Culture

Travel

Milestones

Overview

Fraud

Financial Pathways

Take a new approach to managing credit, savings and making smarter financial choices with expert advice from Life and Money by Citi.

Money

Well-being

Credit Cards

Banking

Lending

Investing

Citigold®

Citi Financial Pathways

Around the world, Citi has strategic locations where our employees go to work each day to support our core businesses and drive solutions for our clients. 

Products and Services

NavBar

Home

FooterNav

It can be challenging to fill your cart with fresh, healthy foods without draining your budget, especially with food costs on the rise. (According to the Consumer Price Index, food prices in December 2023 increased 2.7% from the same period the previous year.) &nbsp;&nbsp;
That&rsquo;s why we asked experts from the food world to share their top tips. From pickling and freezing to getting to know your local butcher, these ideas will help you shop smarter without skimping on quality.  &nbsp;
<h2>Shop your pantry first&nbsp;</h2>
Keeping basic ingredients on hand can help you save time and money, notes chef, restaurateur and cookbook author Michael Mina. If you check what&rsquo;s in your pantry before a grocery store run, you might find you&rsquo;ve got enough pasta for dinner or canned tuna for tomorrow&rsquo;s lunch without having to buy more. &ldquo;Having a well-stocked pantry with a nice selection of spices, nuts, legumes, grains and beans along with oils and vinegars, is the best way to get the most from your shopping and keep things interesting,&rdquo; Mina says. You can also stretch what you have &mdash; spices like paprika and cumin work just as well in enchiladas as they would in a curry dish or a chicken tagine, for example.
<h2>Befriend your butcher&nbsp;&nbsp;</h2>
If you get to know the people who head up different sections of your grocery store &mdash; the deli, bakery, produce, meat and seafood departments &ndash; they might tip you off to the best buys. &nbsp;
Often, &ldquo;they&rsquo;ll direct you to the best deals and freshest food,&rdquo; says Andrea Nguyen, author of several cookbooks, who reaps rewards like these regularly. &ldquo;The butcher will save me the steak that&rsquo;s on sale, and the fishmonger will cut me a center-cut filet when I ask so I don't have to buy the whole thing,&rdquo; she says. In the produce section, she adds, &ldquo;they&rsquo;ll even cut and sell you half a papaya or watermelon.&rdquo; Purchasing a portion you'll actually use is easier on your wallet and reduces waste. 
<h2>Freeze, pickle or ferment &nbsp;</h2>
When you buy produce in season, you get it at the most competitive price point and the prime point of ripeness, which means it&rsquo;s also more nutritious and flavorful. Then, if you freeze, pickle or ferment it, you can be eating seasonal produce all year long.&nbsp;&nbsp;
It&rsquo;s one of the best ways to save money and maximize nutrition, says registered dietitian and cookbook author Jill Nussinow. You can blanch and freeze firm vegetables such as carrots and eggplant and pickle or ferment produce with a high water content like okra, onions and green beans.&nbsp;&nbsp;
<h2><img src="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/lifeandmoney/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/65ca761820ac33393cb62607" alt="overspending-groceries_body_1428274217.jpg/"> Switch to store-branded products&nbsp;</h2>
From dairy to grains, canned vegetables to paper towels, store-branded or generic products are often as good as or better than branded ones,<s>.</s> and the savings can be as much as 70%.&nbsp;
<h2 xml:lang="EN-US">Store food in portions</h2>
Buying in bulk is often more economical, but only if you don&rsquo;t end up wasting the stuff.&nbsp;
That&rsquo;s why Nguyen suggests putting in some prep time. &ldquo;Portion out what you&rsquo;re going to use, then freeze the rest immediately,&rdquo; she says, and consider carving out some time on the weekend to <a href="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/culture/food/meal-prep-ideas-by-jenny-rosenstrach" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">prep</a><a href="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/culture/food/meal-prep-ideas-by-jenny-rosenstrach" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny"> a few recipes</a> (even freeze fully prepared meals) to help set you up for the week ahead. &nbsp;
<h2>Pay with a cash back credit card&nbsp;</h2>
A cash back credit card, or a rewards credit card that offers cash back or rewards points on grocery purchases, can help offset your food costs. In addition, many come with sign-up bonuses after you meet qualifying spend requirements within an initial time period as a new cardmember &nbsp;say, the first three months). &nbsp;
-- with additional reporting from Life and Money by Citi editors

These tips from a chef, a cookbook author and a nutritionist will help you save more and eat better. 

