After a year of lockdown you might be ready to start spending more and go out after all the time. Inflation is also causing prices to rise. According to the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index (which includes energy, groceries, and other goods), consumer prices rose 5% in May compared with a year ago. This is the largest gain since August 2008. It pays to be wise about your spending.Get a clear view of your financesBlend ImagesLook at your entire financial picture before you open your wallet. This will help you identify which areas need attention and where there is room for improvement. Add up all your assets. This includes the money you have in savings, checking, investment, retirement, and investment accounts. Also add the value of your home or other properties. Add up your liabilities (e.g. student loans, car loans, credit card balances) and you will get the total value. The answer to this equation is assets - liabilities = networth. This will show you where your finances are at the moment.Reassess your post-pandemic spendingDigitalVisionYou may have had a different financial plan or priorities than you want to now. Consider what you will be spending your money on again, such as dining out or traveling, and include it in your budget. Jamila Souffrant, founder of the financial education podcast "Journey To Launch", said that the goal of the podcast is to help you have both the right balance. You may have realized that there are some things you don't need and others you cannot live without over the past 15-months. Write down what is important to you. Next, analyze your spending and determine if you can cut back on any. Learn more from Invest in YouFive ways you can spend money to make yourself happierOne student's success story: How to get more college aidHow to find your retirement spending rate. One way to do this is to cut at least one recurring expense, and save what you would have spent. It is possible to reduce the number of streaming services you use by reducing it to three. You can put the "extra" money in an account to be used for new splurges and new spending priorities. Reverse any changes made during the pandemic such as a decrease in retirement contributions. The pause was also for student loans, which will resume in October. Make sure you have an emergency fund before you spend your paycheck. Experts recommend having at least three to six month's worth of living expenses saved.Rework your monthly budgetThe "60% Solution" budgeting strategy is a good option. The "60% Solution" budgeting strategy uses 60% of your gross income. This is all the money that you receive each month. It includes taxes, housing costs (rent/mortgage and utilities), credit card, and any other expenses you need to pay. The remaining 30% go to savings. 20% goes to long-term savings; 10% goes to short-term savings such as your emergency fund or a large purchase. You can spend the remaining 10% on anything you like.Refrain from the temptation to indulge in splurgeiStockAccording to Carrie Rattle (CEO and founder of Behavioral Cents in New York), people are experiencing freedom, euphoria, and relief post-Covid. She said, "It's easy to take that emotional release into shopping for material goods." Be sure to think through your purchase before you place it in your cart. Are you currently using one? What are your current usage habits? It can be helpful to track your spending. Write down everything you have bought and the amount. This will help you identify patterns such as spending situations and websites you spend a lot of your time on. Rattle stated that if we can see how much we spend each week, it can reduce our desire to shop more.A debit card and budgeting apps are also good ways to prevent you from spending too much. When we know exactly how much money is coming out of our accounts today, we spend less. Rattle suggests that you avoid taking a "shopping break" at work or during the day. If you feel like giving up on a project or are tempted by the temptation to grab your phone, don't go shopping online. Instead, take a break and do something else.The bottom line
