Tips and tricks. Stories and advices from you

How to manage better money?

I always find myself short by next paycheck

Learn from my mistakes, don’t charge anything on credit. Live within your means.

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All I know is @anon4362788 can make food for a lot of people on a very very tight budget. I wish I knew her secret! I spend $125 per week for a family of 4. That’s the best I can do. I do know that for me, groceries include paper towel and toilet paper, and cleaning supplies including laundry etc.

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First, I pay myself/savings at least $20 a month. Then I make a list of all the expenses I have to pay. Bills, etc. Then I take what’s left and figure out what I need for groceries and other essentials. Whatever is left after that, I have free to spend on fun stuff – for me, it’s things like a pedicure. But I do not overspend any of the categories. And like @Leaf said, don’t buy anything on credit. If you don’t have the money, then you don’t get the thing.

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Keep a budget sheet that is broken down into different sections.
Make different headers depending on what you spend your money on.
(Mine are : beer, food, clothes, games, other.) Every time you spend something put the amount under the header. Then make functions that total each column, and then a function for the grand total. Then subtract that total (spending) from what you earn monthly. Now you will have know how much you have left to spend this month at all times.
This was its really easy to see where your money is going and how close you are to going over etc. Its hard to go on spending sprees when you know you only have a little bit left etc.

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Well, I just buy the cheapest of everything. When I have extra money I buy bulk stuff.

Rice goes with almost everything and can be dressed up.

Meal plan. Come up with 7 meals you like and buy enough to make each 4 times that month. Or 5 meals and two “scavenge” days. Weekends are good for snacking meals.

Base meals off sales. Check all your grocery store flyers for good sales.

Go to several stores. Some will have cheap meat, cheap and good veggies, fruits, staples, etc. Aldi is best for baking goods.

Walmart has a LOT of the best deals I’ve ever seen on foods. If you have a super Walmart, use it.

Large cuts of meat you can cut into smaller portions is the most cost effective way to get meat.

Cheaper is not better of the food has rotten spots, is spiny, or otherwise bad. Mold on just one Berry can ruin the whole pack. Check over everything and avoid stores that constantly have bad items. Throwing out food is worse than spending more on good food.

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When I was the family cook my secret was soups, rice and Indian dishes. Once you’ve got the spices and ingredients it’s really easy to churn out healthy, tasty and inexpensive meals.

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I just try and buy only what I really need… I try…

Also to get shop brand where it’s OK to.

And to really look after my stuff

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Wow this is great
I figure I track my spending and see where most of the money go then organize them

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You can use google sheets for free which can perform those functions. Very simple to do once you do it a couple of times.

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I have a Huawei phone șo I use some financial tracker

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