Today's Prescription: Shopping & Saving

Hey boos, Happy Wednesday!

I’m just going to get straight to it. How do I shop, pay bills, and still save money? Adulting is hard, paying off loans, bills, and trying to save up for a house, car, etc. can be a whole scam. I’m going to be honest, I haven’t always been financially responsible. If that were the case, I wouldn’t have blew through those refund checks in college lol.  See my tips below:

1. Budget: I keep track of my budget through an Excel sheet I made awhile ago. It’s super simple, but it gets the job done. This helps me to know where my money is going, and to set up my recurring payments and bills-i.e tithes, savings Netflix, cellphone.

2. Save Before You Shop: I CANNOT stress this enough. As I previously stated, I haven’t always done the right thing by my money, and there are times where I’m still learning. However, I don’t buy anything before I’ve deposited into my savings account.  I save about 1/3 of my check each pay period.  Also, I NEVER touch the money in this account, because once I do, it’s gone. I know my weaknesses.  A cool app that I use, is Digit, that takes out small amounts from my checking account each day to build up my savings. I promise it’s not a scam, and you can sign up here.

3. Pay Your Bills: Whatever bill it is, pay it, and ON TIME. If it’s debt such as credit card debt, student loans, keep up with those payments, and pay more than the minimum balance. Your credit score will thank you.  

4. Sale or Bust: You all know I love a good bargain and discounts. So let me say this, I DO NOT PRUCHASE ANYTHING WITHOUT A COUPON CODE OR A SALE. Period, pooh. I’m dramatic. I will only buy something full price IF I love the brand, like J. Bolin’s collection. To help with this, I use Honey which is a plugin that you can install on your computer or phone to test every coupon code in the world when you’re checking out. I’ve gotten discounts up to 50% off thanks to Honey. I encourage ya’ll to check it out to start saving money.

5. Ebates: I love Ebates ya’ll. We literally go together. Ebates is a site and app where you can get cash back on your purchases. I love to use it for my favorite stores including-Boohoo, Shein, ASOS, Target, Nasty Gal, you get me. Believe me, the cash back really adds up. Sign up here to get your $10 bonus.

6. Shopkick: This is one of my favorite shopping apps of all time!  You download the app, and walk in to stores for kicks, or scan items throughout certain stores for kicks. Those kicks add up, and you can use those kicks for free gift cards to almost every store out there. I usually use mine for Target, Ulta or Sephora. I mean, you can just walk in and get kicks or walk around store and just rack up. Sign up here.

Boos and baes, you do not have to spend a bag to look fly and keep up with Instagram celebrities. Securing the bag means pouring into the bag to KEEP the bag. Save your coins, pay your bills on time, early if you can, then shop and enjoy. You work hard for your money so I get it, enjoy it, but just be wise.  

Please share how you are saving and still looking fly? I’d love any other tips!

You can find my top here and my pants here.

I love ya’ll, be blessed, and stay fab!

XOXO,

Zaria