Like many people, life hasn’t been easy since the start of the pandemic. The current level of inflation has made things even harder. At first, not being able to go out for awhile made me a bit financially better off, I was able to save a lot more money by not being able to go out and do much. Then, like a fair few people, when things calmed down I started doing more… which meant more money went out than I was keeping track of.
Before I realized it, the ongoing inflation started to hurt bad. Gas prices went through the rough, food prices have gone up, and our monthly rent went up almost $500 a month. I wish I had saved money better, and learned to be far more careful. So I’ve had to really buckle down and think of what I can do to save money and be better prepared for the future, on top of what I can do to earn more money without wearing myself out so we can survive the current level of inflation.
So I’ve taken up various ways online to earn money on top of what I already do to for work. I do both blogging, and food delivery to make ends meet right now. Since it works around my schedule, the kids, and my health concerns and needs.
What I do additionally is take surveys, scan my receipts for gift cards, use any coupons I can find, and I’ve found a side-gig job rating search queries and the results. I found the job on a work at home site called Rat Race Rebellion.
For working on my savings, I’ve found that savings calculators are really the best idea. I wasn’t really taught how to save money when I was younger, and have really stumbled my way through things as an adult. I’ve tried to instill in my kids that it’s a good idea while they’re working but still living at home to save some of each paycheck. Some to save, some for going towards the household (two of my kids are over 18), and some to spend on whatever they want. I just hope that they’ll be able to listen to me and leave the house someday better off than I ever was.
My first goal was pretty small, I just wanted enough to be sure to cover any potential emergency and have a bit of a cushion, sadly I’m not even close to that point yet.
I found that the calculators at the Savings Calculator website to be really helpful in helping me know what I need to do to reach that eventual goal. The goal calculator can let me know how long it will take to reach the amount of savings I’d like to have in case of an emergency. I can base it on what I start with, if anything, how much I’ll be able to deposit monthly, and even the APR of whatever savings account I am using. This lets me know if I need to make even more money to try and get to that point, or if I need to adjust my goal to something more manageable for the time I think I have to get to that point.
They also have a retirement savings calculator, which I really should have thought about before my age was inching closer to 40! There’s also a college savings calculator, so if your kiddos are younger you can get a start on that one. Hopefully by the time current babies are older, college wont be the exorbitant expense that it currently is in the US…
What do you do to save money right now? Are you having to find ways to earn more just to survive like I feel like we’re having to do here? I really wish things were a lot better, I can’t believe just how quickly things got what feels out of hand. I’d love any insight or advice you might have to help earn more or save more in ways that wont wreck me physically. If you have Fibromyalgia or know someone who does, what do you suggest for earning and saving more?
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