New Year’s all about resolutions and besides fitness, most of us make big plans for finance. Saving dough is not a big thing, actually. If you look at your expenses at a micro level, you will notice a lot of unnecessary expenditures which you wouldn’t even have noticed, right under your nose.
All of us want more money in our wallets. But it’s easy to take financial resolutions but difficult to stick to them. Rest assured, there are easy ways to save money. Saving up and preventing unnecessary spending will help you have a big balance at the end of the year.
Here are some tips which help you cut back, save and also make you feel like you are not depriving yourself.
Make a budget
Always make a budget to get an idea of what you are spending every month- include all expenses which aren’t monthly, like small trips. This helps you stick to a budget, save a small amount and identify areas where you are overspending.
Save with a purpose
If you think of saving as just for the heck of it- think twice. Try to save at least 15% of your income and set short-term and long-term goals for it. This will help you save more.
Short term goals include
- Saving for a dream vacation
- For a new car
- For expensive jewelry
Long term goals
- For a new business
- Saving for your new home
- Saving for your child’s education
Shop Around for Better Deals
One of the best ways to shop for essentials is to look up for deals. Getting your mobile phone connection? Go for it during the festive season when there are best deals. Fashion shopping, gym essentials? All these have periodic offers coming up time and again. Online shopping stores like eBay have great discounts on a range of products. You can check out the discount codes right here.
Keep checking out for the best sales and deals, call up services and you can try all the competitors and choose the most competitive priced one. Doing this periodically will surely cut down your expenses.
Buy Used or Refurbished wherever possible
Now this is something you might not like! But its actually useful when you buy items like kids toys and books which are used short term. Kids usually outgrow their toys pretty soon and many books are just tossed into a corner once they are read.
You can even use your library, many of which lend toys, DVDs etc. This will help you cut back on a lot on your expenses.
Shop farmers markets
This is for all kinds of grocery shopping which is your monthly essential. Farmers’ markets and wholesale shops offer all groceries, fruits and vegetables at a much lesser rate than most stores. Whats more, you can even get the freshest stocks from here!
Doing this every month will improve a chunk of your savings.
Start Investing Early
Begin your investmenst early and don’t wait till you start earning big. After all, the best time to start is early in life. Have different investment strategies like FDs for retirement, stocks and mutual funds.
Remember that securities, such as stocks and mutual funds, are not deposits or other obligations of a bank and are not guaranteed by a bank, and are subject to investment risks including the possible loss of principal invested.