How To Create A Monthly Budget And Save Money

Money is tight these days, and cash certainly doesn't grow on trees. If you feel like you don't have enough money to meet your basic needs, it is very easy to feel helpless and alone with your beaten down budget or small savings stash. Things could get even worse with tariffs, even if things improve economically long term.

Save Money And Make Money By Working With This Company

According to recent data, around 80% of Americans say that they are struggling financially, so you can rest assured that you are in good company. Much of the United States and global population struggles with personal finances in one way or another, especially with public health crises and inflation causing additional strain. Financial struggles are even gripping the upper middle class in the U.S. and much of the world due to severe inflation and economic volatility. The global economy and the personal finances of billions of people is looking rather grim right now.

One of the major reasons why the majority of people are in such a poor financial state is lack of education on money management and a limited understanding of budgeting. If you don't know your numbers and can't put a plug in your spending, you are setting yourself up for financial failure. 

Unfortunately basic financial education just isn't something they teach at a lot of schools or even colleges. That is starting to change out of necessity, but most students even with above average intelligence have very little knowledge of money or budgeting.

Learning how to create a monthly budget won't solve all of your financial stress, but it will certainly make it easier for you to feel secure and afford basic living expenses. And every little bit of extra budget-friendly financial security helps these days in a time of economic turbulence coupled with rampant inflation.

Read on to learn how you can set this frugal budget and ensure that it works for your specific financial needs. Take notes if you need and make sure to implement these finance suggestions.

6 Top Tips To Create Monthly Budgets That Save More Money

1. Use a Budgeting App To Stay On Track

For those who have trouble keeping track of a lot of papers, budgeting apps can work wonders. You can conveniently enter your information into budgeting mobile applications including your necessary expenses, income, changes to your finances, and more. Pretty much all of these apps for budgets connect with your bank and do the math for you by figuring how much you need to allocate where. 

PocketGuard is one of the best free apps that connects your credit, checking, and savings accounts to better your budget planning. It detects your recurring bills and compares them to your income before showing you how much you have remaining for other expenses. From there, you can master your monthly budget for groceries and household needs that exist outside your recurring bills. 

One of the greatest things about PocketGuard is that while it categorizes your expenses automatically, you can also create custom categories for the best budgetary plans. This lets you include the things that are important to you within your monthly budget to find areas of improvement and savings. You also never want to forget about any bills so you can avoid late fees or surprise final notices. It also reminds you to consider tax fees and relief options.

2. Write All Expenses And Bills Down 

In addition to having a budgeting app, you will want to write everything about your budget down on paper. You can place this above your desk at home or on the wall beside your calendar. When you see it, you will remember how much you have to spend and where your money should be going to. 

Prefer a more hybrid setup? Having a virtual executive assistant to help you with financial management is also an option. They can maintain detailed expense trackers for you, ensuring you always have an updated overview of your budget. This human element might just be the thing you need if applications aren't working for you.

Writing things down also has been proven to improve memory and fiscal fitness. It forces your brain to process things in a more detailed way. Writing the details of your budget will help you to keep it in mind throughout the remainder of the month, even when you are at the store with a dead cell phone battery and no physical list to look at. 

3. Consider The Expense Essentials First 

Before setting a budget, you need to consider your recurring payments like rent, utilities, insurance payments, student loans, and routine medical bills. You can't stop these bills from coming and missing them will ding your credit score and accrue interest. 

The next budgetary thing to think about are essentials like groceries and household items (toilet paper, pet food, etc). Be realistic about what you can afford and make sure that you don't end up in a situation where you have no food at the end of the month. Cheap grocery stores like Aldi, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Costco, BJ's, Price Chopper, Sam's Club, and Wal-Mart are a great way to save money when shopping for everyday items at retail shops. 

And keep in mind that you can still eat healthy on a budget if you follow The Frugal Diet, so there are no excuses to eat junk food in the name of saving money.

4. Include Entertainment Money 

When creating your budget, make sure that you don't forget to add at least a bit of spending money. You need some cash to go out with friends if you want to maintain your mental and social health. You also will want to treat yourself to a new book, video game, or just some takeout food every once in a while. While minimalism and frugality help budgeting significantly, you probably won't be living like a monk either. We are all human after all and can't penny pinch 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year with our budgets.

If you don't have a specific amount of money set aside for things that you want, you are likely to become frustrated and pull from other necessary areas of the budget. In the end, you will probably wind up spending more on entertainment than you would if you would just put it into your budget in the first place. If you need to save even more money on your entertainment costs, consider using a top torrent to download media free of charge.

