Tips like these helped us pay off $127K in debt. You can read our story in Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After.
Our mornings influence our entire day. The steps we take in the first sixty minutes can make or break the next 10-12 hours when it comes to our budgets. From breakfast to budgeting, coffee to carrying your lunch, you can rock out your morning and keep the savings flowing throughout the day with these simple ideas.
Eat Oatmeal
Breakfast really is the most important meal of the day. The longer you are full, the more clear you’ll be able to think and the more productive you will be. Begin your day with an incredibly frugal, yet long burning meal like oatmeal. Add fruits or nuts or even peanut butter to make it stretch farther and deliver a more nutritious punch. Even with special add-ins it will still ring up at less than $0.25 per serving. WOW, what a savings and great way to begin the day to save throughout.
Brew Your Own Coffee
Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fancy lady coffee. But you need to reserve picking up a latte for a special occasion. At $5 a cup, you can easily blow your entire dining out budget on something you drink. In order to get the best bang for your buck, be sure to clean your coffee pot on a regular basis and go ahead and spring for pricier beans or even purchase syrups to be your own barista. You’ll look forward to your hot cup of joe and still save a bundle even with these special extras. Java fanatic? You should probably read 5 Ways to Save Money on Coffee.
Open Your Bank Account
While you’re drinking your coffee and eating your oatmeal, open up your bank’s website and take five minutes to reconcile the transactions from the previous day. You’ll have a better handle on what funds you have available and be reminded of which bills you have coming up in the next few days. Looking for specific ways to be strategic with daily banking? Check out Budget Tip Tuesday: Begin Each Day with A Cup of Budget.
Pack Lunches
While your oatmeal will keep you full for awhile, you still need to pack your midday meal at home. Leftovers are always a primary choice; however, you could even do something as simple as having a jar of peanut butter or a box of cereal in your office at work in case you get in a pinch. Applesauce or fresh fruit are two other great choices. Avoid pre-packaged single serving sized anything and opt to buy a large bag and package items yourself like chips or nuts or cookies. Speaking of cookies, empty calorie, high sugar foods won’t give you the full feeling your body needs and you’ll end up hitting the vending machine. Find affordable, nutritionally dense foods so that you’re not tempted to make a budget and dietary mistake in the middle of the day. Need more lunch tips? Read: Lunch Tips to Save Money.
Put Dinner in the Crockpot
I just feel better knowing that dinner is not only planned but also already cooking before the day gets under way. I LOVE this awesome easy plan for 20 Slow Cooker Freezer Packs for Less than $150 from the $5 Meal Plan which includes recipes, shopping lists, video, printable labels and SO much more and it costs only $5. You could have 20 meals and only spend $155 without using any coupons? Seriously, that is weeknights for an entire month. What a great deal!
The more intentional you are, the more ways you will save. You won’t regret beginning your days in these frugal ways.
My book is now available: Slaying the Debt Dragon: How One Family Conquered Their Money Monster and Found an Inspired Happily Ever After. You can also check out Inspiration to Pay Off Debt: 30 Days of Encouragement from the Queen of Free
This post contains an affiliate link. That means when you get a great deal or maybe even something for free, you also help our family pay off our mortgage early. And for that, we royally thank you!
I work two jobs (I’m debt snowballing!) and I pack lunches for both jobs. I didn’t realize how much money I spent eating out until I stopped eating out. I eat out so rarely these days that $3 at Taco Bell is a big splurge!
I find that if I can break my habit, it doesn’t even sound good anymore. But it takes awhile. 🙂
How do you save money when you can’t shop at better stores? And you don’t have credit cards.
Hi Donna! I’d suggest you check out this post about ways to save at any store: http://www.queenoffree.net/2015/04/5-quick-ways-to-save-money-without-coupons/ I don’t have credit cards either and haven’t had one since 2008. We’re an odd breed, right? 🙂