6 Tips about Saving Money

Hello, my name is Ailanna, and welcome to my blog Life of Ailanna. The reason that I do this is to write and offer my advice to people who may need it.

You may be asking yourself. Why should I care about this article about saving money? The 6 tips that I have for you, will be beneficial to help you save money or even more money.

Saving money is essential in life because it helps you with your expenses and bank account. It will help you gain more knowledge that you may not have known and keep even more money in your wallet and bank account.

When I save money, it makes me feel good that I’m not hurting myself financially and that I’m keeping even more money in my pockets.

1. Apps for points (McDonald’s, Burger King)

Did you know that at places like McDonald’s, you could earn points for the food that you order every time you go there?

You may find it not important to have this on your device, but it will help you in the future. The more and more points may be useful for the future, you could redeem those points for things like free food and drinks. These apps offer very good deals on food.

For example, there is a deal for 20% or 25% off any purchase of $1 or more on the McDonald’s app if you have a McDonald’s account. Let’s say you wanted to use the 25% off deal on a Sausage Egg McMuffin meal, instead of spending $7.89. You would spend $6.33.

2. Shop at cost-efficient stores

Inflation may be a very hard thing for people to get through right now but if you shop at stores that aren’t costly then it may not break your bank. When you are shopping, only get what you really need not what you want.

Take advantage of the deals that they may have in the store and take advantage of using the coupons in the papers that come in your mail. This will help you in the long run because it will cause you to not have to break your bank as much. Shop at stores like Walmart, Target, Aldi, Trader Joe’s, Sam’s Club, and Dollar General. This could or could not be hard to do because those stores may or may not be close to you.

I got myself to do this when inflation first started because the cost of daily foods that I would get during my grocery shopping trips was becoming more expensive. When I started to do this, I would get the things that I need and the things that I wanted.

When I finished shopping, I spent more than I expected to spend. I would want to spend nothing more than $20 but I spent close to $40. Now when I go shopping, I prioritize getting the things I need over the things I wanted. Now I spend close to $20.

3. Budgeting

When it comes to budgeting, it is not the easiest thing in the world to do. It comes with a lot of research and work.

When I first started budgeting, I did not know exactly what to do or how to do that. When I first learned how to do that, it was hard to stick to the budget. A few months after I set my budget, I was doing a good job keeping on top of it.

You must identify your expenses and net income, put your needs over wants first, and keep track of your expenses.

You must set down and establish a unique written budget. You could use a budget planner, a notebook, or an excel spreadsheet. You could also use a budget binder to help you keep track of how much money you want to use for things like Food, Rent, Emergencies, Utilities, Medical Bills and etc. List your debts from smallest to largest you pay minimum payments on everything, but you attack the little one with vengeance.

4. Cut Down on Subscriptions & Memberships

Subscription prices have risen now for things like Netflix and Hulu. When you cut down when on your high-priced to lower-priced subscriptions or the subscriptions that you just don’t use anymore.  You will see your expenses become less expensive. The money that you would obtain back from the services could be used towards putting in a savings account.

This will be difficult but will help in the long run. The way that it could help in the long run is to help you to be able to manage your money and your expenses The alternatives for entertainment are YouTube, Tubi, and other websites.

5. Couponing & Promo Codes

I use coupons and promo codes on food from places like Papa John’s or Dominos and when I use them, they help me at least save 10 or 15% on my order. When you use coupons and promo codes on purchases you will save a lot of money, it may take a lot of your time to look for the good ones.

It will be worth it eventually if you are willing to put the effort into it. Stores like Publix and Dollar General have digital coupons that you can clip to your account to use on your next shopping trip. When you create your weekly or bi-weekly shopping list, try to look for cheaper alternatives like the store brand.

6. Bonus Tip: Investing, Emergency & Rainy-Day Funds, & Retirement

Investing is something to do for your future. It will help start and expand your investment portfolio. When you start investing, you should start to invest in an index fund. Put 15% of your income aside into good growth stock mutual funds in retirement funds. Start where there’s a match. Beyond the match always do Roth. If you have exhausted Roth and match and still are not up to 15% then go to a Traditional 401k or IRA. (Do Roth’s before traditional and do match before Roth’s up to 15%)

Emergency & Rainy-Day Funds are only meant for emergencies and rainy days. They should only be used in case an emergency happens and unexpected expenses. For example, an unexpected medical bill(s) or parking tickets. Invest $1,000 into a starter emergency fund. Save 3 to 6 months of expenses in a fully funded emergency fund.

Retirement should be invested in as early as possible. Invest into a Roth IRA.  When you invest into a Roth IRA, the money gradually grows interest tax-free. Invest $100 a month from 25-65 or 30-70 years old.

Pay your credit card bills in full each month. Limit the number of times that you go to the gas station to fill up your gas tank a week. Avoid impulsive purchases on the things that you want rather than need.

Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.

-Mother Teresa