The New Year is quickly approaching, and one thing that everyone\ntends to resolve is saving money or just spending less than normal. This isn\u2019t\nalways an easy task; however, it\u2019s possible that this might finally be your\nyear to do just that. How? Simple. This is your ultimate guide to saving money\nand becoming a little more confident in your financial situation for the\nupcoming year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, I\u2019m not trying to predict the future, but these tips and\ntricks are topics that are trending right now and helping people save money\ntoday that can be utilized by you in the future to make you more financially secure.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You may be at a good place right now; however, these tips and\ntricks will make things even easier for you and may not be things you\u2019re\nconsidering. There are hundreds of options to save money, and you may be utilizing\nsome of them right now, but looking things over, there are likely options that\nyou haven\u2019t really considered fully. On top of that, if you didn\u2019t consider\nthem, you may not even know that they exist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To help, let\u2019s dive in to the top 7 ideas below and start working\non our finances for the future today!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Budgeting is pretty much\nself-explanatory, but it\u2019s also something that I believe most people don\u2019t\nutilize enough. By planning out your budget year by year or month by month,\nthis will allow you to know what you\u2019re working with and how much money you can\nallocate to different things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
First, you need to plan your expenses.\nNow, some expenses are fixed while others are not; however, you can estimate\nthese costs to plan. I suggest high-balling these expenses just to make sure\nyou\u2019re not surprised at any time. If you plan for certain amounts and then it\nunexpectedly becomes more than you had budgeted for, this takes more a toll\nthan if you over-estimate and then end up saving money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After you plan your expenses, you\u2019ll\nneed to look at your income-debt ratio. Does your income outweigh your debt? In\nother words, are you spending more than you\u2019re making? This is super important\nto consider because you don\u2019t want to be in the red. Once you take a look at\nthis ratio, you\u2019ll have a better idea of your situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After you check your income-debt\nratio, you may need to look at your expenses. What, of those expenses, are\nnecessities? What are things you just simply want? This is an easy way to\nadjust your spending and make sure you stay out of the red. On top of those\nexpenses, you can move along to the next step.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once you do your budgeting, you can\nsee if there\u2019s anywhere in there that you can cut costs. Thinking off hand,\nthere are most definitely a few simple ways to cut costs, one being simply\ndon\u2019t spend as much, but this is easier said than done. Each person is going to\nhave different ways to cut these costs based on their lifestyle, but in my\nopinion, the top three ways to cut costs are as follows:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do you actually watch cable television, or do you just have it to have it? Odds are that you don\u2019t really watch it enough to spend as much on it as you are. There are a multitude of new apps or options to watch live TV and not pay as much as you are for cable. A few options for this are Sling TV<\/a>, and Hulu <\/a> to name a few. You don\u2019t get as many channels as cable with these options; however, they\u2019re a good substitute and likely have most of what you watch. On top of these options, the amount of streaming stations is growing rapidly. With Netflix, Amazon Video, YouTube TV and the newly released Disney+, you will have plenty of options to watch shows or movies, but maybe just not as early as you could with live TV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cars are expensive, without a doubt,\nbut depending on where you live, sometimes it\u2019s the only option for\ntransportation. You need to get to work in order to make money to save, but gas\nprices continue to fluctuate, and car maintenance won\u2019t stop increasing. Sure,\nyou can get an electric or hybrid car and save a little there; however, there\u2019s\nanother option. Do you live near any coworkers? Or, maybe, a coworker drives by\nyour place on their way to work. Either way, consider a carpool. The people in\nyour carpool can alternate driving so that no one person is putting too much\nwear and tear on his or her vehicle. Everyone can pitch in for gas and cut\ntheir typical gas price in half, if not more, and this helps saving money as\nwell. Not only will you be saving on gas, but you\u2019ll be saving on maintenance\nby putting less wear and tear on your vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone enjoys going out to eat because\nno one really enjoys cooking all the time; however, this can really add up in\nexpenses. While it\u2019s nice to treat yourself every now and then, if you take\nmatters into your own hands and cook at home or even meal prep for the week,\nyou can save big. You might be thinking, \u201cdon\u2019t I have to still buy the food to\ncook at home\u201d and the answer is yes; however, there\u2019s something you may be\nforgetting to think about. If you cook at home, chances are, there will be\nleftovers. The