Budgets are incredibly useful tools for building up savings and becoming aware of your spending habits. The catch is, even if you create a budget, it can be tricky to stick to it each month. So, I’ve come up with eight strategies to help you stay on track each month.

1. Plan ahead for events

Friend coming in from out of town? Big date night? Cool beer fest coming through? Plan accordingly! If you expect to be spending extra on entertainment, food, etc., plan ahead of time to calculate in which areas you can spend less this month to balance it out.

2. Pay yo-self

Make sure you have a separate savings account and set up an automatic transfer from your main account each pay period. This will set you up to hit your monthly savings goal, and you won’t even get a chance to see it (let alone spend it!)

3. Make a double dinner

I like to (generally) make enough for dinner during the week to be able to take it for lunch the next day too. Not only does this keep me from spending money on lunch, but it’s generally healthier too! Double win.

4. Stop some subscriptions

Subscription services are (obviously) huge these days. Take a peek at what your monthly subscriptions are and see if there are any you don’t really use anymore or if there are any redundancies you can cut out (do you really need Prime, Hulu, HBO and Netflix?).

5. Cut out apps & drinks

Appetisers and drinks can easily double your meal bill. Save them for home. You can even do a cute little at-home happy hour before you go out! Grab a bottle of wine to share from your grocery store for the same cost as a glass at the restaurant; the new, upscale version of your college pre-game.

6. Use a free app to track spending

There are a lot of free apps out there for tracking your budget. Personally, I use Mint. It links right to my bank accounts and automatically categorises my spending. It provides a view of where I am versus my budget in real time and notifies me if I go over in any area. There are a bunch of other good options though too: PocketGuard, YNAB, Wally and Pocketbook, just to name a few.

7. Grocery lists!

Plan your meals for the week ahead of time, make a list of what you need, and then follow that list like a dang bible in the grocery store. This will prevent those little impulse purchases - which add up very quickly.

8. Review and adjust with compassion