Overspending on Groceries? Here's How to Change That.

Being under one roof with other people isn't just about agreeing on paint colors or how to arrange the living room furniture.It also means finding equitable ways to share expenses that all can agree on. And, just as there are all types of living arrangements, there's also a variety of financial approaches that offer a sense that everyone is contributing fairly to the upkeep of the household. The common theme to maintaining a happy home? An open conversation.Judith Lu, founder of Blue Zone Wealth Advisors, tells her clients to have a transparent and honest conversation before entering into any living situation. "Lay out ground rules, like a prenup, so you don't have to fight about it later," Lu says.Nesting with your significant other? Sharing a place with friends? Living at home with family members? Take a tip from a range of roommates who found smart ways to broach the who-pays-what subject and fairly divvy up the expenses.<h2>The proportional method</h2>When New York City-based David Kowarsky and his girlfriend moved in together, he was earning roughly 40% more than her. Given the difference, they agreed to split major expenses according to income. For example, when it came to writing their $2,400 rent check, he paid $1,400 while she contributed $1,000.Their budgeting approach is known as the proportional method, which takes into account different income levels. The question of how to split expenses equitably came up before the two moved in together. Moving in together meant that Kowarsky's girlfriend, in graduate school at the time, would pass on the affordable graduate housing offered as part of her program. Kowarsky wanted to make living together an "easy decision," he says, and given the differing income levels, they both felt this proportional method was fair.<img src="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/rcs/lifeandmoney/storage/public/Citi-Shared-Spaces-02_web.jpg" alt="Illustration depicting "The Proportional Method" which is popular among couples with varying incomes where the higher-earning partner covers more of certain expenses. There is lightbulb that represents utilities, a modern high-rise that represents rent paid and a reusable grocery tote that represents money spent on food. For the hypothetical couples, utilities and housing are split on a 40%/60% ratio, while grocery expenses are shared by the couple taking turns making dinner." class="hero_listicle" />"It was relatively informal, but not too far from the proportional split," Kowarsky says. As for other shared expenses, they both pitched in about $200 a month toward utilities and household items. If there was any left over in the fund, they would use it together, such as for an at-home date night. When the couple bought bigger ticket items such as furniture, Kowarsky purchased the higher priced item while his girlfriend bought a piece more in line with her budget.To help manage shared expenses, Lu suggests pooling money in a shared bank account. Everyone can still retain their own bank account, but a shared account helps to keep things transparent and minimizes potential conflict about who paid what.Lu points out that when things are going well, there is no conflict, but she says, "if there's a fight, someone might say 'I make it possible for us to live here' or 'I paid for the cable bill.' Or maybe someone owes utilities or groceries." To that end, Lu advises that clear rules and transparency about the budget can help make bill-related conversations more straightforward and less emotionally charged.<h2>The multiple split method</h2>Another way to split expenses is to vary costs depending on use. Just as a bigger hotel room commands a higher price, a roommate with a larger room or an ensuite bathroom might pay more, hence the multiple split method.When Vandana Apte moved in with three friends in New York after college, the four split the rent evenly, even though the bedrooms differed in size. When two of the friends moved out, Apte and the remaining roommate decided to adjust how rent was split based on the room size. They turned to a multiple split method, which in their case was more of a 27/25/24/24 split.With total rent at $3,240, the person with the biggest room, and the most natural light, now pays $860 a month, the second largest room with windows is $810, and the two smaller basement rooms are $785 each. Apte and her roommate thought this split was "more fair" and they were transparent with new roommates about how the total rent would be divided.