How to Save Money
by Carmen B.
Since the covid-19 pandemic, the majority of people find themselves trying to save money. I used to spend every dollar of my paycheck on short satisfactory things like an everyday coffee when I realised I should be saving all that money. These tips really helped me when it comes to saving so take them into consideration!
1. Review Spending Habits
The first tip to saving money is analyzing your spending habits. By reviewing your monthly bank statements, you can analyze your spending, whether it is spent on daily coffees or any other unnecessary expenses. You can identify areas where you need to limit spending.
2. Budgeting and Saving Apps
There are many apps that can help budget your spending and save money. Each app is unique and provides a different experience best for the user. Some trusted apps are:
Digit: Best for optimizing savings decisions
Dobot: Best for price
Qapital: Best for those who are motivated by visuals
Long Game: Best for a game-like experience
Simple: Best for competitive APY with auto-savings features
Chime: Best for those who want their bank app to save their spare change
Current: Best for young adults seeking a banking alternative
Acorns: Best for novice investors
Keep in mind you will need to enter your banking data for these apps. Another important thing to keep in mind is to always have a balance with more than enough money to avoid getting an overdraft fee!
3. Using Coupons
There are many ways to save money using coupons. Yes you can find paper coupons to save at the store but on nearly every online store, there is a promo code you can use to save money. You can look up these codes or download apps like Honey or Coupert to find deals.
4. Challenge yourself to freeze your spending
This tip is very simple yet very hard to do. By only buying necessities and freezing your spending. Think of it as a diet and you're cutting out your sugary and fatty foods. When doing this you will see how much you are spending when the money is adding up.
Works Cited
McMillin, David. “How To Save Money: 14 Easy Tips.” Bankrate, www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/how-to-save-money/.
Wisniewski, Mary. “8 Best Money Saving Apps.” Bankrate, www.bankrate.com/banking/savings/best-money-savings-apps/.
I can really relate to this topic. When I first got a job and started making money, I would spend a lot of it on games, food, and gifts. However, I now rarely spend my money on anything other than gas. I save much more than I did before, however I still think I would benefit from a budgeting app. You also mentioned an interesting point about coupons. Right now I haven’t cared all that much about them, but I know they are very handy! Overall, nice blog!
ReplyDeleteWow! I was unaware of how many mobile banking apps there were. Now that I am aware I can't wait to check some of these out. I think it is very cool how you listed different varieties like a banking app that's similar to a game or those who really like visuals. I also love how you took from your own experience to help write this article, it felt very personal and meaningful, great job!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your article, I feel like you choose a great topic that is very relevant to kids our age. I think that a lot of kids our age need to review their spending habits because I feel that there are a lot of areas that we can cut something out that we spend our money on like you said, coffee. Coupons were also another good alternative because some people never use them when it is practically free money and it will help you save in the long run. I know that you touched on coupons becoming more virtual with things like promo codes, do you think paper coupons will be a thing of the past?
ReplyDeleteSaving money is a big topic amongst us teens. It has become easy to spend our money on useless items. Creating a budget is a great way to save money and start good spending habits. Using different budgeting apps is a great start to budgeting because most apps are free and easy to use. I like how you listed multiple options and what their best attributes are! I really enjoyed the layout of your blog and how easy it was to follow along! Great job!(Ally Longden)
ReplyDeleteThis was a really helpful blog post. As someone who also used to spend all of their money right away, I have found some ways that help me save money. However, through this blog post I have learned more ways that I will defiantly be trying. The budgeting and saving apps are something I knew little about so it was great to see what different apps there are. A lot of good topics brought up, good blog!
ReplyDeletewow there is rally a lot of apps that you can use and that is helpful to use. Great blog and thank for for sharing those apps with us!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis post was very interesting to me and helpful, as you provided many tips and even links to a variety of apps to help save money. What app do you think is the best for students our age? Looking at the descriptions, I would say acorns, as this can set us up for retirement as well as keep us financially literate even as a novice, but all of them seem to be a good choice. You also included many images which helped appeal to a visual aspect which is also appreciated. Good job!
