Inflation frustration: How to save money while prices are high

When inflation started rising, and prices started going up, Cierra Michel started worrying about her bank account.

“Being able to pay for everything that I need for that month. Not knowing if I have to be between getting groceries or paying a bill,” says this mom of two.

To save money, Michel and her family turned to extreme couponing.

“It’s a lot of math and it’s a lot of time, so if you don’t have time to do it, it’s not for everyone. But if you do have time, it’s a great way to save,” says Michel.

So, if you’re not into couponing, what else can you do right now to save money? We turned to the pros at NerdWallet.

“The big challenge for everyone right now is that prices across the board are higher. We want to look for places you can cut back because everything is more expensive. Basically, it means we can’t keep spending money,” says NerdWallet’s personal finance expert, Kimberly Palmer.

Some simple steps to follow from NerdWallet:

• Minimize restaurant spending.
• Prep for grocery shopping – make a list and stick to it.
• Delay purchases for 30 days – give yourself time to see if you really want or need the item.
• Avoid saving your information when online shopping – make it harder to click and buy.

“You can check out as a guest, so you’re not saving your address, your information. You have to enter that information every single time you want to check out. That makes it harder to make those impulse purchases,” says Palmer.

According to NerdWallet, you can also try these steps:

• Track your spending – use an app to keep track of where you are spending your money each month.
• Set up auto-transfer from your checking to your savings.

“Paying yourself first by automatically transferring money from your checking account into a high-yield savings account every single month,” says Palmer, is a great way to save. Saving 20% of your take-home pay each month is a good rule of thumb.

• Cancel unnecessary subscriptions. Do an audit and get rid of everything you just don’t need!

If you can’t remember where you have your credit card stored, you can call your credit card company and ask them to manually remove it from every site it’s attached to.

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