TOP 5 MONEY SAVING TIPS
The economic recession in America & Europe have led everyone right from middle income employee to top executives to save money. I think our careless spending and financial illiteracy have led to financial crises. It is essential for every earning individual to have the basic knowledge of how to save a part of their income. Saving money is all about controlling our spending habits and compelling ourselves to plan our finances well for the benefit of ourselves and our respective families who depend on us.
Here are some money saving tips which will definitely help you in savings.
TIP #1
Be economical & Pause for a thought
Always do CBA (Cost Benefit Analysis). Do not spend lavishly. Make a list of what you have to buy. Priorities the items mentioned in the list. The four-day wait works. If you are about to buy something which isn’t a necessity, and you have a little quiet voice somewhere whispering to you, listen to it, and wait four days before you make the purchase. It gives you time to compare prices elsewhere, or to come up with an alternative, or even to decide that you don’t need or want it.
TIP #2
Maintain Expense Register
Have Bulls eye. Always keep a close watch on your spending habits. By doing such will know you where you are spending your money. This will help in reducing your unnecessary spending. Try to cut your spending on luxuries. Drink coffee in home rather in a restaurant. A cup of coffee in a restaurant will be 5 times expensive than a normal cup of coffee at home Always maintain an expense register where you note down every single transaction you have made during the day. At least try for a month. You will notice that you can cut short various spending or postpone it.
Go through your bank statement. If you don’t already know how to do it, learn how to balance your bank statement. Work out how much money you have each month. It does NOT tell you how much money you have. A bank statement is just that: a statement from the bank telling you what has gone through your account at the bank so far that month.
TIP #3
Planning/ Budgeting
Make income/ expense register. Write all the sources of income on one side and
the expenses on the other side of register. This will help in to determine whether you are running out of deficit or you have surplus. Always plan before you go to supermarket. Make a budget for every month. Try to manage your expenses within the budgeted amount. This is essential for families and individuals and can be the fastest way to save money. You will instantly see your incomings and outgoings once you create your budget. You will not be able to save money unless you know how much money you have coming in, and how much money you have going out. Once you have prepared a budget of incoming money and outgoing money, you WILL be able to identify areas where you can save.
TIP #4
Market Research
Beware that a sale is not always sale. Before buying any product do some homework. Visit various websites & store to know the true prices of the same products. Various stores offer various discounts. Choose the store which offers you the same product at lowest price. Once you have researched the true price of a product (any product) you are in a good position to take advantage of a sale, special offer or discount and really save money. “Buy one get one free”, “50% off”, and “Huge Discount” will only help you save money if the actual price you pay is lower than you would pay somewhere else for exactly the same product.
TIP #5
Grab Discounts/ Rewards
It is always preferable to buy goods for cash rather than buying in through credit cards. As credit cards seems to be very lucrative option but is costly affair if not used cautiously. Using your debit cards or cash cards will get you much more discount than credit cards offer. There are many reward cards that pay out in cash or points that can be redeemed for travel or products. Many of these cards don’t have an annual fee. Buy goods electronically & use ECS facility or net banking facility. Various banks provide discounts & rewards for using such facilities.
…..and the lists have no ending. There are various such small steps which we can do and it will definitely help in savings. It has rightly been said that “Penny saved is Penny Earned.”