Budgeting does not have to be hard.
These 5 budgeting tips will make things easy to for you to change your finances for the future, they have for me!
- Use free apps. I am really good at saving money with minimal effort, I don’t sit and cut coupons or spend hours finding the best price. Here are my top 3 simple apps to easily save you
and give you bonuses just for signing up with these links.- Dosh, in this app you link credit cards and debit cards. Anytime you use these cards at theirs stores, you automatically get cash back in your account and they send you a check. Plus get $10 for signing up here
- Rakuten, this is a website where when you shop at 100s of online stores you automatically get cash back and they send you a check quarterly. I recommend installing the google chrome plug in because it automatically give you the cash back AND applied coupons that way. Plus get $40 for signing up and using it
- Fetch, want an easy way to earn gift cards? Just scan your grocery and restaurant receipts and get points that become gift cards. Sign up with this link, and you’ll get 2000 points when you snap your first receipt.
- Use frozen veggies and fruit. Grocery shopping can be very expensive and with the rate of inflation, it’ only getting worse. Frozen veggies and fruit cost WAY less and last WAY longer. Plus, as long as you don’t buy ones that are covered in sauce, they are just as nutritious as buying the fresh stuff. When I go to the store I ONLY buy the fresh stuff that I know I will use in the week and the rest is frozen. I only go to the grocery store every 2-3 weeks and I am able to spread out my time between by using frozen. This one actually saves time AND money.
- Use a high yield online savings account. Regular banks are fine to have your savings but many online savings accounts have 10x the rate as brick and mortar banks. Online savings accounts are super easy to manage via the web or an app so you won’t miss not having a bank to go to. Plus, you can just keep your savings at the regular bank so you can go to the branch as needed. This interest adds up fast and it’s a great money saver.
- Speaking of savings, when you get paid put a certain amount in savings and a certain amount in checking. That way what goes in savings gets saved and is it out of sight and out of mind. You won’t be able to see it, especially if it’s in a different account and it will make saving it that much easier.
- Take advantage of the savings and retirement options that your employer offers you. Every employer is different and while few still have pensions, many match 401K. So that means whatever money you put in up to a certain amount (which is determined by the company, 6% is pretty common) the employer will match that amount. You are putting in pre-tax money and they are giving you that same amount of free money. It’s a double win PLUS it’s totally out of sight and out of mind.
I know saving and making money can be overwhelming but these 5 simple tips will make it…simple. Once you get in the habit of doing these things you won’t even need to think about it! I am not asking you to cut coupons for hours or go to 5 different stores to get the best price. Especially with technology, we can keep it simple. Want more tips? Click Here