No matter what age you are, budgeting can prove to be difficult, especially when holidays come into play. During the summer holidays, a slew of things come up—from sending your kiddo off to summer camp, to attending weddings, buying your new college student books for the first semester, or even an unexpected getaway with your loved one to the mountains.
The RMLEFCU team has a few tried and true tips that are bound to help get you back on track so you can tackle autumn on the right foot.
Find Your Personal Inflation Rate
This will help give you a good baseline so you can adjust your budgeting accordingly. The first step to finding your personal inflation rate is figuring out the impact of inflation and skyrocketing rates on your budget. Gather bills and bank statements to see what you’ve spent on food, housing, gas, entertainment, apparel, education, and other items over the past twelve months. Then, calculate your own personal inflation rate by doing this:
Add up your monthly spending for last month and what you spent on the same goods and services a year ago.
Subtract your total spending for August 2021 from August 2022.
Divide that difference by your monthly expenses for August 2021.
The result of that equation is your personal inflation rate.
Using the number you get, you should review your expenses to see what you’re spending and what you can cut out or reduce.
Take a Second Look at Your Subscriptions
Speaking of doing an audit of your spending habits, you may want to take another look at your recurring payments – in particular, your subscriptions. If you’re anything like us, your subscriptions to Netflix, other streaming services, and more are paid for through automated payments. If you have any subscriptions to services that you no longer use or could go without, now is the time to do a “purge”. Trimming off these little expenses will go a longer way than you think!
Luckily, instead of combing through your bank statements looking for which payments and subscriptions are recurring, RMLEFCU partnered with Truebill, a service that quickly analyzes all of your banking information to identify such services (and can even go so far as to do the canceling for you!). Talk to an RMLEFCU member today for more information on how to use your Truebill RMLEFCU account.
Donate Items for a Tax Write-Off
Devote a weekend to cleaning out your closets and clearing the kids’ rooms of unused clothing, household items, cans of food, and toys to donate to your local charity.
Here are a few of great charities in the Denver Metro area:
The Food Bank of the Rockies: They are the largest hunger-relief organization in the Rocky Mountain region. That makes us uniquely suited to answer the enormous challenge of hunger, which affects 1 out of 8 people in our communities. Since 1978, they’ve put the power of community to work for our neighbors in need through partnerships, programs, and people like you!
Clothes to Kids of Denver: Clothes To Kids of Denver proudly provides new and quality used clothing in a boutique setting to Denver area students from low-income or in-crisis families, free of charge. Our vision is that all students will have the clothing they need to feel comfortable, confident and prepared to thrive.
You’ll be able to help others in the process and get a receipt that you can then use to claim on your tax return. It’s a win-win! Be sure all the clothing items you choose to donate are free of stains, and in good condition.
Talk to a RMLEFCU Representative Today
These are just a handful of several tips we have when it comes to financial planning and budgeting. At RMLEFCU, we are dedicated to ensuring that you are on the road to financial success, so if you need a little more guidance, please don’t hesitate to utilize our Financial Education Center, or talk to our trained RMLEFCU representatives. We’re here to give you the helping hand you need to succeed.