I make budgets and try to stick to them as best I can. If I notice it’s not working I tweak it. I put X amount from every paycheck straight into savings.

We budget and each have our own bank account for eating out or anything we want to buy that’s not groceries, gas or bills. We each get a set amount that we transfer to our individual accounts each month. With our joint account, we pay our bills, buy groceries and gas and then transfer the remaining money in our joint account to savings. We also have money that goes directly into retirement accounts from paychecks so that it’s not even part of the money that hits our account.

To save money when grocery shopping, I make a list before going of everything I need. Once at the store, we don’t impulse buy. If it’s not on the list, it’s not in the cart. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Also, we don’t do nice cars or car loans. We own three vehicles and paid cash for all of them by saving. Neither one of us are big spenders; we tend to both be more practical. We have a motto in our house - “it’s not about how much you make. It’s about how much you spend”

Short Term: I use every coupon that makes sense, cartwheel savings, I take my cans and bottles in to recycle and actually get the cash vs let the garbage service take it, I bulk purchase meats, fish and seafood, seperate, food seal and stash in the deep freezer. That way I only go to the store for fresh produce, dairy etc.

Long Term:We have CD accounts that won’t mature for 3-5 years. Taking money from those accounts before they mature would cost way more than it’s worth.

Meal planing helps a lot. We save about $200 a month. You just buy what you need for the week.

Keep cash on us to spend don’t touch what’s in the bank.