I have talked about starting a Money Saving Series on here for a while, and with the holidays coming, now seems like the best time!

Before you go, “well, how do you figure, now is the time of the year for spending money?”  While true, it is that time of the year, it doesn’t mean you have to go through the holidays and the end of the year in financial ruin, either.  So, now is the perfect time to put new strategies in place so your bank account isn’t aching by the time January 1st rolls around.

I’m not here to claim that I know all of the secrets to everything or that I am a perfect human when it comes to finances; I’m not.  But I’ve learned a lot over the years and I like to think that I’m a lot better off financially than I would be without this knowledge.  I’ve done some things that I think are really helpful and some things that I wish I hadn’t.

I am of the generation that knows that retirement is not as guaranteed as it was for our parents and grandparents.  Also, Devon and I both work in professions that aren’t compensated as well as they should be (obviously we aren’t in education for the money. but it’s still a fact of life) so figuring out how to be responsible with our money is incredibly important, especially as we’re beginning the conversations about having children and buying our own home in the coming future.

My purpose is mostly just to share my experiences and some of the tips I’ve learned along the way.  Finances can be extremely personal for many people and I’m not going to tell anyone that what they’re doing is wrong.  If your financial situation works for you and your family, rock on. If you feel like some things can be tweaked then some of this might resonate with you.

Money is such a tricky thing for so many people because you want to save for the future, but you don’t want to feel deprived in life now while you’re waiting for this big thing.  Totally get it.  It’s the same with dieting, the minute you feel like you’re completely depriving yourself you want to throw up your hands and be done.  It can suck.

But there is also something so freeing and empowering about having money in savings and knowing that if an emergency arises, you can handle it and not rely on someone else or credit cards to get through it.

I can’t fully say yet how long this is going to be because, so far, every time that I’ve thought I was done in regards to topics I want to cover, I think of more.  So, let’s just say this series will be on-going (and will have a tab at the top of my page so you can access the posts easier) and will cover topics such as starting a budget, supplementing your income, saving money when you’re shopping (grocery, mall, online, etc), how to do your own no-spend, etc.

If there is a topic you would like help on or you think might be a helpful blog post, feel free to leave a comment below this post or send me a message and I will do my best to add it (if it’s something I have any knowledge in).

My first in-depth post will be next week around the idea of creating a budget.  I fully believe so much of the rest of this doesn’t exist if you don’t understand how much money you have and how you’re spending your money.  If you’re just randomly spending without tracking, you’re going to have such a hard time getting ahead of where you are and where you need to be.

But that’s next week.

For now, if you have any comments/questions feel free to send me a message or leave them in a comment below!