Last week we got the inspiration to stay the course in our budgets, to adapt them to our changing circumstances. My grandmother, a representative of children of the 1930s Depression, as measured by a litany of reader comments, would simply adapt. In this case, adapt means buy less, downsize, downgrade, etc.
But unlike the children of the Depression, we're not required to adapt.
There are credit cards.
While you might be alert and alarmed to rising prices, if you use a credit card for all your spending it could be two months before you find yourself in a heap of trouble. Credit cards, for all the charm of the rewards they tout, are not helpful at giving feedback in the moment that you are overspending. In fact, they would rather you not know and continue spending.
Then, the double whammy -- finding the money to support the last two months of overspending plus finding a way to make ends meet going forward.
If you have been on the fence about adopting the cash management system I've recommended on several occasions here, this is the time to do it. I will pull out the most helpful piece of the system for rising prices, and that is step 4 -- how to spend what's left after saving for future expenses and paying the bills. Step 4 recommends that you add up your discretionary spending, divide it into weekly amounts, and then fund a separate checking account each Monday that you can spend through the week on groceries, fuel, entertainment, etc.
You might have gotten away with loose parameters for money in the past, like knowing generally the kinds of foods you can eat in the grocery store and how many trips to the gas station are affordable. But if our financial lives were a game of bowling, assume that inflation is greasing the finger holes of the ball and making spending erratic and difficult to control.
A strong cash management system serves as guard rails to keep your ball spinning toward the pin, or keeping the budget on track. When you spend on a weekly, versus monthly, basis, your brain will pick up any problematic spending issues as it veers toward the gutter.
If you are still hung up on credit card points, then you might have to deploy more tedious, line-item budgeting techniques, otherwise this is where I remind you that multiple studies have found that we spend more, like 30%-40% more, when we use a credit card than when we use a debit card or cash.
So how to make the weekly spending deposits last? Consider these temporary spending changes or alternatives:
• Food. It is always such a disappointment when my husband goes to the grocery store for coffee and milk. He comes home with bags filled with coffee and milk. Me? Oh no, I flex my creativity when I need to go to the store for coffee and milk, arriving with bags and bags of wonderfully superfluous items. The antidote for high grocery bills? Meal plan for the week then pull up that online pickup website and buy everything you will need for every meal. This could take a few hours on a Saturday but trust me, this is where the bulk of the savings in your budget can be found. Using a Kroger or Walmart online pickup means one thing -- you stick to your list. Because your list gets brought to your car and loaded into the trunk.
• Beauty and clothes. Paint your own nails and make your own sugar body scrub. If you need to buy deodorant from Target, again, use online pickup. Do not set foot inside the store, lest that $4 deodorant costs $200. When you get home from work hang up your clothes rather than draping them on the chair to reduce the dry-cleaning bill. (Note to self.) Unsubscribe from all clothing and beauty emails to avoid temptation. Pro Tip, I sent in a bag of used clothes to Thredup, a large thrift enterprise, and will get a credit for purchases at lots of different stores. I will report back on that experience.
• Vacation. Folks, plane tickets are about to get insane. Gas is nuts. Explore our state and its incredible beauty. Read The Nature Fix by Florence Williams and get inspired to find some of the most awe-inspiring parks, trails and vistas in our own state.
• Join a local buy nothing group. Need tomato stakes? I promise someone has some that you can come pick up. You can join your local Buy Nothing group on Facebook and watch the magic of needs and excess coming together like magic.
• Kick some expensive habits and get better health for free. Alcohol and tobacco, I am looking at you. Let's be real, reliable internet and bottles of wine got parents through virtual learning in the pandemic, but really -- it's time to slow down for financial sake. Plus, move aside botox, getting alcohol out of a system for even a month can show dramatic improvement to skin. Not to mention, get a better night's sleep and mental clarity. There is a whole genre of publications trying to make the case to moderate and light drinkers to stop called "Quit Lit." Sober Curious by Ruby Warrington is a good one. Plus check out a cool app called Easy Quit that tracks the physical changes your body is undergoing as alcohol works its way out of your system and it tracks how much money you save over time. There are similar multiple apps for smoking.
And if kicking alcohol is not an option, let me pass on a friendly PSA that the tax on that margarita is gonna run nearly 30%. Stick with wine and beer.
And rapid fire:
Cancel those "free" one-month subscriptions you signed up for through apps on your iPhone that now ping your credit card $5.99 every month. Go to settings, click on your profile and then click on subscriptions. In seconds you can cancel all the active ones you aren't using.
Get your oil changed and schedule appointments with your primary care physician and dentist. Folks, regular maintenance is way less expensive than fixing otherwise preventable issues.
Cut your kids' hair and groom your own pet. YouTube, folks. We do it. You can, too.
Make a game out of consuming the contents of your fridge, freezer and pantry. It causes me physical pain to throw food away that is long expired. Spend the next two weeks pulling out frozen veggies and leftovers and making meals of them.
Plan out your driving. When gas was $2 a gallon, we had the luxury to boomerang around the city, but think through your day and how you can simply drive less, if possible.
Use your library. Yes, there are books that I want to own that I buy from my local bookstore, but for audiobooks, kindle and one-time reads, folks use the library! I am shocked at the number of people who do not use this incredible resource that is so convenient. Get yourself a library card, and you will be shocked at the titles available to you. I love reserving popular books that might have a line of holds and then weeks later getting that exciting email that the book is available. It's like Christmas in April.
Finally, and maybe most importantly, slow down. A life in entropy pays penalties for late payments or is driving through fast food windows at 7 p.m. for the family, among many other financial and time management missteps. Time demands are creeping up again, but as a reminder to you and to me, we can actively say no. Didn't we express over and over again that we didn't want to go back to the chaos of our schedules before covid?
Take time this week to get in the driver's seat of your budget and your time. Beat inflation before it beats up your budget. I would love to know what you do to save money in uncertain times. Send me an email with your tips and tricks.
Sarah Catherine Gutierrez is founder, partner and CEO of Aptus Financial in Little Rock. She is also author of the book "But First, Save 10: The One Simple Money Move That Will Change Your Life," published by Et Alia Press. Contact her at sc@aptusfinancial.com.