10 financial hacks to get relief from the inflationary heat this summer

These days, sky-high food, gas, shelter and other price pressures can make it seem like there’s nothing left in the budget after the bills are paid and other life essentials are covered. Most American pocketbooks are getting hit by a consumer price index that in May had risen to 8.6% over the last 12 months. But those service member and Veteran households with constrained earnings potential or on fixed incomes are especially impacted.

Even in this environment, it’s possible to save for something special and for the future, argued Army Veteran Lynn A. Olavarria, an accredited financial counselor and program manager for the Fort Bragg Army Community Service Financial Readiness program.

In a presentation at the 2022 Virtual Military Spouse Symposium in May, Olavarria outlined her financial hacks for improving your financial well-being and relieving some of the inflationary heat this summer:

Budget, spending hacks

1. Create a zero-balance budget. Every household should have a “zero-balance budget” tracked on an app, spreadsheet or another preferred tool, Olavarria said. A zero-balance budget accounts for every dollar, even money left over after bills are paid. The extra monies could be put toward the next month’s bill or an entertainment fund but it must be assigned somewhere so there are “zero” unaccounted-for dollars. Olavarria also suggested color-coding your spreadsheet to make budget categories stand out, indicate when funds have cleared the bank and add creativity to the process.

2. Review membership, streaming and subscription services. Regular check which entertainment charges are coming out of which accounts, and whether you still use what you’re paying for. “This is a great hack,” Olavarria said. Do you still require the paid version of a subscription, or could you downgrade to the free version? Did you stream a service for one show on a channel you’re no longer watching? Assess the value of these monthly charges and save money by canceling what you’re not using, she said.

3. Make a meal plan, list the groceries you need and shop online. Buying groceries based on planned out meals is a great way to conserve the food budget, she said. And if you link your grocery list with online shopping services, you can track that you’re buying only what you need for the planned meals. In a way, she said, this is the modern version of the classic hack: “Don’t shop when you’re hungry.”

4. Implement allowance/cutback plans. Olavarria said another way to watch spending is to give yourself or members of your household an allowance and live within those means for an established period of time before issuing a new allowance. Or use paper or digital envelopes to set aside cash or funds for specific categories in the budget so you don’t overspend in any one area.

5. Pay bills on credit cards to earn extra perks (but only if you pay the balance in full every month). Olavarria said her friends who are disciplined reap the rewards of credit cards with rewards by using them to pay certain monthly bills. Use this method with caution, however — credit cards have high interest rates if you carry a balance, and some have an annual fee, which must be budgeted. But done efficiently, this hack leverages the bill-paying process to earn you cash back, airline miles and other rewards offered by some credit card companies.

Savings hacks

6. Save automatically. Think about what your time is worth, and “pay yourself” this amount as savings at certain intervals each month. Start by “setting and forgetting” an automatic savings plan through your bank. Once the account is built up, use it to pay down high-interest debt, take a vacation or start a retirement account.

7. Set aside funds for emergencies (and save on warranty costs). If you’re saving automatically, Olavarria suggested opting to set aside the funds for home/vehicle emergencies instead of paying for costly extended warranties.

8. Take the 52-week money challenge. This simple challenge can be made fun for the whole family, Olavarria said. Make an incision into a shoebox. On week 1, deposit $1 into the box; on week 2, deposit $2; and so on. By week 52, with your deposit of $52, the box should contain $1,378 in savings, to be used for the budget category of your choosing.

Holiday, military/Veteran discounts, resource hacks

9. Check for military and Veteran discounts. Search for and ask about discounts offered to members of the military and Veterans. These are listed in blogs at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA; https://blogs.va.gov/VAntage/85765/veteran-discounts-available-year-round), in stories posted on RallyPoint’s Command Post site (https://www.rallypoint.com/command-post) and elsewhere online. If you haven’t done so already, Olavarria said you can get alerted to additional discounts and perks at the commissary with a rewards card (https://www.commissaries.com/rewards-and-savings/rewards-card) and with the Army and Air Force Exchange Service Digital Garrison app (https://apps.apple.com/us/app/digital-garrison/id [login to see] ), which tailors offers based on your location. Ask about other discounts available (but not widely advertised) through your internet service provider and locally based businesses, she added.

10. Get the FINRED SEN$E mobile app. For additional financial tools, calculators, interactive elements and other budget-oriented resources, Olavarria suggested downloading the Department of Defense (DOD) Office of Financial Readiness (FINRED) free mobile app for your iPhone or Android device.

Learn more

DOD Office of Financial Readiness: https://finred.usalearning.gov

Military OneSource Financial Counseling: https://rly.pt/3aAFZOV

Military Saves: https://militarysaves.org

Archived presentations from Virtual Military Spouse Symposia, 2017-2022: https://rly.pt/38cnkYI