Saving money

What's the best way to save ?

Put away amount weekly

The best way to start saving is, write down all of your bills that you pay out monthly and then write down what you spend on your needs. Then decide were you can start eliminate some of your spending (like cable, take out, etc.)
When you see were you can save yourself some money; then open up an online high yielding saving acct (with anything do your research on which banks/savings account will work for you) and go from there to your journey of saving.

The best way of saving is to stop buying our kids everything they want..I had to put a stop to it and I'm saving more money then ever now. Try to set aside a budget for your kids.

More grocery shopping and less eating out! It will save you so much money and can be such a healthier option. A win-win!

It’s not something I came up with on my own but I find the “pay yourself first” method works pretty well. Decide how much to save and put it away when you get paid, you’ll find a way to do without it once it’s not available. If you can’t do without it you may be trying to put away too much, if it’s easy to do without it you might be able to save more!

Following

It’s not something I came up with on my own but I find the “pay yourself first” method works pretty well. Decide how much to save and put it away when you get paid, you’ll find a way to do without it once it’s not available. If you can’t do without it you may be trying to put away too much, if it’s easy to do without it you might be able to save more!

This is really good advice!

Following

Do your grocery shopping at Aldi.

In addition to a lot of the great tips here, I follow people on social media that remind me to save and helpful advice

I have had amazing success with a Spending Plan. It's an alternative approach to budgeting. I could never stick to a budget but planned spending has my savings well into 5 figures. Give it a go! :)

@Shaina P. Could you elaborate on how you set it up or any tips?

@Cat sure. So this is how it started. My HOA fees are $400 due January 1. It was a struggle to come up with that right after Christmas. I decided to start paying it monthly but instead of sending it to the management company, I would pay it to my savings. I am paid semi-monthly which is 24 pay periods in a year. So $400 / 24 pay periods = $16.67 per pay day. It worked so well I started allocating money this way for all of my expenses. I didn't know it at the time but I was creating was a spending plan. I maintain it on a spreadsheet. Here's a thorough description of how mine is set up. This is a LOT of info. Please don't let that scare you off. Start with one or two expenses and then keep adding if you find it works for you.

Column 1 - Expense categories
To easily create categories I'd recommend downloading 3 months of banking and credit card transactions and categorizing each expense. Typical categories are housing, transportation, groceries/food, travel, entertainment, etc…

Column 2 - Actual expenses
In example, the actual expenses in my transportation category are gas, insurance deductible, insurance premium and maintenance & repair.

Column 3 - Expenses details
I use this column just to make notations about an expense. For my insurance premium, I note my policy dates and things to check on at each renewal.

Column 4 - Financial institution
This is only necessary if you bank with more than one bank, which I highly recommend.

Column 5 - Goal Amount
Some expenses have goals, others don't. In example, there's no goal amount for gas but there is for my car insurance premium. I pay it annually.

Column 6 - Current Balance
This is the amount of money in hand to be used toward each particular expense.

Column 7> - These columns are titled with upcoming paydays. (8/15/20, 8/31/20, etc…)
Each time I added an expense I had to determine how much to allocate. I used one of these methods:
1) for an annual expense: (Goal Amount - Current Balance) / # of pay periods between now and when the expense is due.
Examples: HOA Dues, Taxes, Summer camps, school clothes for the kiddos, vehicle inspections, etc…

2) for a contingent expenses. (Goal Amount - Current Balance) / # of pay periods between now and when I want to reach the goal.
Examples: Care insurance deductible, Loss of employment, medical insurance deductible, Homeowners/renters insurance deductible, shopping therapy, etc…

3) for monthly expenses I divide what I typically pay monthly for a given expense by 2. My water bill is around $40 every month so I allocate $20 each pay period. This is particularly useful for fluctuating bills such as the electric. I figured out my average electric bill is $100 per month. In the months were the bill is $40, I pay the $40 and add $60 into savings. In the months when the bill is $200, I pay $200 and deduct $100 out of savings.

@Shaina P.

Love how you elaborated on your experience. We are struggling financially and I am ready to allocate and reassess my financials.

Buy in bulk

Wish I could save, due to school being out I have to pay for assistance with the children…..

I have had amazing success with a Spending Plan. It's an alternative approach to budgeting. I could never stick to a budget but planned spending has my savings well into 5 figures. Give it a go! :)

I love that!!!

And to basically rip from another piece of great advice, did y'all read the article of the day? I never heard of loan circles. I'll have to sit with that, but it sounds like each friend in the designated group gets a chance to have the full amount of the decided contribution amounts. The article explains that better, but I very interested in that.

The pay yourself first method does work well. Direct deposit an amount into an online account

@Shaina P. That is an impressively detailed system! You should be teaching this or managing others finances:) Thanks for your answer.

How does everyone decide how much to put back? My budget varies weekly due to fuel and groceries.

@Cat B thanks. I've gotta find a way to pair it down so it's not so overwhelming. I'm passionate about my finances so I have a tendency to go off like a firecracker when I talk about them, LOL!

How does everyone decide how much to put back? My budget varies weekly due to fuel and groceries.

My expenses vary month by month, so I save whatever I can after everything has been paid off

@Ruth take an average of what you spend on both items for the past year. If you pay for them with a credit card, that'll be pretty easy. If you find the average you spend is $300 a month, hold back that amount and pull from it every time you shop. I normalize all my expenses this way. It works.

Have they been updating yall balances for the challenge mines hasn't been.