Tag Archives: Tips for saving money

5 Tricks to Save Money

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Always use cash.

We now live in the days of Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other digital wallets. Holding your phone up to a machine really doesn’t feel like you’re spending money – but if you check your account online, you’ll see that you definitely are. Even if you don’t want to take out an exact amount of cash each week, just spending cash will feel a little more personal each time you complete a transaction. This may be enough to keep you from buying things you don’t really need.

Write down every penny.

Instead of checking your mobile banking and making sure “it looks right,” try keeping a spreadsheet of every receipt you’re spending. This is highly annoying and it just might make you want to accumulate fewer receipts, which means less spending. Just make sure you have fewer receipts because you are not spending as much, and not because you stopped keeping up with them.

Be kept accountable.

Want to spend less? Tell your friends and family. Tell them you want to cut back and you need their help. You might be surprised about how your habits change when others are constantly asking you how you’re doing financially.

Get a blanket and a fan.

If you want to save money the easy way, turn down that thermostat in the winter and turn it up in the summer. You may be hotter/colder than you’d like, but it’s an easy fix and it will definitely save you some money.

Don’t buy name brands.

Sometimes the store brand is just as good (and probably manufactured in the same facility) as that name brand you may be paying double for. Giving up a few of your name brand purchases each month could pay for your Netflix account, gas for the week, and so on.

Article source: John Pettit for CUInsight.com

How to Build Your Savings

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Many Americans have little to nothing at all saved up. In the event of any emergency, most people just don’t have any resources to weather the blow. It can be difficult to understand how to build up your savings, but the key is to start little by little. Nothing is impossible once you get started. Here are five tips to help you:

1. Evaluate Your Priorities

To be successful at saving, you have to understand why you need to do it. We all have goals in life. What are yours? When you have a better understanding of what you want to achieve in the short and long term, you can then make plans to save for them. It’s very important to understand what your priorities are, because the reality is that you can’t spend on everything you want to. Be strategic with your budget and only spend where it can help push you further in life.

2. Make Small Changes

Your savings isn’t going to multiply overnight. Results will take time. Many people make the mistake of trying to save too much too soon. When you make too many drastic changes to your life at once, it’s difficult to sustain the effort. You’re likely just to go back to your old, bad spending habits. It’s best to start small and do little things that you barely notice, like making your own coffee in the morning or bringing lunch to work a few days a week. These small efforts sound minuscule, but the savings will start adding up.

3. Make It Automatic

Set it and forget it. That’s the name of the game. The easiest way to save is to make it automatic so that you don’t have the possibility of forgetting to make the deposit. Set automatic payment transfers from your checking to your savings account. You can do this for days you get paid. Start with small transfers and then increase them over time. Eventually, you probably won’t even notice anymore.

4. Get a Side Gig

If you’re just making ends meet and your budget is bare-bones already, it’s probably going to be difficult to start saving no matter how hard you try. In that case, it’s wise to find additional streams of revenue. Many people these days can make extra income right from the comfort of their own home, doing things like freelance writing or graphic design. If you prefer something more hands on, you can moonlight as a handyman, dog walker, or sell crafts on Etsy. There are plenty of options out there for people of any skill set. You just have to find it.

5. Plan Ahead

Lastly, the most important thing to do is to plan ahead. Most of the time, people can’t save because they are caught off guard by their own spending. Be proactive and plan out your weeks and even months ahead. Try your best to stick to a budget and if you find yourself having trouble, adjust the numbers as soon as possible. The more you plan ahead, the easier it will be for you to save any amount of money.

Start small, and work your way towards financial freedom. The effort will be worth it in the end.

Article Source: Connie Mei for Moneyning.com