We all want to see growth in our lives, monetary growth included.
Here at Pockets of Pennies and Dirt we are all about figuring out the best ways to utilize the things we already have – and that includes money.
Though we wish money was of continuously flowing supply, that isn’t always the case, especially not in the quantity we’d like.
When it comes to money, I feel like my most creative self is forced to come out in order to stretch it to its max!
Money always seems to be in short supply around my household.
Here are some tips and tricks on how to manage those elusive green dollars in order to grow that savings account of yours.
#1 Write It Down
We can do all the mental math and mental tracking we want to, but until you write it down – literally with a pen and pencil or with a simple Excel sheet – I almost guarantee you don’t have an accurate understanding of how much you are spending.
At the end of every week or month, take a half-hour (or maybe two hours if needed), and write down every single purchase you have made that week or month. It will be well worth your time!
If you are solely using a debit or credit card, print out a copy of your monthly bank statement or view the statement online so you can review and make sure you are not missing any expenses.
If you use a combination of cards and cash, make sure that you are keeping track of ALL receipts. Even if you go to the store and spend $2 on ice, get a receipt from the cashier and add it to your pile of receipts so you can track it.
There are multiple apps available at low or no cost that can track your expenses, and although those apps do have a purpose and can be helpful in seeing your bottom line, I would still argue that physically writing down or typing out each expense — how much you spent, where you spent it, and what you spent it on — is the best way to review and reflect on your spending.
If you are a lunch buyer … well, my first word of advice would be to try to limit how often you eat out for lunch (or dinner) because those daily expenses of $5 or $10 add up. But if you do decide to justify those frequent stops by the sandwich shop or taco bus, collect your receipts. Who knows, maybe after seeing just how much money you are spending on grilled cheese sandwiches and bean burritos, you might just decide to nix the habit.
#2 Adjust your point of view of what you NEED versus things you WANT
(He-hem, lunch buyers, this one’s a great tip for you)
This tip might sound like a simple adjustment, but putting this concept into practice will likely take more effort than you initially think.
Keeping up with the Joneses
We’ve all heard the expression “keeping up with the Joneses”. As much as we like to boast on our independence of thought and expression, in all likelihood we are as much searching for approval in our own circle of friends and acquaintances as George Jones down the road.
That said, we can all fall easily into the entrapment of obsessively comparing ourselves to others. Comparing what we have and what we don’t have. Comparison happens, both in healthy and unhealthy forms. The real danger isn’t so much in the Comparison, but in what frequently follows; the Competitive Race to have more. Don’t fall victim to this Competitive Race of having more in your life simply because George has it. Doing so will damage not just your wallet, but your overall happiness as well.
Live where YOU are, not your Parents
Along with the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses”, I would like to add one additional phrase to keep in mind : “You’re not old like your parents, so stop trying to live like them”
What do I mean by that? Well, if you are an adult (age 20+) your parents are likely in their 40s or older. Whatever their exact age, just assume they have at least 20 years on you of working a job (=income, if not a steady income) and those same 20 years of potentially saving money. Assume that they have put in the time and the work to afford a brand new, off-the-lot car; they can afford a weekly splurge at a high-end restaurant; a boat; an RV; a week-long vacation in Hawaii; a four bedroom, three bath house with two-car garage and patio. They might have the items and the life that you want and look forward to someday having. And hopefully if they have it, they can afford it. But if you are just starting out – fresh out of high school or newly graduated from college (within 2-5 years) – you likely cannot afford those things.
You have 20+ years of work hours to put in before you’re your parents age. That means you have 20 years to save up to have the things your parents have.
This realization can be hard, especially for those that have recently moved out of their parents residents because they have been benefitting from and essentially living at the level their parents have been. As a high school senior, you got to live in your parents nice house, watch TV on your parents big screen while sitting on their luxury leather couch, eat quality meat, wear name brand shoes, and sleep in comfortable, expensive sheets. Suddenly, when you’re moved out two years later, you find your standard of living has dropped significantly. You live in a very humble apartment with thin walls and poor HVAC, the closest thing to a couch you could afford was a beanbag, the only TV watching you do is on your shabby laptop, and the best quality meat you can afford is standard jumbo chicken breasts purchased on sale. Your life has had an adjustment. And it is OKAY to allow your perspective to adjust as well.
