147 Days Ago, I proudly posted my account balance, having saved just over $2000 in 4 months after starting at $12 in my account, working at $11/hr in Chicago by making a budget plan compiled from tips found around r/frugal. Today, I’ve saved an additional $1000 by tweaking those tips just a bit.

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image showing 147 Days Ago, I proudly posted my account balance, having saved just over $2000 in 4 months after starting at $12 in my account, working at $11/hr in Chicago by making a budget plan compiled from tips found around r/frugal. Today, I’ve saved an additional $1000 by tweaking those tips just a bit.

Atlas_Black on May 26th, 2018 at 13:47 UTC »

1.) Make a grocery list comprised entirely of staple items like eggs, milk, cereal, cheese, bread, sandwich meat, and some veggies. For me, I added ramen to that list, because it was cheap and went a long way, and can be used in lots of different things. Pick ONE luxury item to treat yourself to that is under $10 when you shop.

1.5) This is a tip I came up with... That grocery list you just made. Detail it. Don't just put the item you need, go to your preferred grocery store and find the version of the items on your list that cost the least, and put that price next to the item on your grocery list. This way, if you are ever out and about, and not at your usual store to pick something up, you can compare the prices and see if it is worth spending the extra money on to get it now, or if you would rather wait until you can go to your usual grocery store. If you find better priced items at a store that isn't your usual grocery store, make that place your new usual grocery store, if it isn't too far of a drive or walk.

2.) If you see a meal you want to try, do not buy the ingredients in advance. Life happens, things come up, and some of the things you bought that may be specific to the recipe may go to waste. Instead, make a plan to go to the grocery store and pick up those specific ingredients, and then go home and cook the meal THAT night. This way, if life happens, and you aren't able to go to the grocery store, you haven't already spent the money on the ingredients.

3.) Examine your recurring costs. Look through all the things you are being billed for and find redundancies. If you are paying for more than one streaming service like Netflix and Hulu, cancel one of them.

4.) Any recurring payments that you are not actively using... Cancel them. If it isn't something you are using, you should not be paying for it.

5.) If you go out with friends frequently, invest in some board games and a deck of cards, and try to plan some game nights inside, where you won't be spending a bunch of money on drinks or food or whatever. You can still do those things, but cut back on it.

6.) Budget. After examining your purchases and cancelling what you don't need, calculate how much money you are expected to be spending, add a penny to it, and then make that sum your cursed number. If you spend that much or more, you have failed, and you don't get a luxury item the next time you go grocery shopping.

7.) Turn your lights off when you leave a room. Don't leave them on, even if you will only be out of the room for a couple minutes. Turn it off, and then turn it back on in a couple minutes when you come back in.

8.) If you have any food left over that you haven't used, get creative with it. I almost always have some broccoli and ramen left over after I have used most other ingredients. Mix that shit up, drain the broth, and throw it in a tortilla and you have a ramen broccoli burrito. Add spices. Get weird with it. It's better than it sounds.

9.) Apply a talent you have to making money. Thanks to skill-sharing apps, we now have lots of ways to make our talents available for purchase. Get set up on one. If you like drawing, there are tons of people looking for logos to be created. I once made an additional $50 in a single day by drawing logos for 6 different people. All I had to do was think up designs while I was working my normal job, take a bathroom break and save notes about design ideas in my phone, and then when I got home, I drew for a couple hours. It may not always be this easy or profitable, but some is better than none.

10.) If you work at a restaurant like I do, eat whatever they offer that is free. We get free bread and soup, as much as we want. I show up to work an hour early every day I am scheduled for, and I eat a free meal at work. If your job doesn't offer free food... Bummer. I don't have a tip for that.

11.) Get an app called Empower. You can set it to make automatic transfers from your checking account to your savings account every time you make a deposit. You get to choose what percentage of your deposits you want transferred, and I settled with 10% of every deposit I make. Which means when my job direct deposits my paycheck into my account, 10% of that check is transferred into my savings account.

12.) DO NOT TOUCH YOUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT!! That money is not for you to play with. That money is goal money. Set a goal for it, and then make sure you MAKE ITS DREAMS COME TRUE!!

13.) In the event of an emergency, you may touch your savings account... But it better be a damn good reason. Not like a "OH MA GAWD, my cell phone case is so 2016, I need to get the new one that has diamonds embedded in it." sort of emergency. An actual emergency. You better be bleeding, vomiting profusely, or one of your pets better be injured, or your car better be on fire, or any combination of those. If it happens to be all of those, I will make a Facebook profile picture filter and a hashtag for you. #prayfor______.

14.) When you see your savings grow, remember that feeling. That feeling of accomplishment, growth, and satisfaction is not a feeling you have to feel only once. You can feel it as often as you allow. You can continue to accomplish more and more, save more and more, and feel better and better. This is your motivation. This is proof that determination and hard work really can help you achieve what you want to achieve.

15.) Save your spare change. Take it to a coin star and DO NOT turn it into cash. Turn it into gift cards instead. If you get a cash voucher, they take out a fee. If you get a gift card, you keep the whole amount. I use mine for Amazon gift cards, and I buy food for my pets and other things I may need. By doing this, I was able to get a new set of knives, plates, bowls, and cups to cook with.

16.) Invest in yourself. When you are saving for something you intend to purchase, make sure the purchase is something that betters your overall situation, not something that betters that moment. For me, that set of knives, plates, bowls, and cups was something I managed with spare change, but it was an investment in myself. It made cooking possible, which makes saving money even more possible. Your purchases should be investments. Luxury items are nice, and you deserve them from time to time, but the majority of your purchases should not be luxuries. They should be investments.

AHigherBeing on May 26th, 2018 at 13:50 UTC »

I don’t know you but I am proud of you. I too just saved a 1,000. I have 500 in my checking and 500 in my savings. It’s taking soooo fucking long but I will stay committed. I am reaching 5 grand before August. Nothing will hold me back. Sales go for you. Let’s have a race? Not competition or nothing but for motivation.

Soon_coming on May 26th, 2018 at 14:12 UTC »

7.) Turn your lights off when you leave a room. Don't leave them on, even if you will only be out of the room for a couple minutes. Turn it off, and then turn it back on in a couple minutes when you come back in.

Lighting is such a minuscule part of your electric bill. As in less than $1 difference will be seen.

Most of it comes from heating/cooling. Things like a refrigerator, electric stove, fan, etc.