number of leftovers you have will depend on the number of mouths\nyou\u2019re feeding, but either way, this saves you in the long run. By cooking 2-3\nor even more meals per week, you\u2019ll have enough leftovers to eat for both lunches\nand dinners to last you all week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve assessed your budgeting\nand expenses and cut costs where you can, you\u2019ll obviously still have some\nexpenses to think about. How are you going to pay for these? You can use a\nchecking account, cash or a credit card. You can spread these expenses out across\nmethods and whatever is most convenient for you. Credit cards can be dangerous;\nhowever, there\u2019s a way to make the most out of these and help you save even\nmore money. Weird, right? If you use a credit card a lot, my suggestion to you\nwould be to get a cashback card. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Discover <\/a>is one of the major cards that offers cashback, and it is well worth it. How does this card work? It\u2019s simple: you shop. I\u2019m not familiar with all the cashback cards, but with Discover, you get 1% cashback on all purchases, and then each quarter there are a few locations that offer 5% cashback. It doesn\u2019t seem like much, but honestly, it all adds up over time and you\u2019ll be surprised to learn how much cashback you can earn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other cashback cards run similarly, to\nmy knowledge, but differ in the amount of cashback you can receive. Some cards offer\na general percentage for all purchases, but others offer different amount depending\non the type of purchase. Either way, there\u2019s a good chance for building your\noffers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you decide that you\u2019ve reached a\ndecent amount of rewards, you can redeem them in a multitude of ways. So, by\nshopping, you are rewarding yourself in some way. Once you claim your cashback\noffer, there are different options on how you would like to do so. Some cards\noffer gift cards at a discounted rate. This is great, it helps you do more\nshopping, but also, you are most likely able to use those rewards to pay off\nsome, or all, of your credit card bill, all dependent on the amount of rewards\nyou\u2019ve racked up over time. Who would\u2019ve thought you can save money by spending\nmoney? It\u2019s definitely not the norm, but I\u2019ll take it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Coupons are huge. They\u2019re becoming more and more prominent in shopping and for good reason. There are so many coupon sites out there that will help you save money on your purchase. Once you find a site that you like, one like ChameleonJohn<\/a>, where you can find all your favorite stores, then you shop, apply coupons and save!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once you find coupons, you\u2019ll need to\napply them; however, it\u2019s possible that some coupons only apply to certain\nitems. If you\u2019re looking for a specific item, make sure the coupon you are applying\nis applicable to said product. During the holidays and depending on the store,\nit really could go either way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even better, some stores may allow you\nto stack coupons. It doesn\u2019t happen all the time, but sometimes, you get lucky.\nIf you\u2019re not familiar with coupon stacking, it\u2019s when you can apply multiple\ncoupons to the same item and get an even bigger discount. Again, some stores\nmay allow this, others may not. If the coupons aren\u2019t stackable, it\u2019s possible\nthat certain items on sale can also have coupons added to them. This is similar\nbecause it\u2019s a discount on top of a discount, so definitely give it a shot!<\/p>\n\n\n\n As I mentioned before, discounts are\nhuge. If you don\u2019t have coupons, that\u2019s okay; stores offer other ways to save\nand that\u2019s in-store discounts. Some people, like me, try to find these bargains\nand save money no matter what.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shop clearance \u2013 there\u2019s no shame in\nit! Clearance items are always just as good as full-priced items. Why are they\non clearance then? Sometimes there are too many of one item, so in order to\nmake room for new inventory, stores heavily discount items in hopes of getting\nthem out of there much quicker than when they were full-priced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, sure, stores try to make room for\nnew inventory, and sometimes that pushes \u201cLast Season\u2019s\u201d trends to clearance,\nbut who cares?! You can shop last season\u2019s trends and still find items that are\nin line with the newer styles but save money while doing it. Or, at the end of\na season, stock up for when it rolls around again next year! Trust me, people\nwon\u2019t even realize what you\u2019re wearing is considered \u201cold\u201d in the fashion\nworld.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You\u2019ve shopped clearance, but still\ncan\u2019t find the newest items for a more affordable price, no problem, there\u2019s\nanother solution: PROCRASTINATE. Never thought I would be giving this as a\npiece of advice, but it\u2019s true! Why? That\u2019s simple \u2013 holiday sales.