When you get serious about your financial success consider the 15 tips on money saving below. Financial success isn’t just going to come knock on your door and ask to be let it. It’s something that takes a careful plan. Often people are caught up in their own trivial pursuits and simply don’t have a chance to make a plan. They may not even know where to start. To make matters worse, it’s harder than ever. If you plan according to generational wisdom you are sure to come up short. Times have changed and and some of that wisdom is just plain out date and possibly counter productive.

1. Money Saving Tips for your Family Situation

We are all part of a family. The family dynamic will dramatically change your approach to financial planning. This includes weather or not you are married and even how many kids you have. Tips on money saving are often overlooked in this area. You know your situation better than anyone else but try these steps to make sure you are really prepared for life.

• Limit the number of kids you have. Kids are expensive and they keep costing money. People think their kids are “done” at 18, but that is short sited. They will likely need your time and money into their early 20’s. The best way to manage this is to keep you family small. If this is tough advice to swallow just remember the more you have the less time you have for them individually.

• Decide if you really want to marry. Marriage can bring you stability and is a federally recognized buddy system, but it can end badly. Keep in mind , people change over time and often in unpredictable ways.
• If you do marry, learn what you are getting into. This is one of the biggest decisions in your life and people rarely receive any guidance on it. Most states will tell you that you need two lawyers for a postnup, two lawyers for a prenup; but to marry … to legal advice is required.

2. Budget and Save your Money

One of the best tips on money saving is a budget. This seems kind of obvious but it’s something people think they are doing but in reality they are not really taking any action . It is all about income and expenditure. The nuance that trips people up is that there is rarely homogeneity in those in spending and income. Some months you might get a bonus, but sometimes you might need to buy a water heater. It’s important that you have a broad plan where you can actively see growth. If your budget only exists in your head trying taking some action with the steps below.

• Try the Finger Print Budget Technique.
• Get a solid idea of your income and spending, but do it over a broad time frame. The easiest case is to look at a whole year. If you can budget for the year with a surplus then you will have a solid idea how much you can make in two or three years. This will give you the momentum you need to keep going.
• Plan for the odd ball year events. You know that some months are going to make you pay property tax. Maybe you will need to pay for yard upkeep in the fall with seeding your yard or heavy watering in the summer. Not all surprises are bad though. If you get a Christmas bonus in December or January don’t for get to include that too.
• Constantly try to improve your budget. The essential characteristic of a successful budget is a a regular surplus. Try to build on that surplus and improve it.

3. Money saving tips for your kids transition to adulthood

Your kids won’t just magically grow up and move out. It’s going to take financial planning on your part and some determination on their part. People grimace at the thought of the expense of college, but paying for you wayward kid into perpetuity will cost way more. As they age you need to make an honest assessment of their strengths and help them grow towards independence.

• Financially plan for their early adulthood. Part of this might be money for college but another part might just be money for a car when they graduate. If you think about these things now it will be easier to pay for them now than in the future
• Give real relationship advice. This assumes you have some advice to give. Even if you own personal life is littered with mistakes you can help them a lot by discussing your mistakes .
• Don’t sacrifice yourself for them. The often lamented quote is that your kids can take out college loans but you can’t take out a loan for retirement.

4. Get a Side Hustle

A side hustle has had many names over the years. It’s been called moonlighting or an evening job. With the current landscape of the American economy a side hustle is almost a requirement at this point. The income from you side hustle might buy the things to make your life extra sweet and fulfilling or it might just be that emergency fund when the ship hits the rocks.

• Find a side hustle that is worth your time. Lots of naive websites will tell you to make a few pennies filling out online surveys. It’s true that will make you some money, but you want something that will be worth your time. Ideally you are looking for about $1k/month disposable income. You can easily make this driving Uber or teaching a class at a college. It just depends on your background.
• The internet has made a side hustle easier than ever. All magic has it price but if you can make money in your spare time from home you are well on your way to financial freedom. You can get a telework job from something like indeed.com or even start your own company.
• Use the extra income wisely. You are working extra hard to make this money so use it wisely. Don’t blow it on a car or fancy shoes that will just wear out.
• As Money Mage says, a Side Hustle doesn’t have to be a blog, dropshipping or ebooks. You can start a good old manual labor job weekends or evenings, like garden care, painting and decorating, or dog walking.

5. Money Saving Tips on Geography

This is all about your house and where you physically live. Owning a home is the American dream but it takes money to keep it up and real estate taxes are another drain. You should weigh the pros and cons before you buy a house because you’ll want to make sure it’s geographically located where you can make your best paycheck.

• If you own a home you can expect it to cost roughly 2% of its value in upkeep per year. This often gets over looked. Don’t forget you will probably need a new roof, HVAC or fence.
• Owing a home ties you to a geographic region. Your big break might be a new job in a different state, but if you are tied to you house it can be a real barrier.
• A house is not the simple answer. During your lifetime you might live in a house or apartment. You should think about the trajectory of your living situation over time. It will likely change.

6. Have an Appropriate Amount of Insurance

Most people have insurance. In some states it’s required by law for various things like buying a house or driving a car. The overlooked details are money saving tips for life insurance and umbrella insurance.