ReplyDeleteIt’s surprising the amount of people that don’t save money, and for teens that is not really surprising that we don’t save the money in our paycheck. Of course the covid has caused many issues in the world, and the people that didn’t save money, and lost their job. Learn the hard way, why it’s important to save money.
ReplyDeleteI've always been pretty good at saving my money, though I still think monitoring my spending like you said in the first tip would help me a bunch! Also, another thing I recommend that has helped me save money is by buying things used. They are often much cheaper, so you can get more stuff while still keeping a good amount in your savings! Also, I challenge myself to find something I can sell (I sell on the app Mercari) every time I want to buy something, both to keep my space clean and to make some of the money I spend back to save!
ReplyDeleteThis blog was great! I think that a lot of teens spend most if not all of their paychecks on things that are not necessities. And I think it's just because we find it hard to save and we don't know about the resources we actually have. I loved how you gave some apps that we could use, I think that it is very helpful. I was just wondering what you meant for the app Dobat, you said it's best for price, and I was wondering what price?
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteI like how you included multiple apps and how they have different characteristics that could intrigue an array of people. A lot of people shy away from budgeting and savings apps because they can be sometimes confusing and not user friendly. I like that you had Long Game as an example of an app that gave a game experience so people would be more interested in using it. Another thing is sparking the idea of using coupons. When people think of using coupons, they think of extreme couponing or having a coupon for a free drink. There’s so many couponing resources out there that you can easily install to help you save money. I know a lot of online promo codes that have helped me save almost $30 on my purchases! Overall, this gave me great insight and knowledge on how I can continue to save my money. Awesome job!
Saving my money is definitely something I struggle with a lot. I also spend it on little things like coffee and food when I should really be saving it. I'm really glad you included mobile banking apps that will help with saving. My older sister utilizes some of the ones you listed and they've worked out really well for her! I also really liked when you said to think of freezing your spending like a diet. I feel this is something I can implement into my spending habits to ensure I'm not wasting all my money and saving up for college. Awesome job!
ReplyDeleteCarmen, I really thought this was helpful. I spent a lot of money on things I really don’t need. Using this information will solve that problem. Good job!
ReplyDeleteThis is really helpful, thank you! The money saving aps are pretty cool, especially the long game savings one that turns saving into a fun experience!
ReplyDeleteI think this is a really good topic to write about. As high schoolers, we obviously just want to spend all of our money on materialistic things to get short lived happiness. That money could be used for other, more beneficial things. I also think this is a good habit to practice now because as an adult, you are going to have to pay for things that are essential and you can't do that if you're spending all your money.
ReplyDeleteThe different app suggestions were a super cool addition to this post! I feel like saving can be a difficult thing for people because it is easy to spend small amounts over a period of time that add up to a huge sum. Using an app would keep you accountable to only spend what you have to. Thanks for helping me expand my knowledge and giving me more options to help me become a better saver! Great work, Carmen!
ReplyDeleteI found this varying interesting and helpful. Especially that you provided examples of different apps that we can use. Saving is definitely something that people really struggle with. Especially those that live pay check to pay check. For those people, freezing their spending's should be something that they should consider.
ReplyDeleteShowcasing a variety of apps and their specific audiences for saving is really insightful, as not every person has the same spending habits. The traditional mental tracking and self-monitoring saving methods would definitely be harder than just having an app log your savings. I've always found the coupon and cash-back extensions very interesting. Typically, they act as an "affiliate" during your purchase, which gives them a cut of the sales. The extension then returns you a portion of that cut. At the same time, they also are able to collect your shopping behaviors and purchases, which could be a drawback if privacy is a concern. Overall, I found this article to be helpful and intruiging.
ReplyDeleteI think that this was a very interesting and helpful piece. I think that the way you organized your information made it easy for the reader to find the information and more importantly, retain the information. I think that saving is something that needs to continually be harped on because the average American definitely struggles with saving.
ReplyDeleteI found the list of apps to be very helpful, having an app organize everything for you seems much easier than doing it myself.
ReplyDeleteThis was really helpful because of how well organized it was. I think that reflecting on ourselves is important at any task we do in life, budgeting being one of them. I also like using the add on Honey, that searches up items you have in your cart and finding coupons for them. Simple things like that can really help us save money
ReplyDeleteThis is all really useful. I've found myself spending a lot of money during COVID that I wouldn't normally spend. I've been working on saving money more and not just spending money out of boredom. Are there any techniques that you specifically use that have worked the best for you? Saving is definitely very important and there are unlimited different strategies I just think it's all about figuring out what works for you.