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are always holiday sales popping\nup here and there. In the summer, you have Memorial Day Sales and 4th<\/sup>\nof July Sales, and then quite possibly some other miscellaneous, obscure\nholidays that pop up and offer retail sites an opportunity to attract more\nattention. Not looking in the summer? No problem \u2013 keep waiting. Labor Day\nrolls around in September, followed by Columbus Day in October and then\nVeteran\u2019s Day in November. There really isn\u2019t a time that goes by that there\nisn\u2019t a good sale that comes up. In February, you\u2019ll find President\u2019s Day deals\nand then before you know it you\u2019re back to May and everything else will soon\nfollow. Start planning those big spends but wait and see if you can find a good\ndeal with any of the aforementioned holiday sales!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, creating a holiday of their own\nis Amazon. Each July, Amazon offers \u201cPrime Day Deals,\u201d where you can find\namazing deals on some top-notch products. This goes against the last piece of\nadvice, so pay attention: DO NOT PROCRASTINATE! This is contradictory to the\nprevious sales, but it\u2019s necessary for this one. Some of the best deals are\nonly available during Prime Day for a limited time, so if you see something and\nyou absolutely need to have it, get the cashback credit card out and checkout\nimmediately! Not only do some of these deals only last a limited time, but\nthere are also some deals that are only available for a certain number of\nproducts. You can follow along because Amazon provides a scale and shows you\nwhat percentage of the deal has been claimed, and if it\u2019s a hot item, it\ndefinitely won\u2019t be around for long! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, if none of those work for you,\nfear not. Black Friday and Cyber Monday will be along before you know it and\nallow you to find some great deals just in time for the holidays. If you don\u2019t\nlike crowds, I have two pieces of advice: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, the last thing you can do,\nwhich is extremely easy to do, is to utilize thrift\/bargain shopping stores.\nThey typically have a negative connotation, but once you get familiar with it\nyourself, you\u2019ll look at things differently. How do I know? This was me. I\ndidn\u2019t know anything about \u201cbargain stores\u201d up until just a few years ago;\nhowever, now that I do, it makes a world of difference and I rarely shop\nanywhere else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The first option here is discount shops. Now, people don\u2019t typically think of these shops as a good place to go, but really they\u2019re fantastic! Stores like Marshalls<\/a>, TJ Maxx<\/a> and HomeGoods <\/a>are top-notch for discounted shopping. They carry all name brands that you know and love but get a great discount on. Marshalls and TJ Maxx are home to clothing, accessories, toys and more whereas HomeGoods offers everything you need for your home. There are plenty of other stores like this, but these three are some of the top choices for discount shoppers everywhere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Secondly, you have resell shops. Not only can you find these in brick and mortar locations, but you can also find them online and through apps. There is always a resell shop right around the corner from where you are, and you can most definitely find something worth having there. From clothes and shoes to home products and toys, resell shops are a good, physical store to look at to save money. Find apps like Poshmark <\/a>or The RealReal<\/a> and, again, find name brand products for discounted prices. Now, not all items you find need to be name brand, but these apps are most known for accepting only those products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A third option to saving money is to\nshop small business. Most small businesses don\u2019t add a ridiculous upcharge to\nproducts, and they\u2019re always good quality. Small businesses are a great way to\nshop local and find unique items while doing so. Instead of big box stores,\nsupport your local businesses and save money by doing so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The things you\u2019ve just read are some of the best ways to save money for you and your life in the upcoming year. Some may work better than others, but they\u2019re all good ideas and are things you\u2019re just going to have to try and see for yourself. There are likely other options, but the ones compiled above are some of the best options I\u2019ve found that I know work. Are they absolutely perfect? Probably not. Are they viable options? For certain. <\/p>\n\n\n\n ______________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n\n\n\n So what tips are your favorite and what are you going to apply\nfirst? <\/p>\n\n\n\n How about budgeting or cutting costs? I believe these are two of\nthe most effective ways to get started with saving money in the new year, so\nwhich one are you going to try? Think about it and leave a comment below!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The New Year is quickly approaching, and one thing that everyone tends to resolve is saving money or just spending less than normal. This isn\u2019t always an easy task; however, it\u2019s possible that this might finally be your year to do just that. How? Simple. This is your ultimate guide …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":278,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[145,264,150,148],"tags":[487,489,488,483,484,481,482,486,485,281],"yoast_head":"\n3. Cashback cards<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
4. Coupons<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
5. Discounts<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
6. Sales<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
7. Thrift\/Bargain Shopping<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n