• Many people do have life insurance. The real problem is they have nowhere near enough. I have seen many times people have a job where “life insurance” is a one of the benefits and it has a maximum of $300000. That sounds like a lot but if you died young it is likely not anywhere close to the amount that you will need. You probably do have car insurance so do yourself a favor and get a million dollars of life insurance while you are at it. You are supposed to have 14 times your annual salary. Do you have it ?
• Umbrella insurance is the number one type of insurance people simply don’t have. This protects against offbeat things that could financially ruin you. If a storm blows over your tree and it kills your neighbors kid. This type of insurance will have you covered. The nice side effect to this is it is dirt cheap. Millions of dollars of coverage will only cost a few bucks a month.

7. Have an Emergency Fund

An often cited statistic is that 60% of Americans don’t have even $1000 for an emergency. The number one reason for this is wasteful spending. It’s really not about income because we all know it’s not what you make it’s what you save.

• Think in terms of self insurance. Self insurance means that you save money in case of specific type of loss. This is more powerful than traditional insurance because there is not some nasty underwriter who can deny your claim at the end. Start saving for your emergency fund like it’s an insurance premium and when things go wrong you can pay your own claim.
• Saving money becomes easier when you start to put a purpose behind each dollar. If you know money is for emergencies it will psychologically help you do what is necessary to save.
• Emergencies will happen. Covid19 is an example of a systemic crisis. However, you can have personal crisis like loss of a job, unpredictable medical problems or a flooded basement.

8. Stay on Track

I have given you several good ideas here and hopefully you are inspired by at least some of them. If you observe people, you will inevitably see they have a problem staying on track and need to constantly recommit to their goals to make progress. You should develop an infrastructure for that.

• Make some goals and write them down.
• In the morning, decide what actions you will take to make the goals more of a reality.
• Don’t drive yourself nuts. Sometimes you will need a break from all this planning. Focus on some things that bring you joy and put some time into them.

9. Get Wisdom from Trusted Source

Most people get their financial advice from their parents. I can understand this, but unless your parents are financial professionals I think you can see the problem you are going to have down the road. When you have a problem start looking to a trusted professional for advice.

• If you have a medical problem, stop internet searching for an answer. Go to a doctor.
• If you have a legal problem. Don’t ask your friends what they think. Find a lawyer, pay his consultation fee, and let him develop a strategy for you.
• Realize that just because someone is your friend or you like them does not make them an authority on a specific issue.

10. Get your Estate Planned

Having your estate planned is a serious step towards wealth preservation. It’s true you can’t take it with but you can see to it that you money is used in a way that would really want. Make sure you get a living trust rather than a will to avoid the costly probate process. To get this done take the following steps.

• Get an estate attorney. This isn’t hard or time consuming.
• They will likely you have fill out paper working outlining your wishes
• You will have one final meeting with the lawyer to sign the papers. Do yourself a favor and bring your own witnesses. They might charge you just for having signed witnesses.

11. Plan for Retirement Outside of your Companies plan

In I978 the US congress passed the revenue act which included section 401k and provided a tax deferred way for employers to save for their employees retirements. It’s been 40 years since then and we are just now starting to see the consequences. It turns out it’s not really enough. Fortunately there are few ways to make up the difference.

• Open an IRA. This is a way to save more than the 401k limit and have more selection of what you can invest it.
• Roll over any old 401k from a company that you quit. This will extend your investment options and remove your companies control over the accounts.
• Learn how to invest your money in basic low fee index funds. There is some mechanics to this but it doesn’t take much to get started. The key point is to invest long term and not get emotional about it

12. Money Saving Tips for Yourself

It’s very hard to succeed when you are just doing what everyone else is doing. Just by reading this you are already starting this process. Most people take financial advice from their relatives or base it on what is taught in school. When you start thinking about financial success your brain will come up with answers for how you can succeed. Try thinking about these things.

• Find two ways that you can make more money, even if it’s a small amount that seems insignificant.
• Get inspired. Find some youtube videos of people talking about money and success. Translate that into thinking about what you really want.
• Spend less time trying to be entertained and more time trying to learn useful things.
• Part of thinking for yourself is becoming financially literate.

13. Don’t Waste Time on Worrying

A famous quote by Charles Swindol is , “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”. We are trying to control every part of our lives. If you are wise enough to know some things are out of your control then you are ahead of most people. You can apply this to life generally, or your financial life specifically. It’s really a psychology hack.

• Remember that worrying won’t accomplish anything
• Remember that self doubt and depression are normal. Stay inspired
• Everyone has problems. Try to only focus on a few at a time.

14. Stay Committed

It’s easy to feel motivated and get started toward a goal but give up on it little by little. Giving in to complacency will land you right back where you were when you started.

• Write your financial goals down.
• Every time you edit or update them, mentally consider what is the next logical step to making progress on them.
• Celebrate your accomplishments. Take time to feel good about completing your goals.

15. Stay Positive

Staying positive takes effort. Your brain is wired like a wild animal to always feel like you are under attack. It takes effort to find calmness in your mind.

• Try a mindfulness app like calm or headspace.
• Do some gentle exercise before bed. Just doing some stretches can ease your tension considerably and clear your mind.

Which Money Saving Tips will you do?

I can tell you what most people will do. Nothing! They will read this and think, “some good points, but who has time for all that?” Pick the most applicable one for your life situation and let me know how it goes in the comments below. Don’t forget to hit the Twitter share button below. You can do it!