5. Don't Forget About Savings 

If you are struggling financially, you likely feel as though you are surviving rather than living. You are probably sick of feeling like you are just barely keeping your head above water while living paycheck to paycheck. You likely are wondering how to eventually buy a condo or travel around the world so that you can start living your best life. The answer to making this happen is simple: saving money consistently. 

This is a challenge for most people, but you need to set aside at least a few dollars a week to go into savings. Even if it is just $10, you will end up with $40 per month and $480 per year. This might not sound like much, and you should invest more if you can, but it is definitely better than nothing. A penny saved is a penny earned, and money saved by paying down debt or earned with compounding interest is more than just a penny! We all have to start somewhere when it comes to smarter saving and better budgeting.

6. Pay Cash Whenever Possible 

When you swipe a credit card for all of your expenses, it is easier to charge more than you have in your bank account. It doesn't feel like you are spending real money. It is even worse when shopping online with saved payment information. You need to remind yourself that every dollar counts and that when you buy something, you are investing actual cash into it. 

Using cash also makes it a lot easier to track how you are spending money in your financial budget. You can place it into envelopes that are marked with what you need to spend it on at the beginning of every month. This can help you conceptualize how much you have to spend where. Physically finding, dividing up, and paying with money helps keep you more accountable than using credit cards and digital payments so prevalent and frictionless today.

If you see that you absolutely need more money for groceries or a similar necessity, you can place more money into the grocery budget envelope next month and see if that works. The bottom line for budgeting is that paying cash makes it easier to conceptualize your finances on a concrete and realistic level. This will help you maintain your fiscal fitness and frugal financial foundation. 

Credit cards do have their upsides if your finances are in order and you use them correctly. They can help to build your credit and earn cash or point rewards when used properly. Just make sure to make credit card payments in full and consistently. 

Beyond How to Create a Monthly Budget 

While budgeting is a challenge for nearly everyone, it is completely possible with a bit of planning and foresight. Now that you know how to create a monthly budget that works for you and your household, it is time to start looking into other aspects of your frugal financial affairs. Financial security and finance freedom is the goal!

Check out the Frugal Finances tab on our home page for more tips like those you have read here today. If you need a bit of a money boost, we also discuss where you can take out personal loans under the Loans tab of our frugally financial blog. Good luck with creating the perfect plan for your individual frugal budgeting needs!

The 5 Best Investments During Inflation

Without earning compounding interest, your money's value is wasting away each year at an alarming rate. Your one dollar today will not be able to buy the same goods in the next few decades (or months at this point), and this is because of inflation. It is inflation that is measuring the services in the economy and the measures of average price levels in a country. This is the increase in price at a given point in time. Because of inflation results, the currency that you are holding today will buy less than before. With your buying power and savings at a loss, especially in a time of increasing inflation and wage stagnation (stagflation), you have to start planning to minimize it the best you can. 

Inflation is running rampant across the United States and many parts of the world right now due to many factors with prices skyrocketing. In fact, the U.S. and other countries just printed more money in the past 2 years than they have in the previous 200! The Fed continues to keep the printing press going for now. And with rapidly growing national debt adding up each year, things on the horizon don't look very promising. While inflation needs to be lowered down to a normal 2-3%, it has been hovering around 4% for awhile in 2025! Even mortgage rates are now at record highs, although they won't last forever since the red hot housing market will eventually cool. Clearly the inflation is not "transitory" as it was called for many months, and could contribute to an upcoming global recession. 

Now in 2025 it looks like inflation is starting to cool off slowly along with home prices, and eventually mortgage rates will start falling a bit. But nobody is home free yet.

Inflated pricing a complicated issue with many moving parts. The record-breaking inflation is blamed by many on Joe Biden, Donald Trump, Powell, The Fed, Russia, or China. But the truth is that no one single person or country or industry or political policy is to blame after the Coronavirus pandemic fallout that has wreaked havoc on the economy.

Nowadays just going to the grocery store or buying building materials is costing a fortune at this point, if you can even get the products you are looking for at all in our new inflation nation. There is a noticeable shortage on all items, and prices are reflecting it. Empty shelves and panic buying are occurring even now, especially around the holidays. Even the almighty Dollar Tree will be raising prices on some items above $1 soon! Some products don't increase prices but instead just reduce size or quantity to cut costs.

This is why it is essential to have a hedge against inflationary price increases. When prices go up, you need an investment that will go up in value, and your portfolio should be able to keep up with the costs as you age. In addition, the economy of a particular country can rapidly contribute to inflation. This can be in the form of a rise in wages or rapid processing of oil and other raw materials. 

