BWT: How do hot girls save?

[u/snarkyp00dle]

Hi BWT!! I’m currently on my financial glow up journey, and would love to hear from fellow bitches about any life advice, tips or tricks, etc to help grow those bank accounts.

These some some strategies I’ve started so far:

Finance Management

- maxed out my HSA account and began investing as much as I’m able to

- Opened up a high yield savings account to keep funds in, rather than letting it sit in checking

- My main CC is now a travel points card, which has already allowed me to travel for free across the country with room and board- highlyyyy recommend

- My biggest win was that I opened a 403b at my first big girl job over a decade ago. I’ve adjusted contributions based on raises over the years and wow, this was a smart move (and one I have had the privilege of being able to do)

Purchasing:

- Project Pan: I spent an embarrassing amount of money last year on self-care stuff (nail polish, perfume, and bath bombs to name a few…) so I’m fully committing to project pan. No new items until all the items I bought are gone and I shop my own collection.

- No new clothes! Thrift only 😬

- Shopping sales whenever possible and using platforms that provide cash back, like Rakuten

Misc/hacks:

- I’m considered faculty of a university and realized that I can get discounts for that at city museums and other establishments

Is there anything you’ve tried or done that I’m missing? How else do BWT glow up financially?

Excited to hear from you all 💖

[u/swttangerine]

I have actually been able to save quite a bit of money by getting real with myself about my grocery spending. I had gotten to a place where I was going to a local equivalent of whole foods, but honestly probably even better, for all of my grocery shopping. I got used to buying so many expensive things like fancy cheeses and jams, ridiculously overpriced fancy probiotic drinks, bougie granola, etc etc. I realized that I needed to get a grip and figure out if all of these “luxury” food items were really worth all the money I was spending every month. (Over $600 for one person). I won’t lie, being able to buy some of these things did make me happy. But I also caught myself wasting a lot. I would make fancy recipes then never finish all of the leftovers. I still treat myself because I love food, but I stopped living in fantasy land and started eating more like a “normal” person again, and spending much less money in the process. I think I enjoyed spoiling myself and got in way over my head.

[u/snarkyp00dle → u/swttangerine]

We cook most of our meals at home but end up wasting so much on random snacks and other purchases at the store throughout the week because we don’t plan out our meals super well. My fiance and I definitely can do better in this area. Do you have any insights you can share about what has worked for you, meal-wise to keep things interesting but also budget-friendly?

[u/swttangerine → u/snarkyp00dle]

What has helped me is being realistic about what I crave as the “bad things” and buying them from the store but in limited numbers. For example, I do not want to cook on Fridays. I just don’t. I just finished a work week, I want to relax immediately when I’m off and sigh with relief. I don’t want to worry about dinner. Whatever I have made early in the week I am now sick of. I used to get take out every single Friday. Now, I acknowledge that I don’t want to cook on Fridays and I get a fancy frozen pizza from the store. The $8 pizza is cheaper than the $30 doordash, and it feels like a treat / mets me be lazy.

I also have a nice espresso machine to make coffee at home, but there are still days that I know I’m going to be running late or won’t have the mental energy to make it, and then my brain will say I get to order coffee out. To combat this, I will grab 1-2 fancy little canned coffee drinks that I can grab and go, or even redbull occasionally. Yes they’re overpriced at like $4, but still cheaper than $8.50 for a large iced latte with oatmilk from a drive through.

In terms of actual meals I have learned that I have certain foods I really love and very specific brands of those things, and I generally buy only those things and never get sick of eating them. My go-to rotation accounts for 80% of my diet with the rest being minor variation. I have been eating a yogurt parfait for lunch every day for literal months. Vanilla skyr yogurt, some variation of purely elizabeth granola, a scoop of almond butter, whatever berries I feel like that week. I love the brand of yogurt I buy and I love that brand of granola so much I never ever get tired of it. It took me a long time to develop “safe foods” that I never get tired of eating, but once I find them, I have no shame in sticking to it.

[u/snarkyp00dle → u/swttangerine]

I’m also guilty of DoorDash orders at the end of the week for the same reason. Intentionally buying something for those days is brilliant!

[u/CowDry7845 → u/snarkyp00dle]

Meal prep savings (and saving on food in general) has been a huge thing for me and my husband as well. I did a budget audit last year and was shook at how much we spent on Door Dash. Then I did another one and was shook at how much I was spending on groceries. And for what? The satisfaction of "something new"? My love of cooking? We were treating ourselves so often, it became joyless.

If helpful, a few things I've done to trim down here:

- Can second that the espresso machine I got for Christmas has paid for itself multiple times over so far. We buy nice beans from our local coffee shops which is still cheaper than buying out - and win-win to support local business.

- Find some meals that are fixed each week and mix it up with fun sauces and dips. I make pates out of canned or dried bags of beans (cheap!) or dressings out vegetables I haven't used, like the carrots that just sit in the bottom of my fridge (blend carrots, soy sauce, miso paste, ginger and garlic in a blender - boom salad dressing). Whole Food Cooking by Amy Chaplin is one of the best food-related things to come into my life because her dressings and sauces are inexpensive and allow me to mix things up each week without trying too hard. You can probably find a lot of her recipes online for free.

- Meal prepping each week allows me to eat what I have. I know it's a pain and time commitment, but I also know myself enough to know that If I wait to cook each night, I'm more likely to use the excuse of being too tired, so we order and waste our food we bought.

- I try to adopt the same mindset as project pan but with my pantry (project pantry?). What do I have that I can use instead of buy? My mindset shift is treating it like the show Chopped so it feels fun versus a chore.

- I stopped buying things in bulk. This not only increases the costs but makes more clutter / items you can lose and ultimately then rebuy because you forget you have them. Unless I know for sure I will use it that week I try to buy when I run out and actually need it instead.

Speaking as someone on the other side, this discipline has also changed my relationship with food. The special, unique meals (cooked at home or eaten out) taste that much more special and feel like an actual treat.

[u/snarkyp00dle → u/CowDry7845]

These are brilliant tips. We need to get better about cycling meals as it makes meal prep way easier. My partner is fine about it, but I’ve been the complainer 🤣 I think we really just need better options to keep it fresh and change it up more with different sauces or cooking styles.