Filling up the gas tank? Nope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Going to the movies? Nope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Paying for day care? Nope.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Did you actually end up saving money <\/em>during the great quarantine of 2020? If you\u2019re like most Americans these last few months, you\u2019ve buckled down, you\u2019ve looked for ways to cut back, and you\u2019ve hoarded cash. You saved like saving was going out of style!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly 80% of Americans have saved money just by not going out to eat ($245 savings), not going on vacation ($1,400 savings), and not making major purchases ($5,700 savings)!1<\/sup><\/a> <\/sup>It\u2019s funny how much money you can save when almost everything known to man shuts down for a couple of months, isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n But what do you do now<\/em>? The country is beginning the slow roll out of opening back up again, and it seems like everywhere you turn, there\u2019s a killer sale, deep discount or splurge item trying to get your attention. But you don\u2019t have to fall for post-quarantine overspending! Don\u2019t let your cabin fever distract you from your budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve all been living in the same really strange science fiction novel. Stores were shut down, you didn\u2019t leave the house, and if you wanted to buy something, it was from the comfort of your living room and delivered to your front door. And after making it through all of that, <\/em>you (like a lot of people) might be looking forward to getting out there and having the freedom to shop, eat out, and go about your life like you used to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We get it. We all <\/em>get it. But just because you haven\u2019t set foot in a mall for a billion years, that doesn\u2019t give you permission to throw your budget out the window and fall for impulse buys<\/a>. Challenge yourself to live by this motto: If it\u2019s not in the budget, it\u2019s not happening. Plain and simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And remember, the budget doesn\u2019t have to be like a taser zapping you every time you try to reach in your wallet to spend some money. If you want to set aside some cash for fun spending<\/a>, go for it! Just make sure you\u2019ve already planned for it ahead of time in your budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everybody <\/em>has a sale going on right now. You\u2019ve noticed it too, right? Email after email is flooding your inbox, letting you know there\u2019s a sale out there with your name on it. Every company wants you to come and help out the economy by buying stuff from them<\/em>. How thoughtful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Hey, they\u2019re just trying to make sure their business stays afloat in these weird times. And that\u2019s totally fine! But if you\u2019re trying to steer clear of spending temptations, know that you\u2019ve got the power to use that unsubscribe button.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Did your next-door neighbor spend their stimulus check on a new tile backsplash in the kitchen (and they tell you all about it any chance they get)? Take a page from Frozen\u2019s <\/em>playbook on this one and let it go.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Comparisons, aka keeping up with the Joneses, will eat away at you if you\u2019re not careful. It\u2019s a slippery slope, and spoiler alert\u2014it doesn\u2019t lead to anything good at all. You\u2019ll start noticing all the things you don\u2019t <\/em>have instead of being grateful for the things you do <\/em>have. And at the end of the day, all that does is create a heart full of unrest instead of a heart of gratitude<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You don\u2019t have to go far (or even walk out your front door) to feel the bite of the comparison bug\u2014thanks, social media. Think about it: You\u2019re minding your own business, scrolling through your newsfeed, when a photo of someone\u2019s latest new tech gizmo, super hip room d\u00e9cor or brand-new home pops up. At first, you\u2019re genuinely happy for them, but then that twisty feeling hits you in your gut. You start to think about how you don\u2019t have those things\u2014and how much better your life would be if you did<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n And social media marketing doesn\u2019t help either. Ads target you based on the things you buy, the people or businesses you follow, and even your search history! Yeah, it\u2019s pretty creepy when you stop and think about it. So, if you\u2019re trying to keep overspending at bay, consider a social media break or at least limiting the time and attention you give to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All right, you\u2019ve stayed at home for months. You\u2019ve learned how to live without seeing other people, going to a salon, or wearing real pants. You even learned how to ration the toilet paper. It\u2019s safe to say you\u2019re somewhat of a pro at delayed gratification now. It\u2019s pretty easy to \u201cdo without\u201d when you\u2019ve gone without.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re trying to avoid splurging post-quarantine, then keep right on with delaying the gratification. What\u2019s that look like exactly? For starters, wait at least 24\u201348 hours before making a purchase (so you can really <\/em>think about it). And maybe you need to start a sinking fund<\/a> to save up for the expense you want.