It is natural to have inflation in the market. However, who wants to lose money over time? It helps to lower your bills and save more money, but what you really need to do is invest in things that give you a return higher than the level of inflation. This is why many disciplined investors are going into other asset classes when they notice that the markets are going to turn into a climate of inflation. Some of the top assets that you may consider to fight inflation include the following: 

5 Top Investment Options To Fight Inflation

1. Gold 

Gold bullions or coins are always considered a hedge when the prices are soaring. This is because gold has not lost its value over centuries, and it’s still considered by many as an alternative currency. Gold bars and specific coins are helpful when a native currency of a country is losing its value as the people’s trust in the government becomes lesser. This is a physical asset that one can hold in their hands, and the value tends to hold for the most part. 

2. Bond Portfolios 

Bond portfolios with 60/40 stock are a traditional mix of bonds and stocks, and they are considered the safest investments. They are conservative, and if you’re unsure about how to do the work on your own and are reluctant to pay for an advisor, you can consider the dimensional DFA Global Allocation instead. This can be a straightforward strategy, and like any other investment plan, it has its cons. 

If you compare them to equity portfolios, they won’t perform well over a significant period of time. There are also the effects of compounding interest to consider. It is essential that the 60/40 is only a hedge that will keep the overall portfolio safe. However, you will likely be missing out on a few returns compared to the stocks with a high percentage. Some bonds have been booming, but no investment is guaranteed in a volatile economy filled with inflation. Bonds have also been having a moment in 2025.

3. Real Estate Investment Trust 

The REITs are known to be real estate companies that operate and own some income-producing properties. These houses tend to rise with inflation, and you can invest in one that consists of a pool of other like-minded people. The pool will pay out the dividends to the investors. Of course, if you want more exposure to this but want a lower expense ratio, you can always consider Vanguard Real Estate ETFs. 

However, know that there are disadvantages when you put all your money into a real estate investment trust. They are very sensitive to the changes in high-yielding assets. As the interest rates are rising, some people find it attractive to invest in treasury securities, and the result is a lower share of prices because the funds were withdrawn away from the REITs. 

Another thing is that REITs need to pay property taxes, and this can be more than 20% of their total operational costs. If the council or municipal authorities suddenly pass a law that increases the taxes for the budget shortfalls, the shareholders may find themselves strapped for cash. 

There are certainly high yields in general, but the taxes are imposed on the dividends. Most of the rates fall at about 15%, and the dividends are currently taxed according to the higher percentage of REIT. They are considered a personal income that can raise the rates and potentially put you in a higher tax bracket. 

4. S&P 500 

Stocks are still the best choice when you want to invest for the long term. Businesses usually have gained from inflation, especially if they require little capital as a start-up. Those that are often dependent on natural resources are considered losers. 

Today, the S&P 500 has a high enough concentration when it comes to communication services and technology businesses. They can account for more than 35% of the stake in the Index. Overall, the communications and technological developments serve as capital-light for many companies, and they can emerge as winners afterwards. 

If you are going to invest in the S&P 500, you need to look into the SPDR ETF for the S&P 500 that will be a watch list on your behalf. However, like any other investments out there, specific disadvantages may be present in the S&P 500 Index. One of the significant drawbacks includes giving a higher priority to many companies with a lot of market capitalization. The stock prices for the larger companies will influence the Index in no time. Also, there are no exposures with the small capital companies that historically provided the best returns. 

But when it comes to the very basics, you can get around a 9% growth per year investing in the stock market compared to a 3% loss to inflation each year. And all the compound interest from dividends really adds up.

5. Income From Real Estate 

The income from real estate comes with rentals. The amount and cash flow you receive every month can beat inflation. When the inflation rises, expect that your home will also increase in value. This is because the landlord can charge a higher amount each month. The result is that there will be a higher rental income that keeps up with the inflation. This is one of the best reasons you should consider investing in real estate if you want diversification. 

However, know that there are cons to real estate investing. First, you have to cough up a considerable amount of money for the initial investment, and the transaction costs are higher than what you may have anticipated. Additional costs like insurance, repairs, and maintenance can't be forgotten as well.

The second thing is that houses and real estate are not liquid, so you can’t quickly sell them without substantial losses in their value. Purchasing a home will require maintenance and management, and you also have a great deal of financial liability if you don’t research this industry before getting into it. And don't forget about other costs like property taxes or condo HOA fees!

In addition to rental income real estate or flipping properties, you can also invest in land if you speculate that it will increase in value over time.

Ignore Inflation Increases 

Inflation can be tough on your personal finances, small business, and retirement planning. But utilizing the above investment options, potentially along with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or other precious metals like silver, will ensure that your investing goals aren't inhibited. With a smart strategy including the tips above, you can inhibit the inflation inflammation!