I'm literally crunching numbers most of the time, but somehow when it comes to my own life, it seems so hard to deal with any numbers. I've been doing pretty poorly in my finances for a couple of years and now I've completely fallen off the wagon. I'm here looking for some help... how do you prioritize saving for big purchases, like a car or a house when you have all the other expenses that eat up your income? I could genuinely use some tips (small and big) on feeling more secure with my money.

You and the rest of us. I've gotten better though. Have a separate savings account specifically for those goals. Even if you can only set aside a small amount each month, it adds up over time. Also, consider cutting back on non-essential expenses, even a little savings can really help boost your savings fund!

I honestly only really started saving when I moved in with my fiance and started sharing expenses on top of a work promo/raise. It’s tough out here

It’s not easy

I will say try to have no spend days or hec even no spend Monday - Friday

Try a limited spend month

Like you’re challenging yourself

I got the rocket money app and it has been pretty helpful! It costs $6 a month, so it’s not a lot. It keeps tracks of your income and your expenses and lets you know what bills are coming up. It also let me know I was paying too much on car insurance, so switched and now I’m paying way less. I used to keep track of income vs expenses in an excel spreadsheet but it was too much work. I’d suggest you give rocket money a try!

I track my money to the penny. I had to do this to get out of some serious credit card debt. 💸 download your bank statements to excel and start categorizing the expenses and start cutting back, saving and paying off stuff. Autopilot does not exist

The digit app! Now I think it’s called opportun

Automate savings even if it’s only a small bit. All dollars add up over time. Use direct deposit to an account that is not connected to your checking account (in other words don’t use for overdraft protection). Keep these funds in a credit union or a reputable online bank to make accessibility slightly more challenging. Don’t request debit card access to this account. If you do, freeze the. card to minimize temptation for quick access. Set small attainable savings goals so that you are more likely to obtain them. Plan how you want to spend your money and always include an allocation for savings. Plan for larger expenditures. Allocate yourself a defined amount of fun money each month or pay period and discipline yourself to only use those funds for your discretionary spending. If you have multiple streaming apps, eliminate one and designate those funds as your minimum monthly savings contribution.

Separate accounts help a lot for sure and getting a budget app to see where your money is going. I use monarch, it connects to all your accounts, CCs and retirement accounts so you can see how much you have and where your money is going. It helped me a lot.
But it takes time, changing habits don't happen overnight so have patience

We have all been there, I used to be good at it when I was working retail jobs, I lost track when I married I was saving but I spent most of my income furnishing his place and now we are divorced I did not take anything from him and started renting.

With rent sucking up 40% of my income and debts I started getting serious and been tracking every single penny I also just bought a condo which increased my monthly obligations but the trick here is sensibility. I only cook at home. I save and don’t spend I stopped traveling and avoid commute completely isolated myself to get my life in order.

Bottom line you have to do something you have to take control we are getting old everyday don’t let the debt creep up on you. I have long way to go! But with planning and crunching numbers I see a way.