With inflation creeping up daily over the last year, saving money has been the name of the game. Most people are starting to see the rising prices in almost every area of spending. Grocery prices are rising, gas prices are higher, and daily expenses are impacted. What can you do to stem the flow of spending so your finances stay intact?

You can focus on your daily spending. Most of us probably think our spending game is on point, but we all have work to do in this area if we are truthful. Most of these suggestions are simple and you may have heard them before. However, hearing them doesn’t mean you are practicing them.

5 Simple Ways To Save Money Daily

Make sure you are prepared for the day. Being prepared may mean having a plan for the day and your spending. You need to have your breakfast, snacks, and lunch planned out. If your mornings are hectic, making your food the night before will help you stay on track spending-wise the next day. Eating out and convenience foods are expensive, considering the markups on them. You are better off including that food in your grocery list if you need that soda or candy bar fix at 2:00 pm every day.

If you are prone to picking up supper on the way home because you are tired, plan your meal the night before. You can get the meat out to thaw, cut up your veggies, and set out the slow cooker to be ready in the morning. Toss everything into the slow cooker with some seasonings and you have a meal for supper.

Combine your errands as much as possible. Take one day to run your errands. Gas is expensive now so this is becoming a necessity. If you are already driving for work, take one night to get groceries and other items. With grocery pick-up at most stores, you can place your order online to pick up after work which saves time and money. You can stop to pay bills and drop off things on your errand day too.

You can take this a step further and save more money. You can take advantage of your bank’s online bill pay and set up the payments there for the bank to pay and send. You save gas money and can let them do the work.

Another idea, especially if you have kids in activities: you can run errands during their practices instead of running home. You can also park the vehicle and wait for them while enjoying a good book or magazine.

Break your habits. You can buy a milk frother, creamer, milk, and coffee and make it yourself in less time than you took to drive to the coffee place, wait in line, place your order, and pick up your drink. This one can be tough, but you do not need that special coffee drink in the morning.

You also don’t need to get a soda or candy bar from the convenience store or the vending machine every day. That $2.00 for the candy bar probably didn’t hurt your budget today, but that hurts if you add up the cost over time. The same goes for the drinks after work – at home or the bar – and many other things. Habits are acceptable and can bring comfort, but they can also put a significant ding in the budget that you don’t realize. They may be the reason why ends aren’t quite meeting by the end of the pay period. Start adding up your costs and see where the money is going.

Keep a daily log of your spending. Keeping a daily spending log can be as easy as having a notebook on you to write down your daily expenditures every time you make a purchase. You can do this in the notes section of your phone. Having a record of where your money is going can be an eye-opener. Many people will claim this is too hard, but it isn’t hard at all. What is hard is that you will be confronted with the truth. You either make too many purchases throughout the day and find it hard to record them all or you spend too much money on the things that don’t matter and it hurts your budget. Either way, it’s an eye-opener.

Have a no spend day at least once a week. If you feel like your spending may be unmanageable, you might find it helpful to stop spending for at least a day, if not longer. You can reset your mind regarding your finances and get back on track. Telling yourself no is good for your self-discipline and self-control. You can also take a closer look at your spending habits and temptations to see where you can do more to stop them. We do so much out of habit without realizing those habits are not good for us. Having a no-spend day will help you recognize those temptations in a clearer light.

We believe that we need to “treat ourselves” in this culture. Somehow, we think we are deprived and we need to spoil ourselves. The truth is that very few of us are deprived and that kind of thinking has caused damage to our budget and ourselves. Another saying is that “life is short,” and we need to eat, drink, and be merry every chance we get. That causes problems down the line, like financial stress, obesity, and more. Those problems can, in fact, cause life to be shorter.

You can enjoy life while managing your money. You can plan ahead for your pleasures, like a planned night out to eat once a month, a concert, a vacation, and more. You can prepare for those better when you are saving money every day.

Thanks for reading,
Erica

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