<img src="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/rcs/lifeandmoney/storage/public/Citi-Shared-Spaces-01_web_0.jpg" alt="Illustration depicting "The Multiple Split Method" which is popular among roommates, where common expenses are divided based on use. There is lightbulb that represents utilities, a townhouse that represents rent paid and a grocery delivery service that represents money spent on food. Hypothetical roommate split costs based on who uses more electricity and who has the bigger bedroom with amenities. Groceries are paid for individually." class="hero_listicle" />Marilyn Wechter, a psychotherapist and financial therapist in St. Louis, MO, says this arrangement is fair so long as the terms are clear and agreed upon first, noting that typically, whoever holds the lease gets to set the rules. "The important thing is to be really clear. Set what the expectation is," Wechter says.Other expenses were split evenly because "the size of the room has no bearing on how much electricity, gas or WiFi we each use," Apte explains. And, with four roommates, keeping the place clean is a priority for all. To save on hiring a cleaning person, they set up a monthly deep cleaning session during which everyone pitches in. "We all help clean pretty evenly" regardless of what someone is putting toward expenses, Apte says.As for keeping track of who-paid-what (especially with multiple roommates) Lu suggests using expense-splitting apps to stay on top of expenses. Automating payments can also help ease the burden of someone needing to be in charge of monitoring monthly bills or rent.<h2>The grab bag method</h2>As the name suggests, the grab bag method adjusts to suit the circumstances.Christian Garduno of Littleton, CO, lowered his monthly rent by moving out of his one-bedroom apartment and moving in with his father to share expenses. The arrangement was beneficial for both of them. Garduno's lease was up and he wanted to save up for his next move. Turns out that his father was also looking to cut back on expenses.<img src="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/rcs/lifeandmoney/storage/public/Citi-Shared-Spaces-03_web.jpg" alt="Illustration depicting "The Grab Bag Method" which is popular among young professions living in their childhood homes who kick in for some household expenses. There is lightbulb that represents utilities, a house that represents rent paid and a brown grocery bag that represents money spent on food. A hypothetical father and son split the costs in different ways depending on who uses more Wi-Fi, how many household tasks the son does and who buys the groceries and who does the cooking." class="hero_listicle" />When the two first started talking about how to share costs, his father suggested a 50/50 split. But Garduno knocked off $80 a month by offering to help his dad with certain tasks. As part of the agreement, Garduno washes his father's car and spends time helping him with budgeting and improving his credit score.When tasks get thrown into the cost sharing calculation, things can get tricky. For instance, adult children who move in with elderly parents to act as caregivers may not be thinking about money, but the issue will come up. Wechler advises that all parties define expectations clearly and make it a point to check in as needs or tasks shift. "It can't just be 'I'll do a little work' in exchange for paying less," she says. Sit down and define a concrete number for what "paying less" means along with the details of any contributions of time and labor.<h2>Talking it out</h2>There are many ways to split the shared costs, but there's only one way to make it fair: By talking about it ahead of time and coming to an agreement. By the same token, if one or more roommates' financial situation happens to change, that may call for a reassessment of the cost-splitting approach the household has adopted. Discussing money can be difficult, but Wechler advises acknowledging that right off the bat. "You can say, 'this is really awkward for me but I want to try to put things on the table,'" she says. Then, stay focused on what you want to talk about, and if the conversation starts veering into other areas, like feelings, try steering it back toward the financial details.Keeping the lines of communication open will make for a happier budget — and a happier home life, too.

