It seems too easy for us to spend our money—impulsive shopping, spontaneous road trip or weekend travels, and the likes. Eventually, we find ourselves living paycheck to paycheck with little to no savings.
That’s what happens when you live a “one-day millionaire” lifestyle. Regardless if you’re still studying or already working a 9-to-5, it’s never too late to change your way and means of living and save for your future endeavors; or most importantly, save a cash for your rainy days or unexpected emergencies. It’s better to be prepared than sorry later on.
If you find yourself currently in a financial slump, time to get your finances straight—learn how to spend less and save more:
No more $5 coffee. Yes, you read that right. It’s time to cut back on your branded coffee and switch to home brewed or your office coffee maker. It’s understandable how much you need that caffeine kick each morning but what we don’t understand is why the need to spend so much on a cup of coffee you can make at home?
Cancel your subscriptions. And any other membership fees for that matter. Do you really read all your magazine subscriptions? Do you think working out twice a week or even rarely is worthy of your gym membership fee? Cancel your subscriptions. You won’t even notice you’re no longer receiving any magazines or newspapers. Plus, a quick jog around the neighborhood could be better (and practical) than running on treadmill.
Turn off the temptation. Receiving your paycheck after days or weeks of hard work can be truly tempting to spend on items you don’t need but want (those are two different things). It can be tempting to reward yourself with a cool new gadget or trendy sneakers but as much as possible, try to control your temptations.
Always ask yourself this before you purchase anything: do I need it or just want it? If you need it; and it’s important and urgent, you can buy it. If you only want it, you might want to skip on it; think hard if you really want it and if after 30 days prior to seeing it you still want it, that’s the perfect time to reward yourself and purchase it. But again, as much as possible, do not feed your temptations.
Look for great deals. You step into a store and find a new oven you need terribly to replace your old barely working one, you look at the price and you just gasp and walk away from it. You need not fret. Keep your eyes out for sales and discounts and other great deals offered by them!
This goes the same for other stores as well. It may take a little more time before you can buy these stuff but timing is everything and a pocket-saver!
Pay your dues on time. Missing on loan, credit card and debt, rent, utilities and other payments means paying late fees and other additional charges. If you frequently miss on these dues, the total amount of your late fees could mean a hefty cash wasted. In this kinds of situations, it’s better to be on time than late.
Prepare your meals. How many times a week do you grab your breakfast, lunch or snack time in a fast food or convenience store? And how much money were you shelling out for this each month? Now, take a look at that number and imagine how many healthy meals you can make at home with that amount.
Set a financial goal. And finally, the very backbone of saving and achieving financial stability is setting a goal and keeping track of your progress. If your goal is to save $200 in a month, try setting up small, more doable goals that contributes to reaching your ultimate goal. For instance, save up $50 weekly, in 4 weeks, you’ll achieve your goal of saving $200 monthly.
Not everyone is smart with money; it’s a useful and beneficial skill to get a good grasp of. The reason why it’s a skill not everyone has is because not everyone has a strong self-control and self-discipline when it comes to managing finances.
Have you got any more smart money tips that can help our readers? Don’t hesitate to share it with us!
About the author: Chie Suarez has spent time figuring out ways on saving money and stepping away from her go-to retail stores. She then became a writer for Speedy Money which offers hassle-free loans services.