So many of us struggle to keep track of our spending and balance fun and excitement with the need for long term security. The good news is that you don’t have to sacrifice your hobbies or interests in order to be a master saver. All you need to do is make some subtle changes in your everyday habits.
Prioritize
Yes, you’ve probably been told this before, but prioritizing is just as important when it comes to money as with every other aspects of your life. Prioritizing doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy yourself, or treat yourself every once in a while. But it means that treats and enjoyments are planned within a proper budget.
For some, this means being able to try out new slot games as soon as they hit the casinos, and for others it means being able to take a weekend trip to somewhere fabulous on a quarterly basis. Whatever floats your boat, it’s possible to achieve, as long as you get a proper overview of your finances and make sure you put away enough money every month.
Different Methods for Saving Money
Often, we think about saving money as the automatic transfer we make as each paycheck rolls in. While automatic transfers can be a great way of setting up a savings account, there are also more fun ways of saving money. There are several different apps than can help you save money; for example, by transferring money on every strange holiday (such as pi day), or every time you use your debit card, or every time you take a packed lunch to work.
These apps make it easier to save money without thinking about it, and will have you fattening up your savings account in no time at all.
Small Changes, Large Effects
Saving money isn’t just about the money you put away, it’s also about the money you choose not to spend. It might seem difficult at first, but if you set up a detailed budget, you may find several aspects of your life where you can make small changes that ultimately will have a large impact on your budget.
One example of this is to do meal prepping every week. Preparing lunch in advance saves you a ton of money on takeout and eating out — and an added benefit is that its usually also better for your health. When it comes to food, having a weekly plan can be a huge benefit to your budget as well, even if you don’t prep your food in advance. Limiting grocery shopping to one or two days a week will greatly limit your chances of impulse buys and keep unnecessary costs down.
Subscriptions and Recurrent Purchases
When it comes to subscriptions to things such as TV, newspapers or streaming services, you should refer back to the prioritizing. Do you really need this subscription, or are your needs already met by another subscription? Secondly, if you do have many recurrent purchases or subscription type expenses, the chances are there are ways you can make these more affordable.
In some cases, a subscription will be less pricey if you opt for a longer subscription time. This can be true for gym memberships, transportation cards and online storage options, and choosing the correct options here can save you a lot of money in the long run. It’s therefore very important to not only think of what can save you money now, but also of what can save you money in the future.
Plan, Think and Evaluate
All in all, the most important thing you can do is to constantly plan ahead, think while you’re spending, and then evaluate your choices. This way you can be more mindful about where your money is going, and what you can do to save and make changes where possible.
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Greetings, Len! I’ve been reading your site for some time now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Austin, Texas! Just wanted to say keep up the great work!
Thanks, Gwen.