3 Ways Roommates Can Share Living Costs Equitably

A budget can give you a clear path to live within your means and reach your money goals &mdash; and while it's a straightforward concept, there are some strategic steps you can take to set one up (and keep at it.)
Many people think of budgeting as setting limits on your spending, but it's more helpful to think of a budget as a map with clear directions detailing how you can reach your financial destination. "Budgeting gives you the freedom to say 'yes' to things that matter and 'no' to things that don't help you reach your goals," says Whitney Hansen, a money coach based in Boise, ID. "Most people view budgets as restrictive, but they are actually empowering."
Learning to live within a budget can require a little shift in thinking because "by saying yes to something you are saying no to something else," she acknowledges. But instead of focusing on all the things you can't buy, it's better to focus on what you are saying yes to, Hansen suggests." By getting your finances in order, you are saying yes to financial security, peace of mind and things that are directly in line with your values," she says. "Sometimes we just have to remind ourselves of that."
<h2>Map out the numbers</h2>
The first step in creating a realistic budget is having a clear picture of your income and how you spend it. A spreadsheet (digital or analog) is a handy tool for accomplishing this. First, add up your monthly take-home income from all your sources &mdash; regular salary, freelance, side hustle or some combination &mdash; and calculate your monthly average.
Once you know what income you have to draw from, you can start to track your spending. Use a pen and paper (get creative with a&nbsp;<a href="file:///Z:/lifeandmoney.citi.com/money/productivity/bullet-journal-financial-planning.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">bullet journal</a>) or a site or an app you trust to sort your spending into &ldquo;buckets&rdquo; such as mortgage or rent, utilities, car payment, internet, insurance, food, gas, entertainment and so on. Breaking down your spending into categories can help you figure out where you may be able to cut back.
To identify spending trends, you may want to try this exercise, Hansen suggests: Print the last 30 days of transactions from all your accounts. Write down three categories in which you either overspend or aren&rsquo;t sure how much you spend, such as &ldquo;eating out&rdquo; or &ldquo;online subscriptions&rdquo;. Choose a highlighter in a different color for each of these three categories and then go through every transaction highlighting those that apply and adding up the totals in each group.
&ldquo;This is incredibly eye-opening,&rdquo; Hansen says, because it allows you to see if there is a service you can cancel, for example, or any charges you&rsquo;ve forgotten that you have been paying. If you&rsquo;re struggling to figure out where you can cut spending, says Chicago-based money coach Tim Jordan, try asking yourself questions such as &ldquo;How much time will I spend on this?&rdquo; and &ldquo;How much fun do I have doing this?&rdquo; &ldquo;If the answer is &lsquo;meh,&rsquo; it&rsquo;s probably fine to stop spending money on it,&rdquo; Jordan says.
<blockquote>
Budgeting gives you the freedom to say "yes" to things that matter and "no" to things that don&rsquo;t.
</blockquote>
<img class="right_image" src="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/rcs/lifeandmoney/storage/public/web_GettyImages-913245664.jpg" alt="young girl dividing coins into 3 different jars. From left to right, one jar is labeled " />
<h2>Define your goals</h2>
Once you've determined what you truly can spend on, it's a good time to consider both your short-term and long-term goals. Short-term goals &mdash; buying a new car or paying off credit card debt &mdash; might be something you hope to achieve within the next year or so. Long-term goals stretch further into the future: saving for a home, college tuition or a retirement fund, for instance. It helps to do some research to estimate how much you'll need for each of these goals and to plot out a timeline if that applies.
Here's one example: After doing their homework on a long-term goal of buying a home so they could settle down and stop spending money on rent, New Jersey mother of two Alyssa Wolfe and her husband learned that if they saved enough to put a full 20% down payment on a house, they could get a more favorable mortgage rate. It took them five years, but they achieved their goal of saving for this payment by taking only family-related vacations, eating out less, cutting cable service and selling items they no longer needed. To stay motivated while in savings mode, Alyssa's husband had a side hustle of buying designer suits at thrift shops and re-selling them online. Those profits even helped them create a "fun money" fund for date nights and purchases beyond their everyday budget.
<img class="right_image" src="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/rcs/lifeandmoney/storage/public/create-a-budget_body-2_1340636182.jpg" alt="A couple creates a budget on their laptop" />
<h2>Stay open to adjustments</h2>
When you have a budget, you won't want to just set it and forget it; it's helpful to check in regularly to see if you need to recalibrate. That might mean monitoring your spending once a month and making small updates as needed. If you notice the cost of something (like a streaming subscription) changes, for example, you can ask yourself if it's something you can do without or, if it's still worth having, if there's somewhere else you can cut back. You might also want to do a more significant evaluation every year to address any bigger changes.
Sticking to a budget can help you better understand the tradeoffs you might need to make to meet a goal, and it can also help you clarify how much that goal really means to you. And while creating one does take some work, the upside makes it worthwhile. A budget can help you establish a mindset and good habits that put you in charge of your money and on the path to smarter, more values-driven spending.
&mdash; With additional reporting from Life and Money by Citi editors.

