You’ve heard it all before: 

“If you want to save money, you need to stop overspending, create a meal plan, and put all extra money into an emergency fund or savings account!” 

But the truth is, good money management is more than just cutting out impulse buys at the grocery store or sticking to a monthly budget.

Continue reading to discover creative things to add to your financial plan that goes beyond the envelope system — and how Accrue Savings can help you set aside more money for the things you want or need.

Financial spreadsheets are so 2010. If you aren’t using the latest tech to manage your family budget, you’re missing out. Apps like Mint, Goodbudget, and EveryDollar can pair with your bank account to automatically track your spending habits and give you a better idea of where your money is really going.

You might be surprised at how much money you’re spending on things like eating out, convenience store snacks, and small purchases you don’t really need. This all adds up, and before long, what seems like just a quick stop by the coffee shop here and there ends up being hundreds of dollars over time.

Budgeting apps can help you track these little expenses and will categorize them for you, so you can maintain visibility into your finances and quickly see what you’re spending where. Depending on which program you use, you can get a snapshot of how much money you have to spend in which categories, so you’re never going outside of your budget to cover an expense.

A “spending file” is a collection of screenshots, links, and other files of things you want or need to buy in the future. It can be a paper file or on the cloud so anyone in your family can access it. 

This strategy is a good way of bookmarking what you plan to purchase without making an impulse buy as soon as you decide there’s something you need or want. It delays gratification and makes going outside your budget more difficult.

A spending file lets you think about a purchase before making it and decide if you really want to spend your money on it, or if you’re buying from the most affordable place. It gives you some time between the emotional high of finding a great item and swiping your credit card, so you’re not making important financial decisions based on how you feel when you see something you need or want.

You don’t always have to go without to save money. Most grocery stores restock their shelves during the middle of the week and have more sales to drum up business when it’s slower. If you can, avoid shopping on the weekends when most people are out — the prices will be at their peak on Saturday and Sunday, so the store makes as much money as possible from the increased traffic.

Your local store may run sales on Tuesdays or Thursdays, so be sure to check which is the best day to go in. If you shop at more than one place, note what day each store has the lowest prices and go on those days. This lets you trim your grocery budget without sacrificing buying the things you need.

A good money management strategy you can try is the 50/30/20 rule. It’s easy — for every paycheck you get, you’ll spend 50% of your net (take home) income on things you need, 30% on things you want, and 20% on debt and savings.

Start by categorizing your monthly expenses and deciding which of the three “buckets” they belong to. For example, housing, utilities, transportation, food, childcare, and health insurance, would all be considered needs.

“Wants” are things like entertainment, streaming services, magazine subscriptions, vacations, eating out, gifts, and luxury items. Put these in order of most to least important and allocate 30% of your net pay to this bucket. That way, if the things you want cost more than 30%, you’ll get the most important things first. You may want to adjust the priority order of things in this category frequently since your wants are bound to change over time.

Then, the last 20% of your income should go towards paying off debt and putting money back for savings. You’ll need to allocate how much goes toward debt and how much you save — depending on how quickly you want to get rid of your debt and how much wealth you need to build. You can also set up automatic transfers so your savings immediately gets funneled away from your checking so you’re not tempted to spend it.

If you want to save as much as possible, you can pay the minimum balances on what you owe and put the rest back. If you’d rather rapidly reduce your debt, you can pause saving for anything besides the essentials. Then, you can put the remainder of your 20% toward credit cards, student loans, and other financial obligations you have. This is a good strategy if you’re paying high interest rates, so you don’t have to spend a large amount of money on fees.

You’ve probably heard that one of the first things you should do when creating a budgeting system is that you should cut up your credit cards and use only cash or your debit card to make purchases. The goal is to prevent you from spending money that you don’t have and that you’ll need to pay back later.

But this can actually hurt you in the long run by lowering your credit score.

Instead, you should aim to use credit cards wisely. Financial experts recommend staying under 30% of your total credit limit and only using the card for things you need, like groceries or new clothes. Make sure that you don’t miss any payments — in fact, you may even want to pay back what you spent right away so you don’t forget.

Remember that you shouldn’t use your credit cards for things you want but don’t need or to help you make extravagant purchases you otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford. Save them for emergencies and use them to build a good credit score, making it easier to get approved for things like a home loan or a new car.

Budgeting when you have an irregular income can be especially difficult. There may be bills you have to pay or expenses you need to cover while you’re in between paychecks, and you may not even be certain when your next payment will come or how much it will be.

A good solution is to create a cushion fund that you can draw out of to cover your needs before you get paid, which you can then pay back when your money comes in. The trick with this money management strategy is to be diligent about tracking what comes out of the fund and making sure you put exactly that much back in — or more. If you spend your cushion fund and don’t replace the money, you won’t have a fund to use anymore.

A cushion fund differs from an emergency fund because it’s designed to be used more frequently for regular expenses. For example, if your car breaks down or you get sick and are out of work for a week, you’ll want to dip into your emergency savings. If your paycheck is due to come in the morning, but you need groceries tonight, you should use your cushion fund.

When making big purchases for your home or holiday gifts, you’ll want to shop around to get the best price possible. When you know what you want and are ready to buy, the next step is to see how much money you can save with different brands, suppliers, or vendors.

Look for deals that drastically slash the upfront price of an item or for cash-back incentives and rebates from manufacturers that reimburse some of your money on the back end. Some brands offer rewards for shopping with them regularly or spending a certain amount of money in their stores. By combining these tips, you can save a lot on things like furniture, jewelry, fitness equipment, and so much more.

How to meet your savings goals with Accrue Savings

Budgeting can be challenging, but achieving your savings goals and experiencing the financial freedom to meet your needs, pay for your wants, and save for the future is well worth it. 

With Accrue Savings, you can get cash from your favorite brands just for saving for the items you need. Your money is stored in an FDIC-insured account, and the more you save, the more free money you can earn toward your purchase. And if you need to take your money out early, there’s no penalty.

Check out our ever-growing list of partners to see how Accrue Savings can make it easy and fun to save for large purchases without using a credit card.  Plus, you’ll get up to 20% toward future purchases.

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