3 Non-budgeting tips that save you money

 

Budgeting is a tough undertaking. Here are three tips that only vaguely have something to do with money but will help you save or pay off debt more effectively, whether you are updating your budget as much as you should be or not.

1. Organize your electronic documents: As more and more of our life is going electronic, it's becoming more and more important to have well organized documents in your computer. That electronic files take up less space in your home than physical files doesn't mean they are any less significant or any less important to sort in a way that makes sense. Taking an hour to organize your computer folders can really help make it easier to find things. If you set up budget ledgers or save documents to one place, it will be a lot easier to go back and find them, or keep using them later. Each person will organize files differently, but I find that I want to create a subfolder if I have more than a dozen or so documents in a file, whether it be by location, vendor, account, or by time period.

2. Set recurring calendar events: If you have a smart phone and you haven't already, start looking at your Google Calendar, Outlook calendar, or any other online calendar attached to your e-mail client. Most major e-mail providers do offer this service, and it can be indispensable. Even if you don't have a smart phone, you can still use these calendars, and they can prove very useful. That's especially true for things that happen monthly, like (ahem) bills. Setting a reminder to pay your bills for the fourth Sunday of every month, or every other Friday (on your payday) can give you that friendly reminder that can save you money on late fees. If you can train yourself to do it this way, you may find that you don't need the event reminder anymore. Still, it's better to start off having it and not needing it than the other way around, right?

 

3. Shop with a menu in mind: I have tried shopping with lists and with menus. I have discovered that menus make my life easier. Simply put, take breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Sunday through Saturday, and figure out what you're going to make. Once that is complete, you simply have to figure out what ingredients you're going to need. This helps me not only ensure I have all my ingredients, but it also limits the choices I'm forced to make during the week. I find that, too frequently, when I have to choose what I'm eating for dinner the day of, it adds stress to my day and I resort to take-out. Not only is that expensive, but it's also frequently unhealthy. A bonus: I am much less likely to waste when I'm planning a menu. If I know one recipe calls for potatoes, I may include another recipe with potatoes on another day, and make sure I have those ingredients too.

What tips do you have? Care to add additional detail or offer a different point of view? I'm all ears!