How I Am Saving Money During These Expensive Times:

Summary

The article outlines three practical strategies for saving money amidst rising expenses.

Abstract

During economically challenging times, the author emphasizes the importance of proactive financial planning, particularly for anticipated expensive events. They recommend saving 10% of one's income as a non-negotiable expense and being mindful of small, seemingly insignificant daily purchases that can accumulate significantly over time. By adopting frugality and minimalism, the author suggests that individuals can better withstand financial pressures, especially when the economy is expected to deteriorate before improving.

Opinions

Planning ahead for big expenses like moving can reduce financial strain by allowing time to save.
Automatically setting aside 10% of earnings is an easy and effective way to accumulate savings.
Small, regular purchases, such as daily coffees or impulse buys, can collectively have a substantial impact on one's budget.
The author believes in the power of frugality and minimalism to combat the effects of economic downturns.
There is a skeptical view of the government and federal reserve's assurances regarding economic improvement.

1. Give Yourself Time To Plan

If you know you have an expensive event coming up in the future like moving to a new house or apartment, giving yourself enough time to plan and save the proper amount of money will be crucial to how smoothly this expensive event goes. If you plan it out in advance, it will allow this event to just be an inconvenience rather than something that will really hurt you financially.

2. Save 10% Of Everything You Earn:

I have said this many times throughout my time on medium, and that is to save 10% of everything you earn. This is the easiest way for me to save money and is easy to do because I do this automatically out of each pay check, and I view it as just an extra tax that ACTUALLY HELPS ME. I’ve heard some people say, “but Zach, 10% is very little”. It is, but ask yourself, had you done this from the time you started working around 16, how much cash on hand would you have now?

3. Watch Your Small Purchases:

This one is a very overlooked step that I think many people forget about, including myself. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but that $5 coffee every day, or that $20 Amazon order, or maybe that extra treat from the grocery store doesn’t seem like much, but it really adds up. Before I started being frugal and more minimalistic, I had noticed that one month I had spent way more money than usual and what surprised me was that I was spending way more on small items than I had realized and it really added up and came back to bite me when I needed the money.

I really think these 3 steps will really help anyone struggling through these very expensive times here in America. I know they have really helped me. I’m not typically a gloom and doom type of guy, but I really think our economy is going to get worse before it gets better, no matter what our government and federal reserve say. The best defense against high expenses that we can all implement is frugality and minimalism.