Category: Frugal Living

It seems like the hardest times to budget and manage our money is when we need it the most. For me, during college was when it was the most important for me to budget, but also the most difficult due to a busy schedule and other obligations. Remember that budgeting is going to look different depending on your current circumstances but can almost always help you improve your financial situation. This is by no means a detailed tutorial on how to budget, although there are many good resources on the internet to help with that. Instead, these are a few tips that helped me make budgeting easier during the busiest times in my life.

Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor or a professional for this topic. These are just some things I’ve found helpful when budgeting in my personal life.

Find a consistent time to budget

Time management is hard when you are juggling many things, but this doesn’t have to take long. I generally budget for the coming month sometime on the last Sunday of the previous month. Having a set time helps it get done without it hanging over your head and causing more stress. And the more practice you have, the less time it will take.

Decide if you prefer to budget on paper or on a computer

I’d recommend trying both out a bit before picking one. On paper you can use a simple notebook and keep one column for income and one for expenses for the month then calculate the totals using a calculator. Some people prefer this method because of the simplistic and tangible feeling to it. And it can also be a great addition to bullet journals if that is something you enjoy. Personally I use a computer and a program like Google Sheets. There are pre-made templates available but honestly if you just put one column for income labels, one for income amounts, one for expenses labels, and one for expenses amounts you can have the program automatically calculate the totals for you. And then you can see the difference between the two and adapt your budget as needed, with it updating real time.

Keep a separate list of non-monthly income and expenses

This one is so incredibly important for college students. It’s where tuition, scholarships, grants, and student loans are recorded. As well as some car insurance and other bills for both those in and out of school. Also include amounts for non-monthly expenses for things that aren’t bills, like money for new tires. Calculate how much you need to set aside to pay for irregular expenses after irregular income has been deducted from them and include these amounts in your monthly budget. Also if you are a student and don’t already file your FAFSA, I am begging you to start, it can be a complete game changer for making school affordable.

Be prepared for emergencies

Try and set aside some money every month in a separate emergency fund for unexpected emergency expenses. Maybe your car breaks down or you need new tires, or you have a hospital bill. Bad stuff happens, it’s easier to bounce back from it if you have a little cushion in an emergency fund. Ideally this would be 3-6 months worth of expenses but a good place to start working toward would be $500-$1000.

Include some fun money but make sure to prioritize necessities

Decide on an amount to give yourself to pay for fun things for the month, like outings with friends or dates with your spouse. If you don’t plan on this beforehand, you will likely spend it anyways and may spend much more that intended. Ultimately make sure this amount isn’t going to interfere with you making your rent / mortgage payment or being able to buy food. Sometimes you won’t have much extra, if any, after expenses but try to make the most of what you do have.

Check out my other post about my favorite ways to save money and stay tuned for another on cheap date ideas to help maximize your budget.

Check out the other posts in the Home Management for Busy People Series:

• Meal Planning for Busy People
• Managing Everyday Chores for Busy People
• Homemaking for Busy People

Remember to give yourself grace when you aren’t perfect at budgeting. Like everything else, it just takes practice and will get easier with time.

Saving money can be hard, but there are some easy tricks and habits that you can use to make it a little easier and save a little more. Below are 10 of my favorite ways to save money.

Stay busy

This is the single biggest piece of advice I have for saving money. Most people have spent a ton of money on things that they didn’t really need, just because they were bored. Sometimes we think we’ll just go shopping because we don’t have any other plans for the afternoon. Or we scroll through shopping apps on our phone when we are bored and buy the things we like when we see them. So to save money, instead of filling your down time with shopping, fill it with other activities that you enjoy. This could be reading, hiking, or having friends over for a game night. My favorite swap has been to read a book on my phone when I would have opened a shopping app. By spending more time on things other than shopping, you will not only save money, but also add extra experiences to your life.

Go to your library and download their app if they have one

I did this about 6 months ago for the first time since I was a child… And I have been loving it! My local library has physical books as well as an app called Libby that allows you to access thousands of digital books and audio books. I like to use a mix of physical books, digital books, and audio books personally. There is something comforting about a physical book that can’t be beat online, but having the digital items allows you amazing portability. The point of this tip is again to keep you busy, and to give you access to many reading materials without having to pay anything for them.

Limit streaming services

We have a rule in our house, one streaming service at a time. If you have multiple streaming services, it can cost you a ton per month. Many families opt to not have any streaming services at all but we like the convenience of it around here. So what we do it have one at a time. And when we decide the things we want are on a different streaming service, we cancel our current subscription (finishing out the month), and then when that is complete we start up the streaming service that we do want.

Take care of the items you own

The better you take care of the items you own, the longer they will last. So you spend less money replacing things if you take care of them. This includes laundry, dishes, and especially cars. One of my family members is notorious for not taking care of their car. No oil changes or anything. And they have had to spend a lot more because their cars give out. Ultimately spending a little more taking care of an item will be worth it in the long run when they last much longer.

Use the one out, then one in rule

Similar to the one in, one out rule but the difference is that one thing has to need replacing and “go out” before you bring another thing in to replace it. This is challenging but works especially well for your closet and for beauty products. The idea is to only buy new products when one of your old ones needs to be retired or is used up. So if one of your shirts gets a hole in it or becomes too small, replace it with a new one. But don’t buy more than what would replace what you had. I have been following this for the past 8 months or so and have really noticed a difference in how much I spend on these kinds of products. And when you do buy something, having this rule in place greatly reduces guilt you may feel over spending money on something.

Use the 48 hour rule

You can use this either in place of the previous tip, along side it, or on different kinds of items. The idea for this one is that when you want to buy something, put in on a list for a set amount of time before buying it. When that time is up you can decide if you really do want to buy it. Some people prefer 24 hours, but for me 48 has been more helpful because it has allowed me more time for perspective to enter in and help me decide if I really do need / want it.

Track your spending

Ultimately you won’t know where your money is going if you don’t keep track of your spending. So taking the time to write down every purchase you make over one month can be really enlightening and help you to know where to focus on your money saving journey.

Use a grocery list

This one has helped us to save both a lot of money and a lot of time. Even just sitting down for 10 minutes before your shopping trip to list all of the items you need at the store before you go can make a big difference. This allows you to go directly to each item you need without having to brose through the whole store. Skipping the sections you don’t need to be in helps to prevent you from making impulse purchases because you don’t see the other items. Also, having a list makes it much less likely that you will forget something that would have otherwise required a whole other trip to the store later in the week.

Make freezer meals

Sometimes life gets busy and cooking a full dinner is just not in the cards. When this happens it is natural to turn to takeout just to feed your family and enjoy the convenience. But this can add up super fast if it happens a lot. As an alternative you can cook large dinners at home some nights, and then freeze half of it to use for a different night when you will be too tired or busy to cook.

Do more outdoorsy and at home activities and dates

People can spend a lot of money on activities and dates. Sometimes it is nice to treat yourself and your significant other with a big night out at a movie, restaurant, or other more expensive activity. But it is good also to mix it up with some fun outdoorsy and at home dates. Some of our favorites are hiking, picnics, and ice cream and movie nights. These are generally much less expensive but can be just as enjoyable. Dating is generally more fun when you have a large variety of experiences together anyways.

So there ya go, 10 of my personal favorite easy ways to save money. Even just picking one or two to focus on can help you save a significant amount of money over time, it’s all about finding what works for you.