Adulting is not as easy as it looks, especially the “avoid being broke” part. Really! Four out of five adults deal with financial insecurity at a point in their lives. And if you’re married, one of the most significant factors that can lead to divorce are money problems.
Right before our wedding, I attempted at a spreadsheet meant to help us budget our soon-to-be finances, but that quickly failed, 😔 mainly because we didn’t keep up with it. Still in a honeymoon trance, we made swift decisions and ended up spending way more than we should have, which backfired a couple months later when it finally caught up to us.
Looking back, our finances would have been a lot better had we stuck to a plan and budget from day 1 of being married, but hey, you live and you learn.
Plus, other than making sure we didn’t overdraw our debit cards, we both didn’t have much experience with financial stuff going into this marriage.
Here are some of the things we found help us manage our money better, and hopefully, it helps you too:
Use a spreadsheet:
Since we are *trying* to save up enough money for a downpayment on a house, we created a simple spreadsheet to help us figure out exactly how much money we are making, spending and saving each month. (This comes after a couple of really close “what are we going to do?” moments at the end of the month.)
This is what we came up with and now, you can use it too. USE THE SIGN UP FORM AT THE END OF THIS POST TO download your FREE monthly budgeting spreadsheet.
We learned that when you organize your finances and know exactly how much money is coming in, you’re more likely to stick to a budget.
Get a piggy bank, no we’re not kidding:
At one point, we decided to start saving our money in cash. We still had some wedding gifts trickling in, so instead of depositing the extra cash in our bank savings account, we stuck it into a jar. After only a month or two, we had already saved up a decent amount of cash, and the best part is..we didn’t touch that money for months. Our goal is to keep adding random cash to it + withdrawing our leftover money each month and putting it in the jar.
The point: You want to make it difficult for you and your partner to access the money.
Cut back. Seriously, don’t be tempted:
We have to constantly remind each other to hold off on big purchases because spending a few hundred here and there may not seem like a lot at a given time, but a month later, you’ll feel the repercussions if you’re not budgeting properly. Spread out your big purchases and take turns buying them.
Look for deals:
Deals are everywhere, it’s just a matter of putting in some effort to find them. And most of the time, they really pay off.
We love going to the movies, but it adds up if you’re going almost every week. Since our local theatre has a half-off day, we opt to watch movies on that day in order to save a couple bucks. And yeah, it may suck a little to go to the movies on a Tuesday, but at the end of the day, we spend $12 instead of almost $30 had we gone on any other day.
Begad’s cousin also alerted us to Movie Pass, a subscription where you get access to unlimited movies for $9.95 a month (that’s cheaper than Netflix!). Pretty sweet!
Another thing we do is whenever we like something at the mall or elsewhere, we look up what the price is online, because usually it’s cheaper. Amazon is our go-to since we are prime members, but a simple Google search will give you a rough idea before you make your purchase.
Remember: Although deals are awesome, don’t buy something just because it’s a *good* deal. My motto when deciding to buy something is “If you don’t love it, you’re not going to use it as much.” Seriously, how many times have you bought a top or shoes you were “ehh” about in the store, only to come home, decide you hate it, and never end up wearing it?
Sell things you no longer need:
After our wedding, we had a bunch of decorations, tablecloths, chargers and other random items left. We posted a couple of those things on buy & sell apps and websites, and we ended up making money off of what we probably would have thrown out. We continued selling random things around the house we didn’t find use for anymore and racked up a decent amount of cash to add to our jar-piggy-bank. Some apps we use are LetGo, CraigsList, Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp. Just remember, people are looking to make a good deal so don’t unreasonably bump up the prices on things or else no one will give you a good offer.
Let your friends know you’re on a budget:
We’ve all been there in our college days when our friends ask us to go out for food or a movie and we have to reluctantly reply with a “Sorry, I’m broke.” — It’s not fun. But if you’re trying to save money, you might want to drop a line to your friends so at least they are aware that whatever you end up doing together, you don’t want to be spending too much money. Suggest free activities like going on a hike or a bike ride.
Disclosing your desire to save money will not only make planning your outings a lot easier and less stressful, but it will also open the door for your friends to support you through your money-saving journey.
Overall, sticking to a budget doesn’t have to be difficult. Do what works best for you.
start saving today! Sign up to receive your FREE budgeting spreadsheet.
Share your favorite money-saving tips with us in the comments below and don’t forget to let us know which of these tips worked for you!
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