah—that. By starting when she was 25 instead of 35, Emily was able to double Dave’s savings rate, even though she only contributed 33% more to her account. That’s the magic.
Even if your savings strategy isn’t as aggressive as ours—we all have different situations and priorities!—just being aware of your spending and making sure you’re saving for things that really matter to you (not armadillo lamps or maybe, armadillo lamps…) can go a long ways toward improving your financial future.
And if you’re able to save more (is that cable subscription really better than Netflix?), then why not try it? Even investing $10 of extra money a month, starting at age 25, will net you $19,685 by the time you’re 65 (with a 6% interest rate.) That’s a lot of money for such a small investment!
Committing to a “save money, live better” mindset doesn’t have the quick dopamine release that an impulsive bout of overspending at Amazon might, but resisting the temptation of temporary joy can lead to a future of financial stability.
Re-evaluate your spending—shop around for cheaper car insurance, cancel that gym membership that you don’t use, DIY some home repairs, unsubscribe from streaming services you don’t use, get creative about cutting down your grocery bill—and automate deposits into a retirement account that will put the magic of compound interest to work for you instead!
Save more now to live better later. It’s worth it!
Ready to start a budget so you can save more? Try YNAB for free for 34 days!
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Are you looking for easy ways on how to save money on a tight budget? Then you are in the right place.
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No matter where you are in your financial journey you can find more ways to save money and take control of your financial life.
There are a lot of obvious ways to save money but there are a lot that are overlooked.
Even the small ways to save can add up over time, especially if you are able to implement more than one.
Saving a couple of dimes a day can add up to hundreds, even thousands a year.
You might find ideas that you already implemented or some that don’t apply to you.
Even so, you’ll still be able to find a few new ways to be thrifty every day that will take you one step closer to your savings goal.
Have you ever regretted making a purchase? Me too. Are you ever looking around your home thinking “I could have lived without that thing”? Me too.
Best way to save more is to go without. If you are thinking to buy something, that is not an urgent need then you can definitely live without it.
Spending less money on the things we want is the best and easiest way to save our hard earned money.
Going further, every time you make a purchase, especially if it’s a big expense, ask yourself some questions:
For me, asking if I will actually use it and come up with a better more wise way to use the money always works.
Learn how to negotiate or marry someone who knows how to do it as I did. 🙂
No matter what you plan to buy never pay the full price, you can negotiate it.
You can negotiate for your phone bill, insurance, even if you are buying a fridge or a car. You’ll definitely get a price reduction.
If there is no way they can give you a price reduction they will be willing to give you an extra product or service for free.
For example, my husband negotiated for our cell phone when we upgraded our phone. He got the lowest price they could give us for that specific plan.
A couple of months after the 2-year contract was done he called our provider and complained that they didn’t automatically reduce our bill for paying off the phone.
They reduced the bill, received the extra charges for the past months back and to make sure they don’t lose him as a customer they gave us an extra 1 GB of data for free.
If you are willing to pick up the phone and give some calls you will be able to save hundreds of dollars a year.
I realize that this is not a way to cut expenses, but the more money you make the more you are going to save.
There are a lot of different things you can do to make extra money from home, without having to leave the comfort of your home.
Start a blog – This is what helps me at the moment make extra money. It’s not a lot at this moment but every cent matter.
There are people who have started a blog and now they are making thousands of dollars a month.
Some of them quit their jobs to blog full time. It takes some time, hard work and determination but it’s all worth it.
If you are interested in starting your own blog, I have a tutorial to help you start a successful blog.
If you purchase at least 12 months of blog hosting through my Bluehost link you’ll get a FREE domain name.
If blogging is not something you can see yourself doing then you can look into becoming a virtual assistant.
You can work part-time to supplement your income or you can work full time and have a successful business.
Whatever you choose you don’t need any specific skills to start and you can become a virtual assistant with no experience.
We cut the cable a few years ago and never regretted it, we didn’t watch lots of TV anyways and we saved quite a little bit of money.
The average cable bill is around $100 and research companies are saying that the prices are going to get higher.
If it’s hard to just cut the cable buy a digital antenna, that’s what we did.
We opted for the antenna to make sure we still have a way to watch TV if we want to and now my kids watch it from time to time.
A programmable thermostat will allow you to set the temperature however you wanted throughout the day.
This is something that you might want to consider investing in.
You can easily find affordable programmable thermostats and you will recover your money in no time.
You can set it to automatically turn off the AC while your not home and started just before you arrive.
You can also set a lower temperature during the night or certain hours of the day.
You only have to set it up once and don’t have to worry about it, because it automatically changes according to the schedule.
While properly insulating your home is an expense, it’s actually an expense that will help you save tons of money over time.
Proper insulation will help you save on heating or cooling your home, not allowing an easy heat transfer to the outside.
Not too long after we bought our home we found out that our gas and electric bills were half of what my coworkers with similar homes were paying.
The previous owners build the house and they made it for them so the insulation is very good.
We’ve had some contractors come over to do some work for us and they all pointed out that whoever built our home took some extra steps when it comes to the insulation.
Your home should be insulated from the roof down to the foundation:
With all the appliances and gadgets that we have plugged in is no wonder that the average American spends $2060 on energy bill.
There are a lot of ways you can still cut the energy bill no matter how indispensable your gadgets are:
Most people waste a lot of money on their phones.
According to statistics in 2017, the average U.S. household spent approximately $7,729 on food.
With competitive price and timely delivery, SUNUA sincerely hope to be your supplier and partner.
That’s a lot of money, and 30% to 40% of that money is spent on food that ends up in the garbage.
Taking that in consideration you might save a couple of thousand dollars instead of throwing it in the dumpster.