How to Create a Budget and Stick to It

If you're concerned about money you owe, it&rsquo;s possible you need a better debt management plan &mdash; and it's also worth noting you're hardly alone.
The average individual household carries $104,215 in debt, according to a recent report from the credit bureau Experian. That includes virtually every type of loan, such as a mortgage, car and student loans, plus home equity loans, credit card debt and personal loans.
In some ways, you should feel good about your debts. Owning a home or car, and even getting a college or graduate degree, can be viewed as investments &mdash; and fortunately, with a strategic debt management plan and some discipline, you can efficiently pay down debt, save more and propel yourself toward your financial goals. The advice below can help you get started.
<h2>Create a budget &ndash; and commit to it</h2>
Trying to eliminate debt without a budget is like searching for buried treasure without a map. <a target="_blank" name="_Int_FthV7GGj" data-link-source="tiny"></a>A budget helps you make a financial plan by showing you how much you have to spend on bills, retirement accounts, debts and even occasional splurges, like a vacation.
&ldquo;The idea of creating a budget can feel like a big hassle, but a simple way to do it is to go with the 50/30/20 plan,&rdquo; says Kimberlee Josephson, Associate Professor of Business Administration at Lebanon Valley College. &ldquo;Fifty percent of your take-home income goes toward needs while 30% goes toward wants, and the remainder &mdash; 20% &mdash; is for paying off debt or accumulating savings,&rdquo; she says.
Of course, every household is different, and you may decide to carve up your money by putting 25% or 30% toward debt and savings. But if you currently have no monthly budget, the 50/30/20 plan can be a good guideline.
<img class="right_image" src="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/rcs/lifeandmoney/storage/public/GettyImages-902787158_web.jpg" alt="woman in a denim shirt writes in a notebook with her laptop and her cell phone nearby on a wooden desk">
<h2>Factor in interest rates</h2>
An interest rate is the fee charged for borrowing money, expressed as a percentage of the amount borrowed. (The principal is the initial amount of money you borrow, and the interest is the cost of borrowing that money.) Loans of all types have interest rates. The average interest rate across all credit card accounts in May 2024, for example, was 24.37%, according to data from the Federal Reserve.
This number is high, indicating that for every $100 you borrow, you&rsquo;ll owe an additional $24 over the course of a year. The lower the interest rate, the less you'll pay in interest.
<img src="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/lifeandmoney/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/66c4e687cf85a6230bcbb2b1" alt="Dealing with Debt_1.jpg">
<h3>Simple Interest Formula</h3>
Principal ($100,000) x Interest Rate (3%) x Number of pay periods (15 years) = Simple interest ($45,000)
In the face of high interest rates, here&rsquo;s what you can do:
<h3>1. Put extra money toward high-interest loans.</h3>
With a well-organized budget, you might find that you're able to free up&nbsp;<del cite="mailto:Goldberg,%20Betsy%20[CLIENT-MCO]" datetime="2024-07-30T11:21">a</del> some funds to pay down your debt (without feeling like you're short on money for everything else). Move your debt to a lower-interest line of credit. You can do this by talking to your bank about refinancing with more favorable loan terms or transferring your existing card balance to a lower-interest card.
<h3>2. Consolidate multiple loans into a single loan.</h3>
This may be beneficial if the single loan has a lower interest rate than the other loans. Again, this is something you can discuss with your bank.
