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Ever feel like you're living paycheck to paycheck?  Sometimes, the solution starts with finding ways to save money throughout your daily routine. Here are some tips to help you keep more money in your pocket.

Budget

An excellent place to start is creating.  Ideally, you want to be able to follow the budget while still living comfortably.  Some key monthly distribution numbers to keep in mind:

• 25-35% on housing
• 10-25% on transportation
• 10-25% on food
• 5-10% on utilities
• 5-10% on healthcare
• 5-10% on personal spending
• 10-20% for your savings

Experiences at Home

One aspect of home life that can often skew our budget is money spent on food and entertainment. While it's fine to enjoy a night out, well-planned grocery shopping and socializing at home can make a huge difference in savings. 

• The average home-cooked meal costs between $3-5 per person
  • $10-20 minimum when dining out
• Ground coffee is around $11.99 for 240 cups, coming to a bare minimum cost per cup of $.05
  • Shops and gas station prices in St. Louis are around $1.73
• Go generic over name-brand
• Shopping at discount stores or buying in bulk can also help you save overall
• Try shopping in the middle of the week!  Many stores run sales Tuesday-Thursday to entice customers to stop in during otherwise slow hours
• Cleaning supplies can be created inexpensively with many at-home products found at your local grocery store
• Make a list and stick to it

Fewer Subscriptions

Monthly subscriptions can add up quickly.  Here are some ways to save on some of those recurring monthly fees:

• Gym Membership
  • Equipment-less routines on YouTube
  • Walking or jogging your local neighborhood and parks
  • Investing in your equipment for a one-time payment rather than an ongoing monthly fee 
• Streaming Services
  • Cancel when services aren't consistently being used
  • Search for bundles that lower the overall price (i.e.  Hulu and Disney+)
  • Wait for promotional pricing or utilize free trial periods
• Food Delivery Services
  • Pick up carryout orders
  • Prices on delivery apps are often higher by default

Rewards and Freebies

It's important to remember when trying to cut down on spending that you're not alone. Plenty of great rewards programs and free services help you save on expenditures.

• Buy Nothing groups function as a collective that offers free things in the hopes that "buyers" can return the favor by offering their unwanted items for no cost
  • Join local Facebook group or download the BuyNothing app
• Many companies offer rewards programs for using their services
  • Most common include cashback or interesting bearing Checking Accounts

Create Rules for Your "Want" Purchases

Finally, we come to that allotted 5-10% personal spending.  It's still okay to treat yourself, but creating better spending habits for personal purchases is essential.  Consider:

• "Waiting periods" on your nonessentials
  • Give yourself 72 hours (or more) to think it over
  • Prevent impulse spending on an item you'll never end up using.
• Try using cash for personal spending
  • Online shopping often too easy and accessible to overspend on
  • People are more hesitant to spend more seeing the physical amount of money they have to spend rather than swiping a card

Juggling finances and saving money can be challenging.  Though there is no simple right and wrong way to do it, we hope some of these tips can help you keep some well-deserved money in your pocket for the future!