How to Add To Your Savings Account Without Feeling the Pinch

Examining receipts often reveals ways to save without pain.

For many Americans, the 21st century has brought home the importance of saving even as decreasing wealth and higher prices make putting money aside a challenge. Finding extra money to save means earning more, spending less or spending differently. If earning more isn't an option, changing spending habits is the only alternative. To make changes without feeling the pinch, household budget managers must be shrewd consumers.

Things You'll Need

• Gas and Grocery Receipts
• Breakdown of month-to-month expenses
• Income documents like pay stubs
• Credit card and bank statements
• Calculator

Instructions

Analyze Spending Habits

1. Collect grocery and gas receipts for a month.

2. Keep track of food thrown out during the month, estimating cost.

3. Total weekly gas receipts to spot trends in gas consumption.

4. Add weekly grocery receipts to get a sense of spending. Total up expensive categories, such as meat and luncheon meat.

5. List regular month-to-month expenses, such as insurance, phone and memberships.

6. Add grocery, gas and month-to-month expenses, then subtract the total from income. This result roughly represents optional spending. Look into it with the aid of credit card and bank statements, noting unnecessary purchases.

Spend Differently

1. Substitute rather than go without to avoid feeling pinched. For instance, if you spend a lot on DVD rentals, consider a subscription service. Forgo a meat-based dinner once per week, substituting, perhaps, bean chili. Pressure cook a chicken for sandwich meat instead of buying luncheon meat.

2. Explore generic products, which are made by the same companies making name-brand goods. Good bets include chips, oatmeal and frozen vegetables.

3. Always compare price per ounce for products.

4. Get shopper cards. Most groceries save specials for those using their cards.

5. Do advance work before shopping. Scan sales, prepare a list and gather coupons. Coupons can be loaded onto some store cards from online or in smart phones. Eat before shopping.

6. Drive efficiently. Combine errands. Make one weekly trip for groceries. Don't speed, keep tires inflated and empty your trunk, as these measures save gas.

Spend Less

1. Analyze each monthly bill. Are you fully using the products or services you're receiving? Can you downsize your phone plan? Are your deductibles too low? Are you watching all those cable channels?

2. Skip the dinner out at least once per month to instantly free cash for savings. Do the same for lunch.

3. Waste less by spending less. If you threw a lot of food out, buy less of it. Smaller sizes are not always the worst deal. Freeze leftovers.

Deposit Savings

1. Compare savings accounts, focusing on those that are without fees. Open one.

2. Total the amounts you'll be saving from eliminating unnecessary services and products. Choose a conservative percentage of your optional spending to add to savings as well.

3. Have your planned savings deducted from your paycheck and deposited directly into savings. If your employer doesn't offer deductions, schedule recurring payments from checking to savings. It's too easy to skip a savings deposit if you do them manually.

4. Revisit spending at least quarterly. Your measures might free up enough cash to increase the amount you save.

References

• University of Maine Cooperative Extension; Save Money, Spend Less: Save Money on Food; Kate Yerxa
• Mississippi State University Extension Service; Manage Money Successfully, Publication 1738; Beverly Howell
• "Bloomberg BusinessWeek"; Let's Get Cheap; Ben Steverman; August 2008
• University of Nebraska--Lincoln Extension Lancaster County; Supermarket Savings: 16 Tips that Total Big Bucks; Alice Henneman; 2011