How to Buckle Down Financially Heading into a Recession

The economy is looking uncertain right now as we possibly head into a recession. It’s so important now more than ever to create a budget in your house. Aaron and I have worked on our budget lately and it made me realize how many areas I can save money. I’m here to share my tips on budgeting about food, cleaning products, fashion and trading services. For those who need to start cooking at home, here are some amazing recipes for bolognese, veal chops, bruschetta and soup.

Get into fancy coffee at home.

I’m pretty sure most of us are guilty of this pleasure. About a year ago, I invested into a really nice coffee maker. My coffee maker has the capability of making both single espresso shots and a coffee pot for the whole house. I also get great pleasure in finding really nice, and more wholesome, creamers to add into my espresso, cappuccinos and frappuccinos at home. This is probably one of the easiest and most profound ways to save on cost that is super small, but if you review over a year it could be upwards into hundreds of dollars and dare I say maybe even a thousand for the year.

Coffee Maker / Starbucks Creamer / Silk Creamer / Oat Milk / Sugar / Mugs / Coffee Spoon / Community Coffee

Buy in bulk.

For buying in bulk, I’m not saying run out and spend money on a Costco membership but buying ahead of time and having stock under your counters, giving you less reason to go into the store, is another great place to start. Also consider buying non-perishable items in bulk. Buying bulk amounts of meat and dairy, unless you plan on freezing specific ones, may not be where you want to buy in bulk. You could even consider going old-school by taking a Saturday and canning fruits and vegetables from your local farmers market as a way to save bulk food. However, if you do have a Costco membership or a Sam’s membership or know somebody with one, why not take advantage and utilize it to its best potential? It’s better and more bang for your buck to buy in bulk and store away for 6 to 8 months (if you can find the room). Just don’t let me see you on the hoarders show.

Skip eating out as much.

All right friends, this is my guilty pleasure. Since having the girls, I definitely find us going out a lot less but this girl loves eating out and fine dining. This is a much easier way to start saving and not spending as much by not fully giving up eating out but by at least cutting back by 1/3 to a half. Try setting yourself a budget for the month of X amount of dollars for eating out and doing your very best to wait until the end of the month to spend that. See how far you can go! Set mini goals. You’ll find that even an organic grocery bill will be less than going out once you add tax and tip to the meal.

Start buying for Christmas now (sales).

Summer time is the best time to shop sales. Start thinking about or making a list of people that are guaranteed to be on your Christmas list and see if there’s anything on sale now for them. Sure, at the end of the year someone is always gonna pop up on your list but at least you’ll be ahead of the curve on shopping for Christmas with a budget. Now is also a great time to look into slow fashion fall winter items such as leather boots leather jackets things that are going to be full price when it’s cold. Nordstrom, Target, Amazon, and Etsy are great sites to find sales and deals.

Trade services.

I love the idea of trading services. Maybe you have a skill that you could trade with a friend. If you know how to play the piano you could teach someone’s kid how to play and maybe they know how to do taxes and you can trade services. Probably a far-fetched idea there, lol but you get my point. Maybe cleaning someone’s home in exchange for fixing your air conditioner is something that could even help out a friend more than you realize.

Clean with less. Chemical-free cleaners to use: vinegar and baking soda. First of all, you’re getting rid of so many bad chemicals inside your home. I won’t stand on a soapbox about bad products but this is a good way to save costs on name brand cleaning products by using simple things such as baking soda, vinegar and powder tide. Do you know that you can clean an entire house, top to bottom, with these three items? The costs you save will be shocking! The only other item you might need is a good dishwashing soap.

Buy what you can off-brand.

When it comes to the subject of buying things off-brand, I’m a little iffy about it. Certain foods, and brand of foods, I refuse to buy off-brand. For example, Campbell’s Soup in any of my recipes. I refuse to buy off-brand because I’ve tried it and it definitely has a different taste. With that said, there are for sure paper towels, toilet papers other household items that you can buy off-brand and will probably not notice the difference. Buying inexpensive Target items versus going to Nordstrom and buying a more expensive tea won’t really make a difference but it will in your budget.

Save coupons.

Did someone say coupon wars? Have you seen that show? It blows my mind how people can literally buy groceries on the dollar for a family of 4 to 6. By all means, I’m not saying organize a book with coupons in it but I am saying look and see if you can’t find your newspaper online or app savings to help you lower your grocery costs. Target has a great weekly ad for all of their coupons, check it out each week to see what you can save on!

Cook larger meals and freeze or eat left overs.

Cooking larger meals and freezing your leftovers seems old-fashioned, but it’s a really good idea. Think of cooking things that taste better as leftovers. Things like Bolognese or a spaghetti. Trust me, our parents and grandparents were onto something. Try a roasted chicken, pulled, and freeze the leftovers instead of letting them waste away in your refrigerator. Some of us are guilty of thinking we’ll eat leftovers. Freeze them right away instead.

Sell on poshmark, craigslist or ebay.

This idea of budget-friendly is a little bit more involved. It’s going to take some time but when you’re done, you’re going to feel so good! Clean out all those things you’re never going to wear and sell online. You’ll have extra cash and a less cluttered home. Poshmark, Craigslist and eBay make it easy to sell and communicate with buyers online.

Don't overbuy groceries.

Sure you may go to the store more frequently, but make it a goal to eat everything you buy. I’ve been working on getting better on this topic the last couple of months but I’m so guilty of overbuying groceries. This for me is a huge way to cut out wasteful spending. Like I said, you may be going to the grocery store a little bit more often but if you find yourself doing that and spending more in the end, try ordering groceries online and doing curbside. This has been the best budget crunch for me as a whole. You see the running total as you’re checking out and can set yourself a budget weekly when ordering on an app. Plus, you don’t have to walk 10 aisles over to put back an ingredient. Most of the time, we end up just buying what’s in our cart at the store so we don’t have to put it back. Those little items might be cheap but they can add up! Hitting the little x on your online cart is so much easier.

Buy quality items that will last longer.

If you know me, and most of you do, I love good quality, slow fashion items that last versus buying something cheap that will break and you have to buy it three times. In the end, it will end up costing you more money than just buying quality pieces. I learned this from my mom. Passing on such a valuable lesson to you. You’ll hear me say this time and time again ‘it’s better to save money and buy once than to spend a little bit over and over again’. This is a foundational principal of ANEA HILL. You know I care about the quality of each item and having it be sustainable to last you for years to come. Thanks mom for teaching me this, I miss you!

Final Note: if you have the means to help others, do it!!

After creating all of these tips for you, I started thinking about how so many of us are fortunate. If you’re one of the lucky ones and have the ability to help someone else, why don’t we take this opportunity to help them save money in a time that’s unknown? Help them take a load off and a worry off their plate. Think about how nice it is when you have a friend help you out without you having to ask. Maybe you could make dinner for them, babysit for them, help them clean out their garage or maybe… do you dare help them clean their house because they can’t afford cleaning service. Can you imagine how you would feel if someone went out of their way to help you do something like this? You’d probably never forget the feeling.

Take these ideas and run! Whether or not we dive into a long recession, it’s smart to financially buckle down each month. You’ll be more successful in the long run!