When building a budget that prioritizes your future self, contributions to your savings are a necessity. Discovering savings opportunities in your existing spending habits can lead to personal wins that help you maximize your own financial wellness. To help you uncover these opportunities, we’re providing insight and creative savings strategies to test out for yourself.

Prioritize Your Grocery List

We’ve all been there before: at the grocery store on an empty stomach when we fall victim to stocking up on snacks and meals we don’t need (but sound delicious!). Don’t underestimate the impact that building a well-thought-out grocery list can have on your account balance – those last-minute additions can add up quickly.

Before building your list, check what you already have at home! Chances are, you already have some food that you can incorporate into your meals this week.

If you plan to shop at a store that has an app or a web version, you can build your cart online beforehand to see how much it will cost to avoid expensive mistakes at check-out.

Make a List of Your Impulsive Wants

If you see something you want when you’re out shopping, but it’s not something you budgeted for nor is it something you or your household need right away, add it to a wish list to revisit later.

At the end of the month, review everything you listed to determine what you still want (and have enough money) to purchase. By then, it’s likely you won’t still want everything you saved, so it will be easier to narrow down the items and avoid regretful purchases.

Review Subscriptions

Everything is available as a subscription service these days: entertainment at home, grocery orders, or hobbies and clothing delivered to your doorstep. Review the subscriptions you already have – do you know how much you spend each month on these services?

• Services you don’t use each month. Why pay regularly for something you haven’t used in months?
• Services that are similar. Choices are essential in entertainment, but do you need five television streaming services? Narrow down your top one or two services to give yourself some choice, while limiting the effects on your budget.
• Services that have more affordable options elsewhere. Instead of clothing or beauty subscriptions to try new things, opt for online blogs, social accounts, or thrifting to find new inspiration. Many local libraries offer free access to digital services with books, streaming, and music for anyone with a library card to enjoy.

Pause your existing plans with subscriptions you don’t use or want – you can always sign up again later when you want to try them out again! Choosing what to keep may require some compromise if you share these services with your family. Look for services that multiple people use. You can always switch which ones you use every few months to meet everyone’s wants.

Start Automatic Savings

Starting your savings can be difficult. When you’re already stretching your monthly budget, setting money aside can feel out of reach. Automatic savings transfers can help you build the habit of “pay yourself first.” Set up automatic transfers each month on a specific day or use payroll deduction each time you get paid to ensure you’re prioritizing your future wellness. Remember: YOU are the most important bill that you have to pay!

Unexpected expenses happen to all of us when we least expect them – when that happens, it is better to have funds in your savings account already, instead of building unnecessary debt or taking on additional stress. You can always adjust the amount you save to fit your needs once you set this up.  

Look for Cash Back & Coupon Benefits

Cash Back or Coupon opportunities are available everywhere these days if you know where to look for them. Searching for available savings opportunities can help you save on items you plan to purchase anyways.

• Visa Rewards Points. If you have a Chaffey FCU credit card with Visa Rewards, put your budgeted purchases on that card and pay it off at the end of the day or week. You might as well earn extra rewards or cash back on your regular purchases.
• Benefits Checking Accounts. Many checking accounts, like Chaffey Plus Checking, offer in-app cash back or shopping rewards for purchases made through its’ online shopping portal.
• Online and Mail Coupons. Most stores have online pages dedicated to current specials, coupons codes, or other savings opportunities. Mail circulars or coupon apps can provide additional places to search for discounts.

Try out the envelope method

If you are more of a visual learner, the envelope method can help you stick to your budget. Before each month begins, put your allocated money aside into envelopes for each spending category (such as, groceries, rent, car expenses, entertainment or vet bills). When your funds in each envelope run out, your spending for that category should stop until next month.

If you want to try this method, but don’t want to handle so much cash, you can replicate this process with sub-savings accounts. Open sub-savings accounts for each budget category and transfer budgeted funds into each account at the beginning of the month.

Slow Down Your Transportation (and Stay Cool!)

Did you know, driving faster can reduce your gas mileage? On average, vehicles typically see a decrease in fuel economy after passing 50 MPH. When on the highway, utilizing cruise control can also help you optimize gas usage and overall savings. Choosing to slow down and avoid excessive acceleration is a surprising way to help you stretch your fuel usage and save more money. During the heat of the summer months, fill up your tank in the morning when the gasoline is cooler.  As gasoline heats up it expands, so filling up during the hottest part of the day means you actually are getting less.

Pre-Plan Your Usage for Major Appliances.

Using major appliances during peak times of the day (usually evening times such as 4pm – 9pm) can inflate your energy bill, since that’s when most people are also using more energy. When possible, planning to use major appliances earlier in the day can help you save on your energy bills. Many appliances have a delayed start feature, so you can set the dishwasher to run before you go to bed and still wake up to clean dishes!

Extend Out Your Dine Out

Sometimes a busy schedule can get the best of you, and you find yourself eating on the go instead of cooking at home.  When this happens, consider the portion sizes of what you are ordering.  Oftentimes a meal purchased at a restaurant or at the drive-thru can be split into multiple meals and still give you the energy you need.  You can also take advantage of free refills for drinks to go and turn that $4 cup of soda into two $2 cups of soda!