Hmm. I'm not sure of any crazy tips, and not sure how your area is, but there are a few things I do. One is I tend to buy the cheaper store brand food instead of larger brands. Some things they won't get right and the big name brand is better, but usually you can't tell the difference.

Also, this is kind of a weird one, but I leave my card at home when I'm not planning to shop, so even if I get like a spur-of-the-moment desire to get something, I can't. For digital storefronts, I just try not to even log in if I don't want to spend anything. It's not easy though, I admit.

Another thing I recommend is put some money into a savings account or some place that's not to be touched until an emergency or similar. I'm no big shot financial advisor or anything but that's how I've been handling things. I don't know, I hope it helps some.

I definitely have a "get what you pay for" mind set that leans me towards the large brands, but I may have to unlearn that.

Leaving my card at home sounds scary, to be honest. Although maybe not if I have an amount of emergency cash in my wallet?

And yes, I definitely need another account or two for sorting money. Thanks for your tips!

1. Always plan your meals ahead by the meat you purchase that is on sale. Aim for large meals that make for easy leftovers.
2. Look to recapture as much as you can from taxes. Some examples in my country is stuff like like reporting how much of your office you use for work that can be written off, or all your medical bills can be reported.
3. Pirate your entertainment. Play free fangames.

Best off the top of my head. Other stuff is more along like "Invest in $GME" that is more a long term gamble (And honestly at this point is simply me costing some of the worst people in the world, Hedgefund investors, to constantly bleed money every month because they fucked up)

Cooking for leftovers is a skill I need to learn ASAP. Would probably cut down on my power bill in the long-run, too.

I always wonder how much I could actually write off on taxes. Like, could I write off some of my gasoline? Not all of it, just the gas it takes me to get there.

And thankfully I don't spend a lot on entertainment. Mostly YouTube for me.

Might be a while before I try gambling with my money like that, I'm afraid. Super appreciate your tips, though!

Well, In Canada you can write off gas used for work as part of a business expense if you are either self-employed or use your own vehicle for your job. Unsure about other countries, but it's possible since there is a lot I found upon working at a tax firm and my own college courses in regards to these kinds of saving.

Hell, I watched someone get back $3000 for a trip to germany for spinal surgery since you can deduct travel and hotel costs.

Well, this is what I did when I got my finances under control, so hopefully it will help you.

* Track everything. This could be with an online service, or a money program, or just by hand. But you should be able to account for everything you spend on your cards or online.

* In addition, for a few months keep a notebook with you (or use your phone), and for a month or two track all your spending and what you spent it on. Cash, card, all of it. It will help find the money sinks you didn't even know about. It will also make it easier to work out what your spending money on.

* Using this, you can make a budget of all your spending, as well as your income and monthly bills. This is the sort of thing a spread sheet was made for.

* Work out how much you want to spend each month on things like dining out, entertainment and the like, and make them line items in your budget. Work to keep yourself within those limits every month. This will probably reduce some things like how much you go out to eat, but that's not a bad thing.

* Auto pay on bills is a blessing and a curse. It will help make sure everything is paid on time, and makes it really easy to budge for those bills, but it also means prices could go up without you noticing right away.

* Setup a monthly automatic transfer into your savings account. It could be as low as $10 a month, but once it's up and running, it means here will always be some increase in savings. You can put more in of course, but always have something automatically going in. Treat it just like a bill.


* Decide on your spending cash per a paycheck, and take it out as cash. This can be used on whatever you want, just remember if you don't have the cash for it, you can't get it.

* It's okay to go over now and then, just don't make a habit of it (Or if you do, adjust your budget to compensate).

* Any extra cash in your budget, split between savings and whatever you want to spend it on. This can be a flexible split.

* Try to keep enough money in your checking account to pay your largest monthly bill (which will usually be for housing, so if it's to big, half should be fine) at all times. This will give you a reasonably comfortable buffer so you don't have to stress.

* Saving goals can help balance your spending and give you a reason to save. This can be a con, a vacation, or just something you want for fun.

* Your allowed to have fun with your money! Never forget that.

This is more for the USA, and I'm not sure where your at.

* Adjust your W4 depending on how well you can save small amounts of money. If it's easy for you, adjust your withholding so you pay exactly the right amount of taxes. You won't get a tax return, but you'll get everything every month. If your like me and find that harder to do, you can set your withholdings to 0. This will mean you get less a paycheck, and are giving the gov a loan, but you'll get a large tax return, and for me that's easier to save.

* If your employer offers a 401k match, take it. It will get you a little less every paycheck, but it's free money for your retirement.

Thank you so much for all the advice! I'll be starting to track my purchases and have already spotted a few things I could probably figure out how to do smarter.

I've been a bit leery on auto-pay, but with another account having automatic transfers based on budget, it will probably make my life easier.

I think the making sure my spending is done with cash will be the biggest thing to keep me conscious of how I use my money. Especially by keeping me off online ordering. It'll also keep me going to the bank so I can deposit the extra cash if I have it at the end of the month.

And I should probably find a way to have actual fun with my money. I typically do a bunch of impulse buys instead of having one big goal. I'll need to think of something I really, REALLY want to start saving for.

Savings and a number of other accounts will hopefully make this all run smoothly. Especially for retirement. I will need to ask my employer about their 401k match policy.

Thank you again!