I need to start this post out with stating that my mom is fantastic with money. She has always taught me and my sister how to smartly use our money and how to save. Without her guidance, I likely wouldn’t be where I am today (in many ways) and I’m incredibly thankful that she taught all of this to me. If you did not have the extreme privilege of having a parent help you figure the life of finances out, I hope I can impart some knowledge and drive to want to learn more. But I’ll also say that spending money makes me want to puke sometimes so maybe there’s a balance.
I am not perfect. There’s so many ways I could save more money (cancel streaming services, cancel Peloton, don’t get my hair done, etc) but I believe in having freedom where possible. These are just personally the top 3 that I have followed for a while. Once I got pregnant, I really started being more strict with random spending. This is both from a want to make sure that I can financially support having a baby (along with my partner) and the realization that we’re now bringing a 3rd person into this house and wow where did all that extra space go?? It’s crazy how much smaller our house seemed once our “random room” started having to be turned into a nursery.
This is a tip but I’m sneaking it in early because I really think it’s step 1 to having a better understanding of saving money: create a spreadsheet and write down every single thing you bought from the last 30 days and total up your biggest spenders. This was completely eyeopening. Yes, we have to buy groceries and gas, but seeing what you’re spending can be wild and a lot of people really don’t realize how much they’re spending on things. Do this first. Figure out where you’re spending the most. Then go onto the next steps.
- The absolute #1 rule I live by is USE WHAT YOU HAVE. Below are a few examples.
- When I purchase food that comes in a glass jar, I keep that glass jar to use for other food storage. I do like having a pretty kitchen so I remove all the labels (just soak in hot water and use a steel scrub – comes right off) and I use a label maker to label each jar. It’s easy to remove and replace. PLUS, when you store something like pasta sauce, it doesn’t stain the way that plastic does.
- Once a towel has too many stains or holes, I make it into a rag that I can clean the house with or use without worry of making it look worse (hello painting). We’ve done this with bigger towels (just cut it up) as well and we keep a basket in the garage of our rags. Once it really gets to the point of no return, you can toss it. But this way, you get the most out of all your towels. Since moving in together in 2019, we haven’t had to toss any of our rags.
- Recipe Swap Outs: You know I love cooking and I love finding new recipes to use. I’m not a chef – I can’t just look in the fridge and pull out a fancy dinner, I am a recipe follower. However, it was always annoying to buy ONE thing for ONE dinner that I knew I wouldn’t use again. For example: I stopped buying sour cream. We don’t use it ever and it seems to go bad so quickly. Any recipe that wants sour cream gets the non-fat Greek yogurt that we do always have in the fridge (I put this stuff in smoothies, my dogs food, baking, cooking – it’s so versatile). I also swap out veggies all the time. If I have an excess of something, I throw that in instead – still great. You’re not running a restaurant out of your house, you’re feeding your family. If you use carrots instead of asparagus, it’ll be fine in the end.
- Hi. Stop buying clothing. I get it. We all have social media and we don’t want to be caught re-wearing an outfit but… if that’s why you buy new clothes, maybe take a minute to think more deeply about that. Are you simply buying new things so strangers on the internet will think you’re cool? I got tired of buying clothing that was poorly made and would fall apart so I simply stopped. I’m much more conscious of the things that I purchase and I really look at the things that I actually wear regularly. Granted, my life right now is maternity clothing (most of which was given to me but this jump suit has been a life saver and I want to be buried in it) but I want to be more conscious about what I purchase and hopefully create a more “capsule” wardrobe in the future.
- With the above statement… stop buying things you already have. You don’t need 10 water bottles (I bought my Hydroflask in late 2016 and it’s still going strong) or 20 mugs (people love to gift mugs). Trust me when I say that you don’t need new washi tape (I’m looking in the mirror as I say this because craft supplies are my demise). When I go to buy any type of decoration, I really think about WHERE it’s going in my house. Will it replace something I already have that I only used because someone gave it to me and I kinda just needed something to use? If I don’t have a place for it, I’m not getting it. Most purchases I really sit on to make sure it’s something I really really want or need. Save it and if you’re still thinking about it in 2 weeks, you can get it. If it’s not there anymore, it wasn’t meant for you anyway. It’s just stuff.
- Meal prepping is probably the thing that helped us to save money the most. Each week, I look at how many dinners we need to have (do we have a dinner commitment with friends that week already?) and I write it down. Then I look at my freezer, fridge, and pantry to see what we already have. I buy things as they’re on sale so sometimes I’ll have meats in my freezer or canned goods in the pantry, waiting to be used. Once I make a list of all the things I already have, I start in on my cookbooks to see what I can make with what I have (including recipe swaps!). Then I make a list of what we need. I am very fortunate to live in the Bay Area, where our farmers markets are elite and typically much cheaper than what you find in the stores. Because of this, we tend to go to the farmers market before going to any stores. After that, we go to Grocery Outlet to get everything we can before heading to another grocery store. Yes, we tend to go to at least 2 if not 3 different places. It’s a lot and it’ll take time but it’s worth it in the end for the amount of money you save doing this. I also try to make sure to make snacks (ranch dip with veggies I had to buy for a recipe anyway, baked goods, etc) so that they’re there and ready to go. This way we buy less pre-made snacks at the store.
- Use your library dude. Growing up, we weren’t avid library users and I wish that was instilled in me earlier. But now? I love our library. Not only can you get physical copies of books, but you can download Libby and get digital copies of books as well as audiobooks (this is how I do all my audiobooks!). We also routinely borrow DVDs instead of having to pay to rent a movie on a streaming service. My library also rents out tools and has a bike fixing station outside. Along with that, they usually have programs to help the community (job fairs, ESL programs, tax and legal help) and run fun events. My library also has a bomb coffee shop and they run reading raffle programs (think winning a personal pizza but as an adult). I’ve cut down my book buying so much because of the library. Don’t get me wrong, I love buying books (it’s an addiction) but it’s much less than it used to be.
That’s it. That’s all it took for me. Yes, all 3 of these take time and sometimes you don’t get what you want (i.e. you’ll have to wait for a movie/book to be available from the library) but I think a perspective shift is what you need if you absolutely have to have something right this second all the time for everything. It’s so incredibly easy to just go to Amazon and buy something to get the very next day instead of wait to find something of quality that you might be able to stumble upon at a second hand store. My house has been referred to as “bohemian” (probably as an insult) because nothing matches. We got our TV stand from Jacob’s uncle. Our couch and dining room table came from my parents. The bench right inside our home after the doorway is from Jacob’s grandma. The white chair in my reading nook is from my aunt. Some of our art was gifted to us and some we made. I figured out things I want to spend my money on and stuck to it – I love experiences. Even with presents, I try to buy experiences for people (baseball games and cooking classes for Jacob, zip lining for my cousin, child-free dinners at fancy pants places for my best friend, and live theater for my mom) because we all have enough stuff.
I think this is more about having you take a few minutes to understand what you’re spending you’re money on and if that’s something that’s important to you. Maybe you don’t want to buy a house or a new car or a fancy vacation but having a savings account is a smart idea, no matter what, even when you aren’t saving for something in particular. You never know when you might lose your job or have an emergency bill to pay. Life happens and if you’re a little more financially prepared, it does take one burden off your plate.
Writes with Wolves 