5 Tips for Making it all work... one baby step at a time!

Ever since I was young, I've always been frugal with my money. I'm a natural saver, what Dave Ramsey would refer to as a "Nerd." I always look for a deal and rarely pay full price for anything. Now that we have a plan and are working our Debt Snowball (Baby Step #2) we are intentional about how and what we spend our money on more than ever!

 

We started our journey in November 2013 and have since paid off over $20,000 of debt! We cash flowed a kitchen renovation in April 2014 and a new cement driveway that will be put in this month. We have made plenty of mistakes, but there are 5 tips that help keep us on track..

 

5 Tips to Spend Less/Save More:
 

1.  Follow a written budget: This is probably the most important way to save money. A budget is simply telling your money where to go instead of wondering where it went. Our budget changes each month depending on what we have going on (ex. weddings, birthdays, etc) We make sure every dollar is "spent" before the month begins and discuss this BEFORE the month begins. We do this together and make changes until we both agree on it 100%.

To take it a step farther, we have weekly budget meetings to discuss our spending habits that week and make sure we are on track. If we are heading down a spending spree, the weekly meeting helps derail that and gets us back on track :)

2. Use cash whenever possible: We use the envelope system for all categories in our budget that we can easily overspend such as groceries, eating out, miscellaneous, and our spending cash. It's impossible to spend what you don't have!

We have had months were we didn't use cash and it NEVER ends well. How much easier is it to swipe your debit card for $150 vs handing over that amount in cash? Answer: A LOT 
There is an emotional exchange when you use money and see that going away when you are buying something. If you don't believe me, try this for one month. I can bet you will spend less with cash than debit/credit.

3. Cook 19 of 21 meals a week at home. This will not only save you tons of cash, but your health and waistline will thank you. Eating at home means you are going to the grocery store, planning out what you will eat, and preparing these meals yourself. This enables you to control portions, ingredients, etc to your nutritional goals. I like to meal prep everything on Sunday afternoon. I cook everything we will eat for the week for lunch and dinner and then put everything into our cute Tupperware containers. (This isn't our actual frig- but it looks pretty close) Again, I would recommend trying this for at least a week and see how easier your week goes by and how much less you spend eating out.

 

4. Cut your kiddos/husbands hair: Barry was getting his hair cut every couple weeks at Great Clips which cost about $15/haircut, which is over $500 a year! Instead, we purchased Wahl's Haircut Kit for $20 which paid for itself the first month.

As for me, I tried going to Great Clips a couple times and using store bought hair dye, but I finally caved and went back to my awesome hair dresser, Sherri, in January. She has done my hair for over 10 years and is amazing! Now, I apply the money Barry would have used to my hair cuts and we are still saving over $500 a year (Win Win!)

5. Pick one event per weekend to splurge on: If we know we have an event Saturday evening, we will make it a point to grill out and hang around the house on Friday evening. Look ahead at your week and decide (together if you are married) what you want to spend your money on and where you can save, especially on the weekends. Make use of your own house and invite your friends over instead of going out.

We have made plenty of mistakes these past six months, but we learn from them and keep moving forward...one baby step at a time :)

 

 

I'd love to hear from you! How does your family save money every month?

Where do you splurge?

Where do you cut back and save?