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I know money can be a little taboo to talk about and I do concentrate on fashion here at Cashmere & Jeans. But I love money. I think it has to do with the numbers behind it, which I have always loved and excelled at (nerdy I know!). I am the one who runs all of our finances. Kurt always says I pay the bills and then I give him his ‘allowance’ for the week. The man has a point, but we never view money like that as a couple. He may be the CEO of the Faber household, but I’m the CFO- the one who makes all the financial decisions haha!
January is the perfect time to reflect and set goals for yourself. One of my goals is always to save more and spend less. I always look back on the previous year and think we could have done a better job saving for the year and spending less. Here are six tips for saving that I like to follow:
1. Digit app to help save
This is one of my all time favorite apps ever! The concept of this app is that it analyzers your account and takes small amounts of money and transfers it into the app for you to help save. It is like a savings account, but your money lives within the app. You link your bank account which sounds kind of scary but I’ve been using this for over a year, so I can attest that it is safe. It takes money from your account that you might not notice and you can tell it to save more aggressively for you or save less. It’s all up to your preference. When you want to transfer the money back into your checking account, you simply tell the app to transfer it back. And 1-3 days later you see your money is in your checking account and can spend it freely on what you want.
I personally use this as my ‘fun’ money. This is what I use to help me save up for my bags or shoes that I want. I like that Kurt doesn’t have access to it and I can put it towards all of the frivolous purchases that I would feel too guilty to make if I just went out and bought them. The app now charges $2.99 a month, but I love it too much to say goodbye for such a small fee. I may use this as my a way to save for my fun money, but you can also use it as your actual savings account, to save for that big trip, your wedding etc. The app has no boundaries! I used this app to save up for my first pair of Christian Louboutin shoes- read about it here.
2. Pick one day a week to not spend any money
Think about it- you get a coffee, lunch, a small snack from the vending machine. You pick up groceries or stop at Walgreens on your way home from work. I like to pick one day a week where I don’t spend any money. And it’s typically on Monday’s. It’s the perfect day to not spend any money because you are just coming off of the weekend where you’ve spent a lot of money. And typically on Monday’s I don’t want to eat out and I don’t want to run any errands. I’m exhausted from the weekend and I just want to come home and relax. So pack your lunch and grab a free coffee at work! And save all of your errands for a different day.
3. Mint app to track expenses
Another app I use to categorize all of my expenses is Mint. The app automatically sets budgets for you on Food, Entertainment, etc. and it automatically categorizes each expense for you. You can see where you are spending all of your money, whether it’s restaurants, clothing, etc. It gives you a visual and let’s you know when you are getting close to the limit within that particular category. This app helped me to realize our VERY expensive Starbucks habit. One month I did a deep dive and used this app to help set a budget up for us. And that is when I realized that we spent almost $300 a month on Starbucks?!?!??!?!!! On coffee!!! I was floored. And I would have never known this without the app breaking it down for me. After that Kurt and I slowly but surly kissed our expensive habit goodbye!
4. Pack your lunch
I know this might seem silly but think about how much you spend a week if you eat out every day for lunch? It’s at least $10 a day x 5 so at least $50 a week or $200 a month. Think about all the groceries you could buy with that! And not to mention, packing your lunch is much healthier for you anyway. I strive to make my lunch four times a week which I think is a fair trade. Lately, I’ve been really bad, but I’m working on getting back on track. Friday is my one day to splurge and we almost always go to to lunch. It’s a nice treat!
5. Seek out a financial advisor
We recently starting to use a financial advisor and it is just the best thing ever! We now have a better understanding about our finances. And I always think it’s nice to have an outsider looking in and offering up their professional advice. Our plan is custom tailored to us so everything fits right into our budget. It makes me so happy to know that we are going to be ok and at some point we will actually be able to retire. If you need someone, feel free to reach out and I can pass along our contact. He is based in Chicago, but works nationwide.
6. Increase your 401K contribution twice a year
My office is really good about sending us a reminders to increase ours. Like last week, we got an email saying there has been a tax deduction in our favor and now is a good time to bump up your 401k! And they are right. It’s like money you never had. I have a yearly reminder on my calendar to increase my percentage on January 1. And then again when I get my yearly raise. Everyone always complains about your yearly raises being so minimal, but add that to your 401k because that is where you will get the most bang for your buck!
What are some tips or rules that you follow?
xoxox Amanda
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