Whether you are an athlete trying to save $ for races and travel, head of a household, person in debt and trying to dig out, or someone wealthy or not so wealthy with a goal to save – everyone can learn something to get ahead here. The first step I like to take would be to write out my financial goals and see what I may like to spend money on and also look at all the possible ways I can save money. Just like with my athletics, I want to then set realistic financial goals for myself and set small goals along the way and create a budget. I begin by implementing a few budget strategies at a time to build a base and then implement more as I grow. Just like my physical conditioning that leads to my records and race results, it is fun to see the results of a successful budget and what “financial conditioning” can do when I follow these tips.

1.) This is a simple and easy thing (just a snap of ANY receipt) and a person is on their way to earning points to gift cards from Amazon and other retailers. The Fetch App is a great app for travelers and people who are on the go spending money at a lot of places. The minimum is a $5 gift card with 5,000 points.

2.) The Upside App is excellent for getting cash back on gas. They partner with a variety of gas stations and even grocery stores and restaurants. It is pretty easy to use this app. You claim a place that you want to go. Then, click a button to check in once you are there. Then, take a snap of your receipt. The cash back money is usually processed within 48 hours. You can then cash out the money to a bank account or paypal when you want it.

3.) The Ibotta app is known to give the most money back on groceries among all apps. It seems to be pretty easy to use also. One must go to a store that they are partnered with and receive a receipt. Then, scroll through products and pick the ones that you bought that have rewards. Take a snap of the receipt. Your earnings are calculated and made available within 24 hours usually. One can cash out using paypal or bank account.

4.) If you are into buying a lot of organic groceries or organic products, then the Makeena app is one to use. You get cash back for buying certain organic groceries. You check off from a list of what you bought and snap your receipt. Shortly, one will receive cash back. Once, someone earns $20 in cash back, they can send the money to a bank account or paypal.

5.) A great way to save is by spending money using a cash back credit card (as long as you do not over-spend). There are quite a few cash back credit cards to consider and here are some of the main ones.

6.) Another great way to save is by cutting back on gas expenses by carpooling or riding a bike. Even better, you can earn money in gift cards through the Evidation App by living a healthy lifestyle – all you need to prove it is a fit bit watch or Apple Health on the iphone that logs your daily mileage “moved” by walking or cycling etc. You can also earn money toward gift cards by taking short surveys on your health. My one friend earned $20 in gift cards to Amazon in one month from logging mileage and taking a few short surveys.

7.) Take a close look at your groceries. One can normally get a lot of the packaged products for a lower price at Amazon. Compare the price there and now see the frequency of when you purchase certain products. In many cases, a big way to save money is through the Subscribe and Save program at Amazon (if you have Amazon Prime) and purchase certain products every month.

8.) Save Time AND Money with Kroger Delivery and get savings on gas at Shell. Check out the groceries at Kroger and see if they have what you like to get and give it go!

9.) Pick up some side jobs to make extra money. One can create a “fun money” account from side jobs and use that money toward going to the movies, going to Disney, going to a Dance Club, entering a Race etc. One can also use the extra money or cash back from the apps to put toward saving and investing.

10.) Time to start investing or continue to invest. A great book by Charles Payne called “Unstoppable Prosperity” teaches all about investing. Something that you do not hear about often is closed-end funds. I learned about Closed-End funds from someone with a financial degree. Non-leveraged means the funds have no debt, while leveraged funds mean there is debt. An example of a closed-end fund that is non-leveraged is BSTZ (BlackRock Science and Technology Trust II). A share is around $20 and it currently gives a monthly dividend of 19 cents a month per share. There are so many options with investing and one can find a Certified Financial Planner to guide them in investing.

Conclusion: After one month of working on my budget strategies, I earned $45.72 in cash back from doing tips 1-5 (not spending extra to get cash back, but just spending money on my usual monthly expenses). I also have been able to save my car two extra days from not needing gas, since I have been bicycling to work more often. Achieving this budget success will motivate me to continue and do the other strategies. I hope everyone enjoys implementing the budget strategies and sees great success as well!

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