Want to Save More Money This Year? Put it on Your Calendar

• For example, if you need to get out of the house, then block out Friday afternoons for grocery shopping, dinner, and maybe a movie.
• However, on Thursday and Saturday, put the brakes on your spending and look for free activities, like going for a hike and making your meals at home. 

Many locations offer certain popular family attractions for free on certain days of the week, such as museums and aquariums. In addition, you can usually save money at your favorite restaurants during the midweek period.

To make sure that you can take advantage of these deals, mark them down in your Calendar. Of course, you don’t have to partake every. But, at least it gives you options when trying to save money.

In addition to recurring bill payment dates, you should also mark the due dates of your personal federal and state taxes for the upcoming year on your Calendar.

Moreover, you should also schedule the following"

• Appliance warranty dates. Note on your Calendar how long it is until the warranty expires.
• Vehicle maintenance and inspection dates. 
• Household repair and maintenance. 
• Insurance. Check all of your insurance policies, whether your home, auto, life, or renters. It doesn’t hurt to know about these dates in advance, even if you receive alerts from companies during the year.

• You may have taken advantage of Netflix’s free trial because you had to check out that new Ryan Reynolds flick. But, if you aren’t using Netflix after that trial ends, make a note to cancel it before you get charged.
• Or, maybe you used to love going to the gym but now prefer to work out from home. Cancel your memberships instead of forking over this money each month.

Many money-saving challenges run over an extended period of time, like an entire year. However, if you set a resolution to save long after January 1, you can still start any of these saving challenges whenever you want. And to track your progress, you’ll also need to rely on your Calendar as well.

For example:

• Dollar savings challenge. Set a goal of saving a dollar each day. You can keep this up throughout the entire year to build your savings fund in a manageable way.
• $20 savings challenge. Is saving $1 a day too easy for you? How about multiplying it? Put aside $20 each week for the year.