How to Save Money During Inflation.

So I wanted to give you some insight on how to save money during inflation. “How to combat inflation” is really an identical topic to “how to save money.”

Because regardless of whether the budget problem is…

• You impulsively buying Olive and June nail polish at Target (no judging… Instagram gets me too).
• Inflation makes your usual $250/monthly gas spending almost $400.
• Your insane schedule makes it impossible to quit eating out, which skyrockets your food spending…

The steps to spend less, and increase the margin between what you make and what you spend (so you can pay off debt or save money) is the same.

We teach this step by step to people who are chronically disorganized (meaning they can’t stick to a budget or manage the chaos of their house) in Hot Mess to Home Success everyday. If you’re in that course, then you know the answer to this is to just work the steps as their laid out without panicking about the rising costs.

But if you’re not in Hot Mess to Home Success, here’s the quick and dirty version about how to drastically reduce your spending quickly by working the levels we teach even if you’ve never been able to stick to a budget before.

Update: 08/22 I know how stressful finances are right now. I also know that I’m uniquely qualified to help you. I’ve helped hundreds of thousands of people get out of the paycheck to paycheck cycle (after trying and failing for years), by teaching them how to work with their unique personality to actually stick to a budget.

I’m giving you access to the insanely popular 90 Day Budget Bootcamp for FREE. Because I know that this program will change every aspect of your life. Take a look around. Because this is the LAST DAY you will ever sit around worrying about money. Let’s get to work.

Join the 90-day Budget Bootcamp for FREE here…

Basic Budgeting Steps

Automate

Remove yourself from the running of the house for free so you can create more time in your schedule. And just breathe for a minute. That means automating your errands, meal planning, and grocery shopping for free or less than your spending now. Not sure where to start? We can help you with that here…

Master the Foundation

Dishes, laundry, and schedule book. Which is honestly the only three things that matter in the running of your home (don’t believe me? Watch this training to see what I mean).

Learn How to Use Simplified Meal Planning

Create a meal plan that literally can’t fail. Even if you can’t cook, you get shift extensions at work, are addicted to fast food, or can’t commit to what you’ll want to eat at 7 pm on Wednesday when it’s only Sunday.

Once you get that… then budgeting is SO much easier. Because the largest budget buster is under control and you can accurately predict your food budget for the month and stick to it.

We teach the easiest method for meal planning here.

Incentivized Savings

Next up, we teach you incentivized savings and how to budget based on your unique personality so you’ll actually stick to it. Fair warning, incentivized savings sounds a little weird… “Wait… you expect me to save money by buying things I want?!” But it works and is the most successful way to budget if you usually don’t stick to the budget for long. Bonus points because it’s actually fun… It gamifies budgeting so it almost becomes your new hobby. You can learn how to incentivize savings here.

Then we teach you substitutions without sacrifice.

And finally, if you care… we teach you how to set up a simplified chore routine. One that’s built for your special brand of crazy life and that addresses the things you actually care about and ignores everything else.

You have to work those levels in order to master budgeting. ESPECIALLY if you’ve tried to budget unsuccessfully in the past.

You can learn more about the Hot Mess to Home Success system that we use here… (Fair warning… there’s a waitlist, but we give you the starter program for free when you join which is what you REALLY need right now).

How to Save Money During Inflation

That being said, if you’ve already worked those levels and mastered them, then there’s additional things you should know about to handle saving money with inflation…

1. Control What You Can Control.

Don’t waste your time being upset and anxious about the things you can’t control. You can’t control the price of gas or the cost of food but you can still control a lot of things. The worst thing you can do is throw your hands in the air, spend money that you don’t have, and say “well, it’s not my fault… the economy is screwed.”

You can still reduce your spending, learn to live (and thrive) on less than you’re earning, earn more and get better ( level up) at budgeting and life. Your financial success is not determined by the economy.

Your financial success is determined by you despite the economy. We got debt free in the last recession and the townhome we owned lost $100,000 in equity just a few months after it was purchased.