#3 Pay attention to price tags
Seems like a no-brainer, right?
On more than one occasion while shopping with a friend or family member, I’ve mumbled the words “oh, that’s a good price for ____________”. Usually that sentence is followed by my loading my grocery cart up with a few more of that item than your normal person (i.e., if I see strawberries on sale, rather than buying 1 or 2 pounds, I’ll buy 8 or 10 so I can dice them up and freeze them for smoothies or make into a jam….that sort of thing).
It never fails to amaze me how many people I know [and they are often people I know are also living on a tight budget] who respond something like: “That’s really cool that you know the price of things, I usually don’t even look at the price tag. I just grab the items on my list and get out of the store.”
GULP.
What!!!??? Are you kidding me??? Why on earth would you cripple yourself that way.
Trust me, shopping – whether you are shopping for groceries or sweaters – without looking at the price tag is a horrible way to shop if you are on a budget. Period.
- Prime example. If you find yourself under the illusion that as long as you stick to your list and only buy what’s on your list then you won’t overspend on groceries, I would like you to think back to the cost of chicken in 2022.
- For my own experience, at the very beginning of the chicken crisis (almost even before most people had heard of it) I had chicken breasts on my list of things to buy at the grocery store. I was expecting boneless skinless chicken breasts to cost around $1.99/lb, and planned to spend about $20 total on chicken breasts (anticipating buying about 10 pounds). But when I got to the grocery store, chicken breasts were over $4/lb, and the next month they were over $7/lb.
That’s big!!! Big enough to cripple a budget if you are unwilling to be flexible in your shopping.
This plays into Tip #2 and Tip #4. Really, being okay with less is a major step towards limiting your financial stress.
I realize that we have our preferences and habits, but sometimes you have to prioritize. What matters more: eating that chicken salad you had planned for dinner or keeping yourself on budget?
You decide.
#4 Be Flexible / Okay to Walk Away
It’s totally fine to walk into a store planning to buy something, and end up walking out of the store empty handed!!
Christmas shopping and birthday shopping are the most troubling circumstances like this. We all want to buy that nice gift for our special someone, and I think we sometimes get stuck in our determination to get that one thing we have on our mind. But if we can’t afford it … we can’t afford it. And that’s okay.
More often than not, you don’t HAVE to buy that “one thing” right then and there.
Sure, there are certain expenses that pop up that require immediate out-of-pocket spending, even when we’d prefer not to (vehicle expenses come to mind), but I think we as 21st Century Americans frequently get stuck in a one-track mindset and we forget that life is all about options, and we always have the option NOT TO BUY!
#5 Be Realistic About the Money You Actually Have to Spend
I’m not just talking about situations like “Confessions of a Shoppaholic”. I’m talking about any time you justify an expense saying “I can afford this” when in reality the money isn’t actually in your spending account.
Note, I said “spending account”. It doesn’t matter that you technically have the money in your bank account, if it’s not available for spending (like if it’s in your savings account), then don’t spend it!
Daily, casual spending should not be drawing from your or your family’s savings account.
Have money set aside, or budgeted out, that is available for spending. And then only spend from that pool of money.
Now, there are a lot of different methods and tricks to separating spending and savings cash, but those tips will have to wait for a different posting.
For now, just keep working at it. Staying on budget takes a lot of work and frequent attention.
Don’t allow yourself to get bogged down in all the things you can’t afford. Most of us can’t afford everything we want. And it’s okay. The idea of someday gaining the things we want is motivation to keep plugging away at this crazy thing called life.
And don’t allow your spirits to fail if you mess up and find yourself overspending. Get up and try again.
