Keep track of your monthly cash flow — your income minus your expenditures. This step will also make it easier to mark progress toward your savings goal.
Set a specific but realistic goal. It may be “save $5,000 in an individual retirement account this year” or “pay off my credit card debt faster.”
You can make it more difficult to shop online to stop spending money on things you may not need. Instead of saving your billing information, opt to input your shipping address and credit card number each time you order.
You might be paying for subscriptions you no longer use or need. Reviewing your credit card or bank statement carefully can help you flag any recurring expenses you can eliminate.
Debt payments can be a huge burden on your overall budget. If you can pay off high-interest debt more quickly through extra payments using the snowball or avalanche methods, you’ll save on total interest paid and free yourself from that burden sooner.
At NerdWallet, we recommend the 50/30/20 budget for money management. This approach means devoting 50% of your after-tax income to necessities, 30% to wants and 20% to savings and any debt payments. If one of your allocations exceeds these percentages, you can make some adjustments elsewhere.
Refinancing your auto loan and taking advantage of lower interest rates could save you considerably over the life of your loan. Shopping around for car insurance regularly can also help you cut costs compared with simply letting your current policy auto-renew.