If you’re wondering how exactly you can learn to manage your money, don’t worry: there are absolutely ways that you can do so without missing out or without enjoying your life any less. Here are a few simple things that you can do to save some of your hard earned cash.
Look For Deals
First of all, it’s time to start looking out for deals when you’re shopping, whether you’re buying clothes or you’re at the grocery store. Deals can help you save, whether that’s buying your favourite shampoo on a surprise half price deal or buying pasta and rice in bulk so that you can store it at home. The most important thing to remember is that you shouldn’t buy something that you wouldn’t purchase if it wasn’t in a deal – that just means you’re spending instead of saving money.
Make A Budget
It’s time to start making a household budget. Obviously that doesn’t sound like much fun at all but if you’re simply not sure where all your money ends up going every month, you should start writing down your incomings and outgoings so that you can start to figure it all out. A lot of the time, smaller purchases like daily coffees and lunches and rounds of drinks at the bar can really start to add up and wipe out your salary every month without you even realising it. Making a budget will help you see where you’re going wrong and where you can start saving.
Start Investing Your Money
A lot of us are a little too timid to start investing our money – we want to leave it to the bankers and traders because we think they really know what they’re doing with money. But let’s face it: the global financial crisis has taught us that we really can’t rely on financial bigwigs to take care of our cash. If you want to learn how to invest your money in stocks and shares, check out this Binaryrobot365 review for a program that can help you out and do all the hard financial work for you.
Get Fit In A Different Way
If you make a habit of paying your gym membership every month but you never really end up actually getting down there to get fit, it’s time to cancel that membership and walk away from that money – stop wasting it and start saving it instead. Think about different ways to get fit that cost a lot less. Running in your local park is much more enjoyable than running on a treadmill at the gym, particularly in the summer when the days are long and there’s much more light so that it feels safer. You could also start going to a class instead of to the gym – a lot of people love yoga and pilates, which might just help to improve your core muscles.
Check Out Your Local Thrift Stores
If you don’t want to give up your fashion habit then it could be time to start looking in your local thrift stores for second hand clothing instead of spending all your money at the mall and on online clothing stores. Not only are they a little more inexpensive than buying new clothes, but you might also get some great pieces – vintage will always be in, and we all know that the nineties look is in at the moment. Be adventurous about the pieces that you combine together.
Ditch Your Credit Cards
If you tend to use your credit card to pay for most things, why not challenge yourself to only use cash instead? It’s a lot harder to part with a few banknotes than it is to slap a credit card down, which means that you might end up spending less. It’s also a lot easier to go over your weekly budget with a credit card, whereas if you’re only using cash then you can see exactly how much you’ve got left. Save your credit card to be used as a back up if you’re short of money or if you have to make a big purchase – otherwise, it’s a good idea to stick with cash.
Start Meal Planning
If you start meal planning, you’ll probably start to save a lot of money simply because you won’t be wasting nearly as much food. Look into dishes that you can take to work the next day as your lunch as well, like pasta bakes and lasagna that you can heat up the next day at work. You could also roast a chicken and then make cold chicken sandwiches for yourself the next day. Planning your meals will make sure that you won’t have to throw away a load of food at the end of the week, which in turn will help you spend less – and stop feeling guilty about wasting food!
Ditch Your Car
It could be time to ditch your car – they’re expensive to run and a lot of people don’t use their cars nearly enough to justify paying for parking spaces or for insurance costs. If you live near a good public transport system, then it’s time to think hard about whether you could sell your car and start getting the train or bus to work instead in the mornings. Bear in mind that not having a car is a whole lot easier if you don’t have kids!
Stay At Home More
If you’re a social butterfly, take a look at your own home and start to figure out how you could start spending time there instead of going out quite as much as you do. A lot of the time, when we go out we tend to spend a lot of money – we go from restaurants to bars and spend a lot on overpriced cocktails, or we go out for brunch and end up spending some money when we go shopping afterwards. If you’re catching up with your friends, why not invite them over to your place instead for a movie and video game night? You could make your own pizza – or order it if you’re feeling lazy – and make popcorn while you’re watching a movie instead of paying vast sums of money for movie theatre snacks.
Teach Your Kids About Money
If you have kids, it’s good to start teaching them about money from as young an age as possible. Giving them an allowance each week is a good idea because it helps them to learn to budget, which is a skill that they’ll be able to take forward in their lives in the future, meaning that as adults they’ll find it easier to not ‘accidentally’ spend a little too much when they go away to college or move into their own places for the first time. It’s a good idea to make sure that they have to do something like household chores in order to get their allowances – you have to work hard to make money, and even from a young age it’s important for children to understand that.
Make Your Home Eco Friendly
Finally, it’s time to make your home eco friendly by reducing your energy bills. During the winter, it’s important to make sure that your house is well insulated to keep the heat in – and likewise, in the summer it’s important to ensure that your home doesn’t let too much of the cool air out if you have an air conditioner. Invest in eco friendly light bulbs – these last longer and use a lot less energy, meaning they’re much better for the environment and your bank account.
