budget tips Archives - Fine-Tuned Finances

In this day and age, many Americans are cutting corners wherever they can to improve their finances. For some, whittling down their grocery bill is the easiest solution to make ends meet. Sometimes, careful meal planning and making specific lifestyle choices can help you eat healthier and smarter without resorting to “struggle meals” or unhealthy fast food. If you want to improve your diet and your finances at the same time, you should follow our tips for eating better on a budget. While this list isn’t exhaustive, it’s a great place to start if you have no idea what to do first.

Limit Take Out and Delivery

With food delivery options at our fingertips or in our pockets on our mobile devices, it can be more tempting than ever to order food instead of cooking meals at home. When you come home from a long day at work, the last thing you might want to do is fire up the stove or chop vegetables. With food delivery apps, it may seem like a great idea to order food. After all, these apps may offer health options that look too complicated to cook on your own. In the short term, delivery apps are perfect for getting dinner on the table in a pinch. When you find yourself turning to them every weeknight, though, they can become a slippery slope that takes your health and your funds down with them.

On a busy evening, delivery apps seem like a godsend. When you look at your bank account or credit card later, this idea might lose its luster. If you’re struggling with eating out too much, you’re not alone. A survey of Americans indicated that 48% of those surveyed use Postmates, Uber Eats, Grubhub, or DoorDash for takeout. While takeout can be a convenient treat occasionally, regularly indulging in it will break the bank. Between tips and delivery fees, you’ll pay even more for your takeout if you get it through an app. Packing a lunch from home or practicing meal prep can make it so you always have food when you need it without relying on an app.

Meet Daily Intake Requirements

If you’re eating on a budget, you may want to go to extremes and only eat limited quantities of cheap foods. With any diet, you need balance to meet your nutritional needs. Vital vitamins like B12 should be incorporated into your diet. As Harvard University explains, the body requires vitamin B12 to manufacture red blood cells and ensure that the brain functions properly. Taking a multivitamin or discussing potential vitamin deficiencies with your healthcare professionals can help you meet these daily nutritional goals.

Eat a Variety of Healthy Foods

As Human Kinetics shares, the three fuel sources for the human body are protein, fat, and carbohydrates. You need a balance of these three fuel sources to keep your body functioning healthily. When you’re eating on a budget, it’s especially important to create variety in your diet. While cheap items like cereal or chips may be budget-friendly, they won’t give your body all of the energy and nutrients it requires. When you make an effort to budget for protein, carbs, and fat sources, your body will thank you. If you stay in line with your budget, your bank account will thank you, as well.

Although it’s wise to stick to a budget for food, you don’t have to sacrifice health or variety when you tighten the purse strings. Simply developing new healthy habits and opting for more cost-effective food choices can improve your financial and physical health. If you have a hard time limiting your spending on food, making a plan to get better is the best place to begin. Once you have a solid plan in place, you can make choices over time that are wallet-friendly and great for your well-being.

Expenses always come in ways you might not expect, but for some, it can be due to neglect or ignorance. However, there are ways in which you can mitigate some of these extra expenses that may come up for one reason or another. The best way to deal with unexpected financial hardships is by preparing beforehand. Here’s a list of how you can budget your finances to avoid additional costs:

Performing Maintenance on Your Car

If you’re a car owner, regular maintenance should be on your list. On average, approximately $356 is spent on car repairs each year. Regular repairs help you identify minor issues before they become bigger and more expensive emergencies. A regular oil change could protect your car’s engine from damage, while a routine checkup can flag and address issues such as faulty brakes, car suspension, or tires. This will save you repair costs down the line.

Proper car maintenance keeps your car in mint condition, allowing it to perform to its optimal level easily and last longer. Following the manufacturer’s recommendations and sticking to a maintenance schedule means vital parts of your car receive service at irregular intervals. This reduces the risk of wear and tear and breakdowns that could necessitate a new vehicle altogether.

Caring for the Elderly at Home

Many older adults are joining the nursing home, increasing accommodation costs in these institutions. According to Porzio Planning, a simple semi-private room in New Jersey costs approximately $11,000 monthly. This could easily be mitigated by a desire to care for your elderly parents at home, which is less expensive. Home care is much cheaper than nursing homes. You could redirect the funds saved to something else, like education for your children.

Doing Your Home Renovations

House renovations may be costly, and finances may be limited. Hence, you may easily opt to renovate your home to save money. Renovation projects include painting the house, building a new deck, or building a porch. Modernize explains that people spend $5,200 to $12,085 on roof replacement. While this may be expensive, doing it yourself will save you labor and material costs. Nevertheless, you better know what you’re doing since roofing is a precision skill that requires observing safety to avoid accidents.

Track Your Spending

Regarding finances and spending, track where your money is coming from and going. Tracking helps you establish where you’re leaking. Once you know where you’re losing money, identify ways of sealing the leaks and stop losing money. Start saving and avoid unnecessary, unbudgeted expenses.

Look at your previous spending to understand your spending habits and avoid unnecessary expenses. Bank statements, various financial management tools, and receipts may help you accurately track your income and expenditure so you can track future expenses accurately. To save money, budget for unavoidable expenses like death or sickness. Treat unavoidable expenses the same way you treat other debts and savings, as non-negotiables.

Trim Your Expenses

After creating an operational budget, look where you’re hemorrhaging money and plug the leak. Look at your budget and trim what’s not necessary. After tracking, trimming is the next logical step. Allocate trimmed funds to unavoidable expenses and remember to save for a rainy day. Cut back on unnecessary expenditures, but don’t compromise your daily needs. Adjust your expenditure on eating out, entertainment, and even partying. These things are good to do but aren’t a priority.

Set Up An Emergency Fund

Have a rainy-day account you can use in an emergency without touching your savings. Save roughly three to four months of expenses in a different savings account to avoid using the money so that you can manage emergencies better. The best way to deal with an emergency, especially as most emergencies are unexpected surprises, is by being well-prepared beforehand.

Review Your Budget and Adjust

Always review your budget and ensure it aligns with your financial goals and targets based on your current position in life. One could get a new job or fall ill, so adjusting to current realities is critical. To effectively manage a budget, be intentional. Set aside funds for unavoidable expenses without affecting your financial stability. By doing everything within your power to cement your budget beforehand, you’ll be able to overcome whatever financial challenges arise.

How to Eat Healthier and Smarter on a Budget