Learning to Save Money

by

Luci Phillips

In todays world there are a lot of people that are spenders. What do I mean by spenders? I mean they literally have no money before pay day. I discovered years ago that mishaps can happen. You can get hurt and have to spend savings. I'm not talking about people who are victims of circumstance today though. In a world of spenders I have decided to be a saver. I live well below my means and make sure that I save money where I can. I went from having no savings to a pretty sizable one. I want to help others do the same thing. I used to not want to look at my banking account and now I get excited when I see all those zeros. That changed my life. It is easier to be happy when you have money saved for security.

The first thing that I did was change myself in order to save money. I invested in myself by going to the gym. That has already paid off dividends in being able to stop taking blood pressure medication. I also made lifestyle changes. I stopped smoking. It is amazing how much money is save doing that! I feel sad when I think of how much money I spent on tobacco and later vaping. I did this to quit smoking. Now tobacco free for over a year. Vaping free for 8 months!

Another fantastic way of saving money is with making a list. Add things to the list as you run out. Another awesome thing to do to save money is to clip online coupons and use apps like #Fetch to get points. There is also #ibotta. Kroger's has online coupons as does Walmart. The list goes on. All it takes is a little time and motivation.

Use all the groceries that you buy. I try my best to use all of the food we buy. We make things like lasagna. We eat it for dinner and put the rest in individual portion sizes for another day. That is a great thing to do have food already prepared without the expense. You can do this with spiral hams. We bought about 8 hams at Christmas when they were about 80 cents a pound and baked them and packaged them in the freezer in smaller portions. This is an economical way to have sandwiches and other things with ham all year long.

Another money saving tip that I have is to shop around for your streaming services and cable. You will be able to have access to live channels on Hulu and Apple tv apps. Sometimes cutting the cable is an easy way to save money.

Go through your subscriptions on your phone and mac. Make sure that you aren't subscribed to anything that you don't use. Check your bank statement and make sure you know what you are paying for.

Shop around for insurance and once you have one that is reasonable try staying with them. Some insurance companies lower rates the longer you stay with them. My fiancee has been with the same insurance company since he was young and his rate is low.

It is not how much money you make, but it is how much you keep. Repeat that. These words are important. Someone close to me says that and truer words were never spoken. Everyone should live within their means and have savings. Make a savings plan. Decide to save for the sake of saving. I realize that this is a lifelong commitment.

Pay cash for cars. It is always best to pay cash for anything that depreciates. I see people financing everything today. The less financing and interest you can pay on things the more money you will have.

Use a spending tracker to find out where your money is going. Make a commitment to yourself to figure out how to get spending under control. Not everything in the tracker for thirty days. Evaluate it then and see where you can improve.

Another way that we save money is by using direct deposit and not using cash. We only pay for what we purchased with the card and we keep track of our spending. After we have a sizable amount we transfer it to our savings.

Make sure that you give yourself a cooling off period for major purchases. It took us five months to find a couch. When we were shopping for a 75 inch television we shopped around for almost a year. Think about these things and make sure it is a good decision and that you are getting the best buy.

We use the library to read books. They have online digital books and audio books. This is a great money saving opportunity. I love listening to audio books at the gym. I used to use online services but gave them up in favor of using overdrive app for library.

Don't be afraid to ask for discounts. . If you are a senior, students, teachers, military or AAA members ask for discount at movies, restaurants, hotels, sporting events, and airlines. Never underestimate the power of offering to pay with cash.

Skip the coffee shop. Coffee in shops are so expensive. That honestly is one of the most simple ways to save money. If you drink Starbucks at home it will cut spending down a lot. You could take it in a go cup. I also have a water bottle that I take with me. Save's a ton. We also have a water distiller. It makes the water soooo good.

I would like to stop here with this. I want you to take the time to soak this in. Try applying one a month to prevent too much too soon. If you do each of these things it will change your life. If you have anything that you want me to write about let me know. Thanks guys.