If you are committed to a budget you will have greater chances to reach your saving goals.
You will be constantly reminded how much you have to work with and what areas of your budget can be improved.
Without a meal plan, you will not be able to stay within the limits of your grocery budget.
Sit down with your family and decide what you want to eat the upcoming week.
When you plan your meals make sure to take a look at what is on sale at the store you do your grocery. Decide your meals according to what sales here are.
If chicken breast is on sale then make sure you have a meal or two next week that uses chicken breast as the main ingredient.
Don’t go grocery shopping without a list. After you finish with your meal plan, figure out what ingredients you need for each meal.
With the ingredients list in hand check what you already have and see what you need to buy.
In order to be successful in cutting your food expenses, you need to stick to your grocery list.
Most grocery stores have brand name items and right next to them are the no brand names which are way less expensive.
In most cases, both brand name and generic brands have identical ingredients so there is no need to pay for a name brand.
Do you often take dinner at the restaurant? How much do you spend a month visiting your favorite restaurant?
Most people don’t even realize how much they spend until they actually start tracking their expenses.
Cook your dinner at home instead of eating out, it’s not only going to save you money but it’s also healthier.
Some might say I need to buy bottled water, I live in an area that doesn’t provide good tasting water or that you need it for when you are on the go.
If you don’t have access to clean, good tasting water buy refillable water containers or a water pitcher with filter and if you are looking for new appliances take into consideration buying a fridge that has a water filter.
When you are on the go opt for a refillable water bottle.
Banks make a lot of money from ATM, overdraft and investment fees.
Account fees are a huge waste of money, and there are lots of people that pay them. You can easily find free banking accounts.
I, for example, have an account that has a fee but because I opened a savings account with them the fee was waved.
Here are my most important tips on how to save on banking fees:
When you’re in a need to trim your budget one of the first places to look is your entertainment expenses.
There are numerous ways to enjoy yourself and have fun while sticking to a realistic budget.
You just need to be a little creative and for sure you’ll find free or affordable ways to have fun.
Check out Ways To Save On Entertainment for some more ideas.
When you save money on entertainment while crawling out of debt, remember that’s important to maintain a certain quality of life.
If you take away everything that brings you pleasure it’s going to be hard to stick with your saving plan.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, it will cost the average family about $222,360 to raise a single child from birth to age 18.
That’s a lot of money considering that this amount does not include college.
Fortunately, there are a lot of ways to cut back on child-related expenses:
Personal care and beauty products can add up very fast, the larger the family is the larger the bill will be.
But as with anything that we spend money on there are always a lot of ways to save money. Here are a few tips for you:
We all love to have nice looking nails but for that, you don’t need to spend $50 every 3 weeks. Do your own mani and pedi at home!
If you like the gel nails, no problem, invest in a kit and go on YouTube and learn how to make your nails look like a professional did it.
You can opt for the cloth pads or invest in a Diva Cup. I personally switched to The Diva Cup and I love it.
I was not the person to use tampons and that’s mainly due to discomfort and pain.
You might think that is the same with the cup but it’s actually not; the cup does not expand as the tampons do.
Another option would be period panties. These panties are very absorbent and leak proofed.
If you don’t have a very heavy period these can be great for you.
Initially, you need to invest in at least a couple of pairs but with the proper care, they can last you even 2 years.
A simple trim would cost me $40 without the tip. I find it hard to pay so much money for trimming my hair.
Trimming my hair every 3 months or so would cost me $160.
If you never cut your own hair before I do recommend you do some research before you do it.
I don’t sport a very complicated hairstyle, mine is just layered and the fact that is curly also helps.
My hubby also started having his hair cut at home around 8 or 9 years ago. We also have 2 little munchkins and they love when I cut their hair.
A man cut costs around $15 and my husband is cutting his hair once a month.
That is $180 saving just for him and if I consider that my sons have to cut their hair only every 2 months is another $180.
If you are just covering your grey hair you can easily do it at home. Dyeing my hair or having highlights at the salon would cost me at least $150.
Touching up my roots would be around $70 every 6 weeks (time frame recommended by hair stylists for root touch ups).
Dye your hair one color and you can easily maintain it at home.
I dye my hair a color that is close to my natural one so I can go longer without having to touch it up. Usually, I do it every 3 months or so.
I buy my dye from Sally Beauty Supplies and it cost me around $8 per dye. You also need a developer that is around the same price.
I usually use half of the dye at once so it’s costing me $4 per touch up and the developer is going to last way more.
I have mine for more than a year and I still have a lot.
Even if it would cost me another $4 it would be $8 per touch up compared to $70 (before tip) at the salon.
You can save $62 per touch up and if you do it like me 4 or 5 times per year you can save $248 to $310.
Running a household is not always easy and can get expensive quite fast if you don’t pay close attention to your budget. I have a few saving money tips for you:
I made a tufted ottoman out of an old coffee table we got for free and saved around $200.
I make my own paintings and save hundreds depending on the size. We saved thousands of dollars by building our own fence.
You can DIY your headboards and anything else you can think of.
Holiday season can get pretty expensive.
Between food, decorations, greeting cards, flowers and of course gifts the cost of Holidays can rise really fast.
And gifts are what people spend most of the money on.
Here are some tips for you to save on the upcoming Holiday season:
No matter what your planning to shop for next there are always ways to spend less.
No matter how determined you are to change your financial situation you need to work on your money mindset.
You need to change your beliefs and ideas about money in order to be successful.
No matter how much you read about how to save money it won’t work unless you change your way of thinking about money.
Personal finance books I like and recommend include:
What other easy ways to save money are you using? How much money do you save each month?
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