Americans have been hit by inflation and skyrocketing living costs, while fears of a looming recession continue to mount. Kia McCallister-Young, director of America Saves, joins Cheddar News to discuss how Americans can best stretch their dollar and save more money. 

Americans have been hit by inflation and skyrocketing living costs, while fears of a looming recession continue to mount. Kia McCallister-Young, director of America Saves, joins Cheddar News to discuss how Americans can best stretch their dollar and save more money.&nbsp;

National Savings Day: Top Tips to Save More Money 

well today is National Savings Day Day to remind people to take a look at their financial health and reevaluate their spending and savings habits while saving money currently. Top of mind, of course for many americans as inflation remains near a 40 year high in recession, fears continue to mount. It leaves many of us wondering what is in store for our finances in the future and how do we best prepare? So joining me now to go over some essential strategy is keum Mcallister Young director of America saves a nonprofit committed to supporting americans with establishing saving habits and building wealth key. I'm so happy that you're able to join me this afternoon. What are some of your top tips for people who want to save more in this environment? Yeah, it's really hard and also thank you for having me here today um to kristen um it's, it's really hard to say right now. Right? So some of those top tips when inflation is so high um is really you already kind of kind of said it reassessing your financial landscape, really looking at those spending and savings habits. Hopefully you have a tool where you're kind of tracking it. Um we have a tool that America saves that we call the spending and savings plan. So you can get really clear about what is coming in um what your expenses are and also what your savings goals are as well because you want to keep those front and center, but when it comes to very practical saving. Um some things that you can do, look at what you can reduce or remove from your spending right now. So a lot of times the subscription fees, sometimes we don't even realize they're still coming out of our accounts. So make sure you're looking at those bank statements and looking at every expense that's coming out. If there's something that you're no longer using that you no longer need um get rid of those, we call them, it's it's the holiday season and and coming up on Halloween, we call them vampire fees that they're just getting taken out of our account. We're not even aware of them. And then um also downgrading services as well. So like let's say you have netflix, you wanna keep netflix um but maybe you can go down a level right to save a little bit. Um and then there's also getting creative with finding additional income. So what are some ways that you can maybe leverage some the talents or gifts that you have um to increase your income? Maybe selling some things you're no longer using. Um Or again like if you're a janitor. Uh This is a great time to start talking about making christmas gifts for other people to maybe add some income so that you can get on top of your savings right now, there are so many options when it comes to savings accounts for consumers, how should americans shop around when it comes to finding the right savings account for them. Yeah. A lot of people are asking about high yield savings accounts right now, especially with inflation being so high. One of the small benefits of that is that savings accounts interest rates are a little bit higher so they want to take advantage of that. And while we can't endorse a specific product because we are a consumer advocacy organization, it's important that you take this opportunity to be empowered. So to really think about um the idea of thinking like a saver and growing your own financial confidence by being an empowered saver and this is a really good opportunity to kind of flex that muscle. So an empowered saver is an informed saver and that person can make the best decisions for themselves and their families based on your own unique financial scenario. So when it comes to looking for a savings account or even more specifically a high yield savings account you want to start with, what is your actual goal and objective for you? What's most important to you? Some of the things that have come up, especially when looking for a different um savings account or high yield savings account. Are is it important to you that the account have no fees associated with it or is it important? Most important to you that it has the highest interest rate um to to get returned to you or is it about having easy access to your money or is there some type of welcome bonus when you open it? Um Some people, it's really important that they can earn points or miles with their savings account. So really um really understand what your goal and objective is. Um and then do the research, right? So first it's about understanding your savings goal, then doing that research to find an account that meets your needs, that's being an empowered saver and it also increases your financial confidence at the same time. Yeah, I think in this current economic environment, we're all trying to do the best that we can of course when it comes to savings spending and investing. What's a general rule of thumb for americans in terms of how much money they should be setting aside in a savings account, a percentage for instance, of their their weekly monthly paycheck. Yeah. So that is such a hard question. It's one that we get all the time and with so many people having different financial scenarios, it's hard to say that here's the perfect number. I think the most important thing is that you're focused on building a a savings habit and that you're getting into the habit of savings and that you're making the right decision based on what's best for you and if you have a family, so there's no right answer. There's no wrong answer. It's about really understanding your unique situation. Um and then making the best decisions based on where you are because I can tell you a certain percent, but it may not be proud to you and where you are right now in life, you may not even be making a fair and living wage right now. That's the reality for a lot of americans. So it's not fair to say oh you should be saving this amount, it's about one making sure that you're building that have that savings habit and that you really understand your personal financial scenario and the goals that you have so that you can make a plan to get from Point A to point Z. I will add the one easy thing that you can do that you can feel good about no matter where you are in your savings journey is to make sure that you're saving automatically so that you have set up either an auto transfer with your financial institution or splitting your direct deposit to kind of steward some of that money to your own a separate savings account. Alright kim Mcallister young director of America saves joining me on this national savings day. A very important one, Kia! Thank you