The year 2020 had taught us some valuable financial lessons. A lot of people lost their jobs for a period of time, some businesses had closed permanently, and some families were forced to be one-income families. I don't think that anyone expected the turn of events last year and most of us are still experiencing the financial cost of it.  While this year brought another round of stimulus checks and improvements in the job market, expert says that the pandemic has a long -term financial impact (Pew Research).

Also Read: How to Thrive and Survive on a Single Income

    I have shared in this post, 6 Superb Ways to Build Your Savings Account some doable and simple ways to build your savings account. Depending on how much you plan on saving, this serves as a cushion or peace of mind plan. Other people suggest starting at $1,000 as a base amount to have in your savings account. I think that it is a great goal to start with and work your way up. You can even set categories such as which one is for your future, emergency fund, or a vacation fund. I can' even begin to tell you how much a savings category had helped us when an emergency expense came for us. Think of car expenses or job loss. Building your savings fund or saving money, in general, should not only be a thought for when you are thinking about your retirement plans.

   I am sure that this is not the first time that you have heard of this concept. The way my family does this is:  For when we are planning for a vacation and want to save money for it- we do a NO SPEND MONTH. We write it on our dry-erase calendar board to remind us that we are doing a no-spend goal for that particular month. What does a no-spend month look like? Fairly easy! We only shop the necessities such as food, gas, and medicine. No eating-out. No online orders. No replacing things that are not even broken. Both of our girls, ages 11 and 8 years old are always on-board on our no-spend month. Of course, getting them involved tremendously helped. There will be times where we had to remind each other, after all a month-long spending freeze involves a lot of self-control. A no-spend month is a great way to kick-start your saving money.

  Nowadays, there is always a subscription for something. Not just magazines anymore but there's channel, movie, razor, craft, cosmetics, and grocery subscriptions. There are subscriptions that do save you money and are worth your money. However, there are some subscriptions that you can let go. Consider making a list of all the monthly subscriptions you have and see which ones you actually use on a regular basis and live without. Little subscription fees do add up. Take advantage of the no-penalty cancellations, Try canceling a subscription for a month, and if affects your living then go ahead and subscribe again. Chances are you will move on and forget all about it, you save money in the end.

 Obviously, we can't talk about saving money without having a budget. There is nothing exciting about it. However, this I think is the most valuable step you can do to save money. You need to see where and how your money is being spent. Making a list of your income(s), bills, and spending gives you a foundation on how you can save money. I remember when we listed all of our bills, we thought about ways to lower our monthly bills. We used to have a cable but now use Sling TV. We called ur cellphone company to lower our monthly bill. We even changed our car insurance to another company. Let me tell you, we have been a AAA customer for years now but shifting to USAA saved us a lot of money. But do your research first as far as your needs and deductibles are concerned. When we saw how much our monthly credit card bills are hurting us, we made a vow to pay it all off. We are still working on our debts BUT had paid off a car and some cards.