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Have you been making a dream list of some things you want to do post-pandemic? You\u2019re not alone! Here are some things people can\u2019t wait to splurge on:<\/p>\n\n\n\n We get it. We all feel like we\u2019ve been stuck in a box the last few months, but don\u2018t let that pent-up lack of spending lead you to do some serious retail therapy<\/a> that you\u2019ll regret later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s exciting to see businesses opening back up again, people getting out of their houses, and things getting back to a new kind of normal. And maybe your job is secure, you saved up a lot of money during quarantine<\/a>, and now you\u2019re eager to get out there and support some local businesses. There\u2019s definitely a way to stimulate the economy without going totally overboard with your spending. Here\u2019s how to do it:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shocker, we know. Bet you didn\u2019t see that one coming. Still, it needs to be said\u2014making a budget is just setting a plan for your money and telling it exactly what to do. The tricky part is actually sticking to it, but you can <\/em>do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whatever kind of spending you plan on doing, it\u2019s got to be in the budget. So maybe you add a few more bucks to your clothing budget or restaurant budget for the month. Or maybe you want to make a separate line item for eating at restaurants you want to support, sprucing up your front lawn landscaping, or adding a piece of non-loungewear to your closet. Use our free budgeting app, EveryDollar<\/a>, to give a job to each dollar in your budget. And whatever kind of spending you plan on doing, make sure you set a limit to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All right, so you\u2019re out of quarantine, your budget is locked and loaded, and you\u2019re ready to go. You want to support local business in your community, and the list of things you want to buy is growing by the day. Woah there, cowboy. Take a step back. It\u2019s time to make a list. Write down the items you\u2019re looking at or businesses you want to support. Then prioritize it all so you know what\u2019s most important to you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s say you set aside $100 in your budget for some post-quarantine spending. Your priority list will help you go through and figure out where your money\u2019s going to go. Maybe you\u2019re like a lot of people and want to go have a nice dinner somewhere, maybe you want to have a new paint color in your bonus room, or maybe you just want a haircut. Whatever it <\/em>is, put it on the list. And when you\u2019ve hit your budgeted amount, that\u2019s all she wrote!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure, supporting local business is great, but don\u2019t use that as an excuse to justify your overspending. <\/em>The economy will bounce back, and it doesn\u2019t need you dropping $5,000 on a new furniture set to do it. So don\u2019t let your spending get out of control! You\u2019ve worked hard to build up this nice little savings cushion (and maybe even got a stimulus bump<\/a> from the government), so don\u2019t go and blow it just because stores are opening back up again and you\u2019ve got pent-up spending to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you did<\/em> tuck away a lot of money during the pandemic, take that money and keep plugging away at the Baby Steps<\/a> (once things start to look stable for you). As life gets back to normal, make it a point to remember to live like you did during this season\u2014being thankful for what you have, living on less than you make, and favoring saving over spending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nearly 80% of Americans say they want to continue to save more and spend less post-pandemic.2<\/sup><\/a> <\/sup>And the great news is you can<\/em>! For years, we\u2019ve been helping people (almost 6 million people, to be exact) get their money to work for them, kick debt to the curb, and save for the twists and turns of life. Right now, you can learn a proven money plan when you snag a free trial<\/a> of Ramsey+ which features great courses like Financial Peace University<\/em>. Get on a plan that will help you make your saving goals a reality!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a9 Lampo Licensing, LLC. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Filling up the gas tank? Nope. Going to the movies? Nope. Paying for day care? Nope. Did you actually end up saving money during the great quarantine… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1531,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,134,8,5,56,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1530","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-covid-19","category-home","category-life","category-money","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1530","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1530"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1530\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1532,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1530\/revisions\/1532"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goodstuffconnections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}5 Tips to Avoid Overspending Post-Pandemic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Let the budget be your guide.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Unsubscribe to emails.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Let go of comparisons.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Take a break from social media.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Practice delayed gratification.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Things People Want to Splurge on Post-Pandemic<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Be Smart About Your Spending<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Make a budget.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Make a list.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Don\u2019t Blow Your Savings<\/h2>\n\n\n\n