How to STOP Sabotaging Your Budget

If your budget isn’t working, here are some changes that may make all the difference. When prices go up (like they are now) and the economy is unstable, people feel like it’s impossible to save any money.

But, the truth is, before you start blaming high prices, inflation, or anything else, let’s look a little deeper at some solutions that will help you save both time and money. When it comes to frugal living, there are a number of ways you can change your spending habits to fix your budgeting mistakes.

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We're Hope and Larry and we love practical frugality. We raised our four sons, debt-free, including paying cash for our home when our income was well under the national average. For tips on saving money, budgeting, paying off debt, and setting goals (while living with a spirit of joy and abundance), subscribe to us here on YouTube and visit us at our website and on social media.

Information on Under the Median represents our opinions only. We are not medical doctors, medical professionals, nutritionists, or investment professionals. All content found on Under the Median is intended for informational purposes only. Please be sure to exercise due diligence and always contact a professional with any questions you may have regarding any information you have seen or heard on our YouTube channel. Use caution when following instructions in this video. The creator and publisher of this video will not be held responsible for any adverse effects that may arise from the use of any method on this channel.

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[Revert]

“I deserve it” put me into debt for 30 years. Now I see I deserve to enjoy the simple things and not have to work until I am 80.

[MKx]

After watching a lot of channels that cover frugality, it's YOU BOTH that saved me. My mind is made up! Im getting out from under this debt, & never again 🙃

[SherryEllesson]

"You'll never be able to do that" is the reason I cut off contact with a man I met on a dating site for mature people." He'd been in a prominent position with State Gov't (not my state but nearby) and my hopes/dreams of maintaining some acreage as a place to live peacefully in a quiet area, grow some of my own food, observe and photograph wildlife, and resurrect my love of painting <oils> sounded to him like things I'd only be able to do with a 'strong male provider' by my side. I'll be the first to admit that repair costs of more than $3400 this week took a big bite out of my emergency fund; but I remember clearly the day he said, "you won't be able to do that by yourself" and I said, "watch me."

[janetstonerook]

A simple strategy for me is to avoid shopping very often. It's a mind game I play. I'll tell myself that I'll skip my usual weekly shopping trip and go do something else more fun during that time. If I absolutely need an item or two, I'll carry only enough cash to run in and get that on my way to my fun outing. 😊 Meanwhile, I use the last little bit of things I have to tide me over on my no-shopping week. I make do with what's here in the house. It gets really easy to do after a few times! I probably save $100 monthly just going to the grocery store less often and always with a list. I'm also doing intermittent fasting most days so am not eating between mid afternoon to the mid morning hours. So I'm eating less and healthier and not feeling deprived.🎉

[sherrylyons]

I was a big time paper coupons user before digital coupons took over. I now email corporations and have been able to still receive coupons by asking. This has been a big help for our family.

[joyswenson]

My husband withdraws $ every Friday and that’s it for the week (groceries and other regular expenses). $80 on groceries for a family of five. It’s like a game every week, scouring the grocery ads, figure out which loss leaders I’m going to take advantage of this week. And because the ads give the price & because I’m familiar with prices from our regular store, I’ve been able to guesstimate the total pretty well, allowing me to stay on or under budget every week. You guys & everyone in the comments give me such encouragement! ❤

[sabahatnaheed]

I stopped shopping on Amazon so proud of myself

[MeMyself-yn]

I was taking my rescue dog to a local vet's groomer every month to get her nails trimmed, actually "dremeled." This cost between twenty and twenty-one dollars every time. The dog was pretty good about this, altho I can't say she liked it. Sometimes they did a better job and sometimes not so much. Anyway, after doing a little research, I found that I could buy a dremel tool for pets for around 40 bucks. There are videos on youtube, too. So, I did that. It is working out fine.

[cindypatrick]

I have made a real effort to cut every monthly expense I could:
Auto insurance, cell phone plan, cancellation of direct tv, cancelled an extended warranty monthly fee, I switched over to my husband’s health insurance company for a big decrease due to a 10% family discount, getting help to get husbands blood thinner for free, cashed gout a lousy Universal Life insurance policy, using power strips to turn off TV and computer 🖥️ at night, raising thermostat to 79 degrees, lowered temp on hot water tank.
Added up to over $8, 000 of savings for a year🤭 10:55

[qjfpoqg]

😂I just said to myself it's Friday, what am I gonna get for takeout? 😊I better take out something from the fridge/freezer, whatever I can find before going to work.

[SkintLivingUK]

You are so right spending money doesn't bring happiness!!! More stuff = More clutter

[anarita]

Hope and Larry you guys are my Yoda's from the Star Wars LOL you really are for example you always said be creative in saving money for something you want so I was in a need of a new laptop but did not wanted to spend a lot of money so one day on one of your videos you mention about saying $5 a day which makes $140 a month x12 = $1680 which I said to myself "self you can do it it is only $5 day and it is something manageable in my budget so I did and guesss at the end of the year I found a laptop for $800 and I save the rest of the money and since every dollar needs a home I said "self let put on on the emergency fund" and now I have saved $500 each month by cutting small things form my budget for example bye bye cable tv and bye bye $54 for phone now it is $30 and instead of spending the fun money I save it to the point I now have $25000 saved WOW right it amazing how $5 a day do to you :) yay me but thanks to you Hope and Harry:)

[readyornot]

You make sure a good point about “it’s Friday, let’s reward ourselves, we deserve it.” Our family created a couple of traditions (homemade pizza and at-home movie night) to overcome this. Now we look forward to spending this time together and can’t imagine going out (aka spending money). Thanks for your wisdom as always.

[doreenmaxwell]

30 days is a long time for a first time no spend challenge. I've done a few 7 day no spend challenges, and my next step is 14 days!

[cathyphillips]

My mistake was setting up my budget, and NOT looking at it again to revise it! I am on my journey to get rid of debt, and believed that I had cut the budget as much as possible. This month, I found out that my monthly income has been cut by $20, and my rent is increasing by $38 per month. Of course, this prompted a revised budget. I was sure I would have to reduce my groceries by $58, but I found that I only need to reduce it by $10! Certainly doable. This also means that I had been wasting almost $50 per month on who knows what, by not tracking things all the time! Lesson learned.

[Bitbit]

I went through my checking account to see where I was losing all my money. I thought I was losing well. It comes to find out at the grocery store and yet I don’t see anything the house that I bought. I’m not buying wisely so today I sat down and made me out a weeks menu of food I could cook, and that was surprised that all that I got for the way and I can use what I bought in different ways to make meals for the day and I was surprised at the little money I spent on buying food that will last me two weeks. It was only 50 something dollars but not the last weeks maybe longer because I bought stuff that will go that far. I don’t like eating. I am not a leftover person today I am now going to be a leftover person and I’m going to add up and see how much money I can save.

[lilac]

I have a family member who told me, if I would have went to collage, I would of have money. I did not go to collage, I love my job and just started my budget for the 3rd time. And when I see this family member I wonder what their budget is like. I am happy where I am at.

[juliemoore]

Hope, I can't get over how fast your hair grows! And it's so nice and thick! You definitely got blessed with good hair genes!

[camperjack]

Justifying expenses- you caught me. Thanks for pointing this out.

[truthseeker]

Every spending scenario you presented was once Me! It's So Freeing and Rewarding to Work Hard to get out of debt and begin saving. I dislike/hate/feel insecure about the current economy, but it's now anecdotally fun in a challenging way, to figure out how to keep costs down.