Tips for budgetting

The speaker is passionate about teaching people how to budget. They suggest starting by tracking monthly expenses, such as groceries, rent, eating out, and purchases. They personally pay rent in advance to limit spending. They use a spreadsheet to track expenses for rent, groceries, going out, and spending. They have a budget of $60 for groceries in November and $100 per month when they are present full-time. They recommend making a list when grocery shopping and shopping at cheaper stores like ALDI. They also mention using rewards apps for eating out, such as McDonald's, Dunkin, Starbucks, Domino's, and Taco Bell. They mention getting free food through promotions. They set a spending budget of $40 or $100 per month depending on the situation. They save money on gas by getting it from Costco and using a QuickTrip rewards app. They use their credit card for groceries and gas, promptly paying off the balance to build credit. They have two jobs and a summer job to afford their Something that I am passionate about is learning, is teaching people how to budget. So first you want to start off with tracking how much you spend in a typical month. Whether that be on groceries, rent, going out to eat, and purchasing things. Personally I am a spender so I do really try to manage my money nicely. So first you want to set out money for rent. Typically I pay my rent 2-3 months at a time just so I don't feel the need to spend that money that is sitting in my account. With that limits spending money and using it for things other than rent. So to track all my spending I use a spreadsheet. I have an area for rent, one for groceries, one for going out, one for spending. So roughly my rent is $6.25 a month so I set out that every month for the future. Then for groceries it depends on what the month is, what my situation is looking like, etc. So for the month of November I gave myself a $60 budget because I will be gone for a week and a half in the middle of the month. Then you want to look at other months where you are here full time. When I am here full time I roughly give myself a $100 budget a month on things that I need including proteins, dairy, carbs, all that. And I always walk in with a list. Having a list when you walk in limits the amount of money that you are going to spend. Also I have made the decision to go to ALDI mainly to purchase groceries because it is cheaper. But when I want to buy protein in bulk I go to Costco because it is a good deal. It is hard for people to get a membership at Costco because they don't want to pay that annual fee. But if you look at it in a 12 month period the $60 a year which is what I have. You break that up by the 12 months that is $5 a month you set aside. Another way that I try to save money is going out to eat. I have decided to use a lot of rewards apps that really help. Like McDonalds, Dunkin, Starbucks, even Domino's, Taco Bell. Anything that you prefer there is a rewards app. The amount of times you go and you spend money you get something back. So I typically eat at McDonalds on Friday nights with my friends because it is free fry Friday. So it is free fries with a dollar purchase so I get my drink with that. Then with the points that I receive from using that combo I get myself a free McChicken. So I have a whole meal for $1.66. Another way that I try and watch how much I am spending is I give myself a $40 spending budget depending on the month. Obviously with the holidays coming up I do have a higher budget of $100 a month to spend. Because that is reasonable for myself and in the spring I won't be spending as much money because I won't be buying any gifts. Another thing that I really look out for is gas and obviously the gas prices are dropping right now. So I typically like to get my gas from Costco because it is discounted. With QuickTrip they have a QuickTrip rewards app where after how many trips you get a blank reward and I made my reward $.05 off a gallon. Just like it is a little bit but you are still saving $.05. And then lastly the things that matter when it comes to budgeting is using your credit card and building your credit. So typically I use my credit card for groceries and gas. And as soon as that payment goes through on my app I pay it off. So I am building credit while maintaining a budget on a spreadsheet and living college nicely. And having two jobs to afford everything and a great summer job during the summer so I don't worry about my finances during the school year. So that is my basic tips on budgeting.