How To Save Money When You Have None

I’m broke.

I know that’s not a particularly unique characteristic of a 22 year old, but it’s true. I’m broke, and you probably are too. Unless you’re not. In that case congrats! But also, bye. 

Back to my fellow poor twenty somethings, I think we're stuck for the time being. According to a quick google search 37% of us are college graduates, which means that 3/4 of us have student loan debt and are likely working low income positions. And even if you don't owe the government thousands of dollars for a piece of paper, you probably haven't worked long enough to be super financially stable.

The bad news is that I don’t have an answer to the larger systemic issues at hand. But what I do have, is two whole decades of knowledge from the budget queen herself...my mother. 

I know everyone thinks their mom is the best, but I promise you mines actually the best at stretching a dollar. She literally taught me how to use scissors by making me cut out coupons from grocery ads. On Saturday mornings little ol me would sit down with my kiddy scissors and scour through catalogues with my mom. Usually she'd mark the things we needed with a red pen but part of the fun was finding my own hidden deals, then explaining why 2 for 1 Febreze was more valuable than 40c off Ajax. She'd let my budgeting brain run wild for the most part. The only rule was: Cut. on. the. dotted. lines. As she'd say, "mess that up and we're loose free money."

Anyways, my point is that I know a deal when I see one. Here are my favorite budgeting tips!

1. Couponing.
Ok yeah, duh, I know. We literally just talked about this with the whole kiddy scissors anecdote, but couponing is not just a fad from the early 2000s. Digital coupons exist and they are magic. I highly recommend downloading web extensions like honey and looking up web-codes on retail me not to save. There's truly no reason to pay full price if you don't have to!!

2. Buy Travel Sized Items.
This only really works with makeup/skincare, but if there's a mini version of a product you should buy that one. They're always cheaper and the perfect way to remain a noncommittal bachelor in the world of beauty. Plus, it hurts less if you lose them. So try everything, but buy small! More is, in fact, more - just make it less.

3. Study Your Local Markets.
Knowing the price differences between grocery stores is the key to eating well on a budget. I suggest taking a stroll through your local bodegas, markets, and grocery chains to hunt down the best prices for your weekly list. For example I prefer buying my dairy, eggs, and veggies from Trader Joes but shop locally for meat and fish.

4. Try Eventbrite to find free things to do.
One of my biggest gripes with New York is the surplus of cover fees. My apartment recently paid $10 a person to play uno in a board-game cafe. A public cafe. Complete nonsense. It was one of those situations where it felt awkward to leave, so we didn't, but there are so many free alternatives!! Websites like Eventbrite make it easy to find new things to do that cost ~nothing~, and for that they have my heart.

5. Treat your pregames seriously. 
I love going out but I hate buying drinks. Luckily this very tragic, first world, issue is also super fixable. Drink at home!! Utilize all that get ready-time and pre event chatter to (safely) fill up so you don't end the night with an absurd tab.

6. Use Auto Save!!

This is something I have yet to do, but my mom keeps telling me I should. Personally, I like to divvy up my paycheck into three categories: spending, savings, and rent/apartment expenses. This always sounds great in my head, but I rarely save as much as I hoped by the end of the month. Turns out the bank can do the hard work for you, so check for autosave features!! Doing less and getting more is always a good idea. Thanks mom :)