Consolidating debts can be a smart and realistic strategy for someone who feels that they&rsquo;re starting to compile too much debt but hasn&rsquo;t yet had a serious problem paying it off. These approaches can be effective for high-interest credit card debt or student loans &mdash; though to get the rates that will make it worth your while, you&rsquo;ll need <a href="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/lam/articles/money/credit/6-smart-ways-to-help-improve-your-credit-score" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-source="tiny">a solid credit history</a> (which means not having had a lot of late or missed payments to lenders). Borrowers with below-average credit or unstable income might not qualify at all.
Generally, if you&rsquo;re consolidating debts or doing a credit card balance transfer, this can be a good sign that it&rsquo;s time to focus on getting your debts paid off and under control, rather than adding to what you already&nbsp;owe.
<h2>Adopt an accelerated repayment schedule</h2>
If you want to save money and become debt-free faster, you need to do more than pay only your required monthly credit card minimums. Experts often recommend two approaches for this.
<h3>The debt avalanche method</h3>
The debt avalanche method entails ranking your debts and focusing on paying off the one with the highest interest rate first. You'll still make the minimum payments on all your other debts, but you'll put as much as you can toward the highest interest loan.
Despite the "avalanche" moniker, tackling the high interest rate debts first can be slow; if the money you owe is significant, you may not see much progress until suddenly, like an avalanche, you do. Once that debt is paid off, you work on the next debt with the highest interest rate.
<h3>The debt snowball method</h3>
Conversely, with the debt snowball method, borrowers aim most of their money allocated to paying off debts at the smallest loan first, regardless of the interest rate. The reasoning is that, psychologically, it can feel good to pay off something quickly, and your success may motivate you to work even harder at paying off the next debt.
Then, if you take the money you were using to pay off the first debt and add it to what you are paying toward the next debt, there will soon be a snowball effect (imagine a snowball going down a hill, getting larger and larger), because after each debt is paid off, you'll have more money to put toward remaining debts.
One downside of the snowball method, however, is that your larger debts will accumulate more interest as you focus on paying off the smaller ones. So, if you have larger debts with especially high interest rates, the debt snowball method might not be the right fit for you.
<img src="https://www.lifeandmoney.citi.com/rcs/v1/media/lifeandmoney/akpublic/storage/retrieveMediaFile/66c4e6054e6e9030ce401b08" alt="Dealing with Debt_2.jpg">
<h3>Debt Avalanche vs Debt Snowball</h3>
<h3>Debt avalanche:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Prioritizes interest rates</li>
<li>Pay off debt with the highest interest rate first</li>
<li>Move on to next highest interest rate debt after first is paid off</li>
<li>Pay less interest over time</li>
</ul>
<h3>Debt snowball:</h3>
<ul>
<li>Prioritizes balance</li>
<li>Pay off smallest debt first</li>
<li>Move on to bigger ones next</li>
<li>Build motivation by settling debts faster</li>
</ul>
<h3>Become a student of debt management</h3>
The way many people get out of debt is, essentially, learning everything they can about it. Reading up on compound interest and debt strategies, listening to financial podcasts or reading articles on paying down debt can all spur your debt-repayment progress.
After all, it&rsquo;s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day demands of life and to forget that, like brushing our teeth and getting a good night&rsquo;s sleep, if you&rsquo;re not following good money habits, you may start adopting bad ones, like borrowing more than you can pay back.
&ldquo;Essentially, money is a tool for transactions and for advancement, which is why debt can be debilitating,&rdquo; Josephson explains, but even people with limited means can leverage credit and dig out of debt, especially by persistently and consistently taking small steps.
&mdash; With additional reporting from Geoff Williams and Life and Money by Citi editors.
&nbsp;