When I was in high school I would often babysit to earn extra money, once I was able to drive I got myself a job at the mall. It was amazing to work and have money to spend on whatever I wanted. Except I didn’t really spend it, I hoarded it. I would hem and haw over every single purchase I made to see if it was really worth it. More often than not I would come to the conclusion that it wasn’t.
Then college came and I got a credit card. At first I was very careful, only charging things I deemed as necessity but then being the pressures of being around people who didn’t have to be careful got to me and I was suddenly not careful anymore.
I wasn’t worried. I paid what I needed too and I figured that as soon as I got out of college I could take care of it! I was going to have a great job after all.
Except I graduated college in 2009 during an economical depression and to top it off I found out I was pregnant just a month after graduation. And before I know it I had bills I never had before, $100,000 in student loans to pay off and a baby on the way. YIKES!
It’s been 5 years since I graduated college and I still have debt but we’re also still living and enjoying what life has to offer. Just a little more frugally than I did in college. Here’s what we do.
1) Credit Cards
This one is easy. We don’t have them. If we want something we have to have the cash for it and if we don’t have the cash for it we don’t get it. Don’t get me wrong. It stinks sometimes but we survive!
2) A Little at Time
It’s not always easy to save. There are extreme methods out there to saving money and I’ve looked into them. I don’t want to be in debt but its too daunting at times so I feel like I have to start small. So instead of not spending *anything* I still spend but I also save. When I have an extra $10 I push it to my savings account. When I have an extra $30 I push it to my savings account. etc.
3) Moderation
As I mentioned above there are extreme methods for saving money but that’s just not for me at this point. I’m just not ready. So instead I practice moderation. I know that we’ll probably go out to eat at least twice a month so instead of setting what seems to be an unattainable goal of not eating out at all I set smaller goals and work my way up. Trying to cut out eating out? Spend the first Month (or week) writing down every time you go out to eat and how much you spent. The next week cut out a certain dollar amount or times that you eat out. You don’t have to stop eating out but you do have to moderate it! Take the extra money you “save” and apply it to a bill or savings account.
4) Think About It
This point will be especially true for things that are considered to be “wants”. So you’re walking through Target and you see an adorable pair of shoes, you love them you want them and plus also you have holes in all your other black flip flops. But can you make do without them? Do you need them right this minute? What does your money situation look like? If I have doubts on any of those answers I leave them. If I’m still thinking about them in a week I will typically go back (I mean there are holes in my flip flops after all). If they’re still there then it’s meant to be, if they’re not then it wasn’t and I just saved myself some money!
5) Never Pay Full Price
I’m not a coupon clipper. I want to be a coupon clipper but I can just never seem to get into it. This one time though I pretty much stole pasta from the store. Or at least that’s what it felt like. I got pretty much a million boxes of pasta for $2.I rocked couponing for like 3 1/2 minutes. Even though I’m not an extreme couponer I try my hardest to never buy things I would consider a “want” without a coupon or discount of some sort. I accomplish this by price comparing and searching for coupons online. I also use ebates.com religiously. For groceries you just have to watch the sale cycle and stock up when your items are on sale. Here’s some insight.
6) Money Journal
This is something I just recently started but so far I’m really enjoying it. Okay enjoying it isn’t the right word. More like I find it really nauseating. For me, I’m a pen and paper kinda girl so I keep records of how much I’m spending and what I’m spending it on daily. But I don’t stop there. I also jot down thoughts and how it made me feel to realize I spent that much money on frozen coffee. Then I journal where the money could have been put to better use.
Here’s a template to get you started:
I still have a long way to go (Thank you student loans) but the time will come that I *will* get there and I’ll be much happier for it!
How do you save money?
At SunTrust Bank their purpose is lighting the way to financial well being. They help you get organized, make a plan, and stay on track so you can get and stay in control of your finances. When you are confident about about your money, you can save for your goals and splurge knowingly on waht matters most to you.
To get started visit suntrust.com/getorganized.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of SunTrust Bank. The opinions and text are all mine.
