SHOULD YOU CHANGE YOUR RV TRAVEL PLANS ?
MEAL PLANNING : It ’ s easy to get stuck making the same recipes over and over and using the foods we ’ re used to . But computers make it possible to shop sales and create a meal plan all in one place . Find out what ’ s on sale and plan meals around those items . So if the price of chicken goes up , cook with pork instead . If ground beef is expensive , look for ground turkey on sale . The point is to use what ’ s in season , on sale , and even unexpected .
GO MEATLESS : I know , crazy right 🙂 If I shared this with everyone at my dinner table they might say the same thing . So I don ’ t , I just do it and no one ’ s the wiser . Think homemade pizza and fresh salad . No meat , no problem . Pasta with finely diced mushrooms feels like a meat sauce but it ’ s not . I ’ m not recommending any specific diet plan here , but including a meatless day in your week can be less expensive at the check out and adds variety to your wheelhouse of typical family meals .
MAKE IT A GAME
THERE ARE SOME GREAT APPS OUT THERE FOR TRACKING OUR SPENDING AND SAVINGS AT THE PUMP . HERE ARE A FEW OF OUR FAVORITES :
GASBUDDY : GasBuddy boasts of saving people over $ 3 billion on gas over the last 15 years . They also share fun tips — like the fact that gas is cheapest on Sundays and Mondays .
AAA WAZE
GOOGLE MAPS
In addition to gas- and travel-specific apps , we recommend using a spending app like EveryDollar or Mint . These apps will quickly reveal where and what you ’ re spending across categories and line items . Categorizing our spending helps us to have more control over how we spend .
One of the things we like about our Apple card is that every purchase hits our phones directly . We can see exactly what we ’ re spending each day and where . What you see gets your attention , so this is a helpful way to keep on top of what we are up to financially .
These apps are also an easy way to showcase expenses to your family and kids . You can help them track expenses so they are part of the solution and not just being told to spend less . One solution gives an empowering perspective and the other has limiting perspectives .