6 Steps to Save Thousands of Dollars This Year – And a way to Have Your Money Cake & Eat it Too!

Why does it only take a second to make that impulse purchase, and it seems like a challenge to save money? This is the question that we all need to ask ourselves before we commit to saving.

The saving struggle is real and it’s easy to place the blame on the coolest thing on the internet, marketing upsells, your desires, and others, but the buck stops with you. If you really think about it, budgeting is like dieting without the exertion.

Budgeting takes the same type of effort you put into a diet plan that asks you to track your calories so that you can become aware of how much you are consuming for a meal or for the day. Once you realize and acknowledge the habits hindering you from saving, it will be easier to change that destructive habit and have that celebratory cake too!

6 Tips that Save You Money

1. Budget

The dreaded budget challenge is easy to accomplish by identifying your monthly income and how much is needed to maintain your household. And if you don’t write down your spending to track your progress, you may not stick to your plan.   

 2. Budget Culprits

Grocery shopping, eating out, and entertainment costs are the main culprit to ruining a budget if you are not tracking what you spend in these areas. It’s time to set your budget allowance for the month in these categories.

 3. Track Spending

Track those luxury items you decide are needed in your life. The luxury items are the things we buy and only use once or twice before we forget where we put them. Make sure you track the cost of these items too.

4. Monthly Allowance

Set a monthly spending allowance for yourself and family members. You should decide if $400-$500 a month works for you. When you really think about your spending an allowance can be used for your impulse buys or other fun things that you enjoy. You can spend it all in a month or put it towards next month’s allowance.

 5. Cut Costs

After a month or two of tracking your spending, you should look at the subscriptions you have that you don’t use or find other ways you can cut costs to your current lifestyle.

 6. Savings

Now it’s time to set your savings goal and determine how much you can put towards that goal every month.

Can you see other ways your spending habits stop you from accumulating wealth? When you begin tracking your spending and creating a budget, I know you will potentially save thousands of dollars each month or for the year!

Have you ever stopped to think about the salary you have made or will make in 30 -40 years? Often the final figure will total a million dollars or more. So, there is an opportunity to spend less, save more, and invest more for your future-self.

Start managing your money to create and live the lifestyle you desire. And have some cake along the way!