2. Meatless Mondays.

One of the largest increases in food costs is with meat right now. An easy way to save money is to have one or two days a week where you substitute meat with cheaper protein sources. Depending on how you eat currently, this can be mason jar Greek salads with chickpeas, Greek olives, red onions, and hummus with pita bread on the side. Or just the cheap and kid friendly pizza or macaroni and cheese.

Let me know if you want me to put together a meatless dinner ideas list for you to help you save money.

3. Packing Lunches at Work.

If you’re currently eating out at work, an easy way to reduce spending is to get used to bringing lunch into work. Whether by packing leftovers from dinner (if you have a fridge), to meal prepping lunches for the week.

*Need help? We have the ultimate lunch database here broken down by what you can prepare for lunch based on what you have to store and reheat (fridge, no fridge, microwave, no microwave).

4. Discovering Aldi’s or Thrift Stores.

These are two of my favorite substitutions without sacrifice. If you have an ALDI in your area, that’s such an easy way to significantly reduce your food spending without changing anything. About 60% of our food comes from ALDI.

For clothing, thrift stores are so much better than what they used to be. If you check your local stores, find a thrift store that sorts clothes by size and color ( Clothes Mentor, Plato’s Closet, and Once Upon a Child are all national brands that do this). If you don’t know- ask in your local community Facebook page. Bring the kids into the thrift store once a season to load up on what they need or head in monthly to find prices that work for you with a monthly clothing budget to spend.

Hint: If you want an easy swap that takes no time, just buy your jeans at the thrift store. Thrift store jeans are actually preferred to new because the size won’t change when you wash them and you can see how they’ll age. Also, you can try on dozens of designers to see what fits your body and shape the best. And you’ll pay $5-$8 versus $30-$60.

5. Swapping for Game Nights or Pot Lucks.

If you currently meet friends out for dinner, drinks, and concerts, start swapping those outings for drinks and pot lucks at your home. Or, put together theme nights for friends like my favorite makeup party (where we all just do our hair and makeup and take photos), poker parties for $10 (including food!), or general game nights where you can learn strategy games together or play party games.

6. Swapping Vacations for Camping Trips and Staycations.

If you’re used to vacations, here’s another quick tip to help you learn how to save money during inflation. Consider swapping your vacation for a camping trip or an epic staycation with a detailed schedule and itinerary for your best week ever.

7. Incentivized Savings.

I can’t tell you this enough. If you’re the type of person that sets a budget and then spends over the budget every time…. You MUST incentivize savings. It’s the only way to successfully stick to the budget if you don’t naturally have the willpower to stick to a budget in your weak moments. You can learn about incentivized savings here…

8. Force Yourself to Look at Your Budget.

One of the most powerful budgeting tools available is a budgeting app (that’s also a bank!) called Qube Money. It’s a separate spending account you transfer your money into. Money that you plan to spend this month (think groceries, online purchases, hair cuts). Basically, everything that’s not bills or savings.

Then you sort your money into digital envelopes. The app FORCES you to choose which envelope to spend from BEFORE you make a purchase. Not only is it genius, but it’s really fun to use. I call it the TESLA of budgeting because everyone that sees it wants to know about it and then they all get Qube Money too. It’s the newest level of genius.

I’ve used it for a year and a half and recommend it to readers with a lot of success. Qube Money naturally makes you more conscientious of spending. And when you combine it with incentivized savings, gives you the tools you need to be successful.

Learning how to save money during inflation shouldn’t feel overwhelming. Use these tricks to get ahead when costs are out of control.

What are you doing to get ahead of inflation?

P.S. If you want to keep going and level up these simple money-saving tricks we can help! Using a bare minimum effort and working with your personality we can help you master the life skills that will make a HUGE impact on your home and your budget in the 90 Day Budget Bootcamp.

Learn the simple routines that matter and then build on those skills to master a budget that you’ll actually stick to. If you’re ready for the next steps you can grab your cop of the 90 Day Budget Bootcamp here (Free if you use this link!).