How to Budget When You’re Bad at Budgeting
Yes, of course I need that bread maker and $200 boots. Adopt an alpaca? Sure!
That was me. If I had money in my pocket I’d actively find something to spend it on. That nonsense soon stopped once I moved from my parents’ house in Colombia and found myself alone in the second largest country in the world: Canada.
I had no job, and just enough money for food and shelter for about 2 months in my bank account. So I had no choice but to learn how to manage my money (without making my life too miserable). Here’s what worked for me and maybe, just maybe, they’ll work for you too.
Install a money tracking app
Yes, I know you’d much rather be in denial about how much you’re actually spending, it makes buying things you probably don’t need so much easier, but once you’re forced to type in each expense you make and you see just how much you have spent so far…it really sinks in that you need to get your sh*t together.
Personally, I like the Monefy app. It has a free version and you can even set a monthly budget for yourself. It’ll show you how much you’re spending on each category, and boy did it make me stop spending so much on “Eating out” and “Entertainment” every month.
Eat in, not out
If you don’t know how to cook, now would be the time to learn. When you go out to eat you have to pay for the food on your plate, the chef’s effort in preparing the meal, and the server who is taking care of you (unless you don’t tip, which means you’re a bitter person who should never eat out in the first place).
Start small with things like ramen and then escalate to pasta, vegetables, meat or fish, etc. My first roommate could ONLY make pasta and would have it for lunch and dinner for weeks on end, until he began asking around for cooking tips. As for me, I spent my first 2 months buying ready made oven meals and canned soups. But you get tired of the “processed” taste pretty quickly and Google is your friend when it comes to easy recipes. Nowadays I can roast a mean rosemary and lemon chicken with sautéed vegetables and rice (which took me a while to learn how to stop burning). Tastes way better, is much cheaper, and is INFINITELY more satisfying to eat because I made it my damn self.
Use cash, not card (if you can)
For some reason it’s way easier to spend more than you should when you’re buying them with a magical piece of plastic. You just swipe it and beep, done. But that right there, my friend, is the danger.
I noticed I was WAY more conscious of how my money was being spent when I could actually see the amount of dollars in my wallet decreasing. So if you’re a really stubborn spender, this could be your way to saving.
However, if you know yourself and think some cheating is in order, then hide a portion of your cash somewhere you’ll forget about. This will make you survive on the budget you left yourself with, and later on you’ll be pleasantly surprised to find a nice wad of savings. I mean, we all love finding that extra $20 in our coat pocket, right?
Ask yourself: Do I REALLY NEED this to survive?
This was the ultimate game-changer for me. Whenever I went out grocery shopping and saw that amazing looking box of chocolates that cost $25, I would think…Okay but do I NEED it or could I buy breakfast and lunch ingredients for the week instead?
You’ll be surprised at how natural this thought process becomes after a while. The trick is to always think what else you can buy with that same amount. Eventually your priorities will start to re-arrange themselves and you’ll make smarter spending choices. You’ll only buy what you genuinely NEED to get by and not absolutely everything that catches your eye.
Discounts and sales are awesome
Whenever I see a grocery store flyer I take it, because they almost always have some kind of special or sale going on. It’s always best to compare different store prices because one may have a special on fruit while the other has one on fish. Shop around, don’t be lazy, $3 here and $3 there make $6 you can spend on something else you need. It all adds up and it all helps.
Be careful with the expiration dates though, some stores put food on sale because they’re close to their expiration date. Other times it’s because the food isn’t cleaned or cut for easy cooking, so people aren’t bothered and don’t buy it. But YOU, you are on a mission to save money, so if that means getting your hands full of chicken juice while you hack at the bone to separate the leg from the thigh, then by god you’ll grab that discount family pack.
So now you have a little nudge in the right, money-saving direction. Try it out for a month and see what works and what made you relapse. Don’t forget to share any tips that may be great money-savers for the rest of us serial spenders!
