The U.S. economy is firing on all cylinders right now with the unemployment rate at a post-recession low, wages slowly climbing and consumer confidence growing—yet, 20 percent of Americans still aren’t saving any money.
This is according to a new Bankrate survey, which cited expenses as the top thing keeping people from spending, equally followed by “job isn’t good enough” and “haven’t gotten to it yet.” Another 13 percent blame their debt as the reason for their lack of saving.
It’s hard to get ahead if you’re not making good money, but it’s inexcusable to throw the money you do have away because of impulse. Let’s look at a few ways to get overspending under control.
Eat Well Off Your Own Menu
Cooking is therapeutic for some, but after a long day of work, even the kitchen-savviest of us aren’t always in the mood to prepare something. We tell ourselves that we’ll order out tonight because we don’t feel like cooking, but just this once — only to find ourselves in the same situation later in the week.
End this dilemma once and for all with a three-step process:
- Create a tasty menu for the entire week, including breakfast, lunch, dinner and healthy, energy-rich snacks.
- Make a grocery list of every ingredient you need and buy it in bulk.
- On a day when you have a window of free time, cook your entire menu and package into meal-portioned Tupperware.
If it makes you feel more organized, you can label each container with the meal and day you’ll consume it on.
No more stress, way more energy (if you keep your menu relatively healthy) and a lot of money saved — all for a few hours in preparation.
Identify the Unneeded
Even if you consider yourself to a pretty “no-frills” person, you probably pay for a lot of things you don’t really need. Pay for cable? You could substitute a better media subscription in Hulu or Netflix for a tenth of the cost.
Do you smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol? Cutting down on one or both will net you considerable savings. A pack of cigarettes cost on average between $5-8. Cutting down on a few packs a month is enough to pay for a portion of your groceries. Same with alcohol, particularly if you drink in restaurants or bars where one drink could be $10, as financial thought leader Andrew Housser stresses in his advice on how to trim personal expenses. Most importantly, these things aren’t good for you. Cutting them out of your life is a two-fold benefit.
What about a gym membership? I’m less likely to recommend eliminating a health measure, but if you’re not using it, you could run or walk outside, ride a bike, swim at the local pool, do yoga at home—for free. You don’t need a $40-$100 gym membership, especially if you only go a few times a month.
If you look at your spending closely enough, you’ll see unneeded spending at every corner. It’ll be tough to stop, so try to just cut down and work your way from there. The more you cut down, the better you’ll feel about yourself, which will help you keep the trend alive.
Consolidate Credit Card Debt
If you’re an “average” American, you have over $8,000 in credit card debt, but is this on just one card? The more balances you have the less likely you are to consciously understand how much debt you carry. When you don’t think of your debt in specific numbers, you’re prone to be careless with spending. Having a better grip on your debt will influence your financial decisions.
To consolidate your balances, look for a loan with a lower interest rate that you can use to pay off your other balances. That way your debt is singular to one balance and you can focus on chipping away at it. Debt consolidation can be done by calling around or going through a debt consolidation company.
Fall in Love with Paying Yourself
When you just can’t shake the feeling, you get from giving away your hard-earned dollars, channel that energy into paying yourself. No, I don’t mean treating yourself to whatever you want. I mean take a portion of your spending and give it to yourself. It might sound crazy right now, but in time you will enjoy giving a portion of your income—no matter how small—to yourself each month. When you see that money slowly amount to something greater, you’ll be motivated to keep going, maybe even increase your contribution.
Even if there’s little wiggle room in your paycheck to pay yourself right now, start with the money you’ll save from prepping your own meals, cutting down on vices and unneeded subscriptions/memberships.
It might seem impossible, but the key to getting to overspend under control is changing your habits. However slowly that change happens, if you make sustainable strides and buy into the lifestyle changes, your good financial behavior is likely to continue.
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