I don’t know about you, but sometimes I have a difficult time saving money. If the cash is there, it ends up getting spent! For those of us who need new ways of saving money, here are some great tips on saving more money than we thought possible.
It’s All About Habits
Before we get into some specific ways of saving money, I think it is important to recognize that our habits usually determine the end result. What does that mean? It means that if we want to get down to the root of our spending issue, we have to address our habits. Those things that we do habitually can make us or break us.
Take wearing your seatbelt for example. For some of us, it’s a habit that we naturally do when we enter a vehicle. It keeps us safe and yet we hardly have to devote any brainpower to the action. Personal finance is the same way. The more we can develop healthy habits, the better.
Trick 1: Acting And Pretending
This is one of the best methods in behavior modification. Sometimes it is best to simply act as if we CAN save more money than we think. This pushes us to rethink what is possible.
Believe it or not, a simple budget can be a way to pretend you have less to spend than you actually do. By splitting your money into budgeting categories, you’re putting limits on what you will allow yourself have to spend. This saves you money almost automatically.
If you really want to save more money, multiply your household income by .9 and spend the result. By capping your spending at 90% of your income, that 10% can go a long way toward your savings!
Trick 2: Old Fashioned Coin Jar
For those who are using the envelope system of budgeting, this trick might just save you quite a bit month over month.
Pull out an old jar and set it next to the area where you do your budgeting. Whenever an envelope has coins left over in it, toss them in the jar. When the jar is full, take it down to the bank and deposit the money into your savings. Of course, you’re going to want to make sure that your teller has a machine to process the coins – who wants to count them one by one?!?!
Truly, this can yield a lot of money in the end. Don’t cheat by raising your budgeted expenses! The idea here is that you systematically save more money without thinking about it.
Trick 3: Automatically Draft It!
Let’s say that you have worked hard to pay off your car. Perhaps your payment was $425/month. Instead of taking that extra money and spending it, why not draft that $425 into your savings account automatically?
Many banks will give you the ability to automatically draft a certain amount of money from your checking to your savings account. If your bank offers this, consider doing it! If you’re on a variable income, you might not want to do this. However, if you are on a fixed income, automatically drafting from your checking is brilliant. It hurts a lot less to save when it is done automatically.
Keep The Vision
Overall, saving money comes down to sheer determination and diligence. It helps to remember that saving money now will result in numerous rewards for the future. Whether you’re saving for an emergency fund, a college education, or simply a new gizmo, these three tricks are sure to help you if you put them to use. What’s your favorite?
I would throw in there a 401k, which is the same as automatic withdrawls. A 401k is a must for anybody that can afford it.
Its taken out before taxes, so you don’t even see it, and you shouldn’t even notice it.
Before you know it, you’ve got a nice little nest egg.
I am big on budgeting- I know how much I can spend on gas, groceries, ect..if I go over I put back something I don’t really need…which can be embarassing but keeps me on task. I give myself an allowance for fun things. Which I don’t go over and take that in consideration when agreeing to go to dinner or coffee. Its worth it in the long run.
Budgeting is truly necessary if you wish to save a portion of your hard-earned money. That’s one reason why you need to cut down on your unnecessary expenses every month. All you need to do is to pit a list of your monthly expenses against your income sources just to give me a hint on your avoidable expenses.