4 Actionable Tips for Saving Money
All of us have good intentions when it comes to saving a bit of money, right? We might tell ourselves that we’ll begin saving when we manage to reach some sort of milestone, such as when we reach a certain birthday, get a roommate, or get a raise. However, the truth is that you’ll only begin to save money once you develop habits that are healthy when it comes to money.
Often, our money saving goals aren’t enough of a priority to keep us from purchasing the latest smartphone, TV, or kitchen table. This means that we spend our hard-earned money, or even worse, put ourselves into debt just to fuel our latest desires. All of that being said, with tweaks here and there with regard to our spending priorities, we can put ourselves on the fast track to real savings. Here are a few tips for doing just that.
Say Goodbye to Your Debt
It’s important to have goals for saving money – so we can take that vacation to play casino poker, have a down payment for a house, or buy a car, etc. To reach that goal, it helps to be out of debt. Monthly payments on debt can be the largest obstacle when it comes to saving money. It basically steals your income. The quickest way to pay that debt off is to begin with the smallest debt, pay that off, and move to the next smallest, and so on. Once you’ve freed that income up, you can put it to better use with your savings.
Cut Down in the Kitchen
If your savings goal is a vacation or anything else, one way to reach it is to take a good look at your budget. Most people are astonished when they realize what they spend on groceries. It’s simple as you’re walking through the store to pick up random snacks and other nonsense and put it in your cart. However, those little things add up quickly and can easily blow your grocery budget. Instead, plan your meals and only buy what you need. Pro tip: if your chosen store offers grocery pickup, use it. This will keep you from adding anything extra to your cart since you won’t be going into the store at all.
Cancel Automatic Memberships and Subscriptions
Chances are that you’re paying for memberships or subscriptions to things like Amazon Prime, gyms, Netflix, and more. A good way to save money is to cancel those that aren’t regularly used. Also, ensure that you turn the auto-renewal off whenever you do subscribe to something. If you decide next month that you’re still using it, get it again, but only if it happens to fit into your budget.
Generic
This money-saving tip is an oldie but a goodie. Most of the time, the only thing about brand name products that’s better is the marketing. Generic brands of things like staple food items such as beans and rice, medicines, paper products, and cleaning supplies tend to cost much less than their brand name counterparts, and work (or taste with food) just as well.
Finally, you can easily stop your cycle of only living from one paycheck to the next with a tiny secret – make a budget at the beginning of each month. This has to do with being intentional. It enables you to come up with a plan where you’ll be able to see where your money goes and determine the areas where you can save each month. Always remember that it doesn’t matter what you make, it matters what you spend.