ReplyDeletethanks for the good information, i liked the different types of ways to save money expectantly during the coronations lock down.
ReplyDeletethis was very interesting I have realized that I should use coupons more often and try and get the promo codes online so I can save myself some of my money
ReplyDeleteI thought this blog post was very informative and helpful. I know saving is something I could get a little better at. This definitely gave me ideas on how to save. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteThe different budgeting apps are quite interesting with different ways you learn that are easier for you. i say always always use coupons if you have them even if you have the money for it because why not save if you can.
ReplyDeleteI thought this blog post was very informative and helpful. I know saving is something I could get a little better at. This definitely gave me ideas on how to save. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI thought this blog post was very informative and helpful. I know saving is something I could get a little better at. This definitely gave me ideas on how to save. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI thought this blog post was very informative and helpful. I know saving is something I could get a little better at. This definitely gave me ideas on how to save. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteI thought this blog post was very informative and helpful. I know saving is something I could get a little better at. This definitely gave me ideas on how to save. Great Job!
ReplyDeleteYour blog was super helpful!! I also struggle with budgeting my money and it has been an issue before so learning of all these budgeting apps was super helpful and insightful. I feel like us teens tend to not be conscious of our spending habits and having an easy app to help us through it is a great way to start building those budgeting skills for the future.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really good topic to write about especially right now. I think that we all have issues with spending or at least I know I do. Your last tip about freezing your spending was something that I have never thought of before. I think it would be easier said than done to only buy gas and cut out all the other things like fast food, clothes and other random items. Is this tactic something that you have done before?
ReplyDeleteI thought this blog post listed a lot of good ways for someone to save their money. I agree that budgeting your money is really important for saving money. You mentioned in your post how some people have spending habits, and if they're unnecessary, these habits should be eliminated from their spending. However, I was wondering if there were any alternative ways to keep these habits, for example the morning coffee you mentioned, without spending as much?
ReplyDeleteYour blog had a lot of great ideas and ways for someone to be able to effectively save their money. Saving money can be one of the hardest things to do especially when you want all the latest and newest technology or style. Saving is vital because it's all about planning for the future and making sure that you are in a good place financially in 15 years rather than today. Great blog.
ReplyDeleteThese are really good tips to encourage saving. Another tip that I would add is to make it automatic. By making the transfer of money to your savings account automatic, you don’t have to manually go in and transfer it. This makes it a lot easier to build up your savings because then you can’t mess yourself up by forgetting about it, or being lazy about it. By making it automatic, it kind of forces you to save.
ReplyDeleteThe section about budgeting apps was super helpful and definitely something I'll keep in mind.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know there was so many ways to save money when buying and renting items. I am going to start using coupons when getting groceries and with continue to do so in my future life when I am out of school.
ReplyDeleteGreat piece Carmen, I never knew there was that many applications offered to help assist in saving and banking offering what was listed. Something in your piece I really liked was the part where you talked about freezing your spending. Focus in on what you really need to see how much money you're blowing on unnecessary things.
ReplyDeleteWhile I also wrote a similar post and knew a lot of information on the topic, there's always more to learn. I appreciated the amount of applications and resources you provided about saving that can help the process.
ReplyDeleteThe list style was perfect for this topic! It made the piece super easy to follow and the visuals you included were a really nice touch as well. I feel like I learned a lot about saving money and will use these tips for my own use!
ReplyDeleteSaving money is a big topic amongst us teens. It has become easy to spend our money on useless items. Creating a budget is a great way to save money and start good spending habits. Using different budgeting apps is a great start to budgeting because most apps are free and easy to use. I like how you listed multiple options and what their best attributes are! I really enjoyed the layout of your blog and how easy it was to follow along! Great job!!!!
ReplyDeleteYeah I never thought the reason for instate tuition was because of taxes. i thought it was just and incentive to stay instate for collage. I wounder how much of the tuition cost could be reduced to try and reduce student debt. posture trainer
ReplyDelete