Money-Saving Tips and Tricks That Everyone Can Use. There are few people that would ever say no to having a bit of extra cash to spend every month, yet not everyone is willing to put in the effort to find the savings that could help them to do that.
Research in several different advanced economies has shown that large numbers of the public don’t have enough money saved up to cover them in an emergency. In fact, an alarming number of people don’t have any savings at all.
There are several reasons why people put off getting their finances in order, including things like “I’ll save when I earn more money” and “I’ve been too busy to save”. But the biggest hurdle that most people need to get over is the belief that saving money is hard, time-consuming, and complicated.
In reality, putting a little dough aside each month needn’t be any of these things. Here are some of the easy ways that anyone can use.
Budget
Budgeting is the only way that you can truly get complete control over your finances as it’s the only way to know how much you’re spending on each area of your life. It also allows you to plan your expenditure and make it match your income.
You don’t need to be a qualified accountant to create a budget either. There are dozens of free and cheap apps that can help you do it, most doing the bulk of the work for you. Some will even connect to your bank accounts and automatically categorise your spending so you can quickly see how much you spend on things like groceries, clothes, and entertainment.
It’s important to set a budget that leaves some surplus that you can squirrel away. The more you can save the better, but it’s important to allow yourself some luxuries as, without them, it can be difficult to sustain frugal habits.
Find Free Alternatives
Once you’ve created your budget, you may find that you need to find savings in certain areas. If this is the case, you can find free alternatives to many paid-for products and services that are often just as good.
If you’re an avid gamer, you’ll find plenty of free-to-play titles for your smartphone, tablet, or even games console. For example, those that enjoy card games can take advantage of the PokerStars mobile app that lets you take part in games and tournaments without wagering real money. Alternatively, Fortnite, PUBG Mobile, and Call of Duty: Mobile and Warzone are all free-to-play shoot ‘em up games that are almost identical to the paid-for alternatives.
For those that enjoy reading, there are plenty of free ebooks available online, from Google Play Books, Amazon, and BookBub. Some are free because they’re old and out of copyright, such as Les Misérables and Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. Others are offered for free for a limited time as part of promotions.
Cancel Unwanted Subscriptions
Do you carry a gym membership card around with you, tucked somewhere in your wallet, despite not having been for years? Do you still pay for the cable TV movie package, despite watching everything on Netflix now?
Nearly all of us are paying for at least one subscription we don’t need, want, or use. Each month, money is taken from our bank accounts to pay for it, so we’re effectively just pouring that money down the drain.
If you have a couple of these subscriptions, it can soon add up to several thousand dollars a year. For example, the average US gym membership costs around $517 per annum, while cable bills can be two or more times that.
Cancelling any of these unwanted and unnecessary subscriptions will usually take a few minutes on the phone, but the return on that small investment is almost infinite. If you keep paying for several years, you could have spent enough for a new car, a downpayment on a house, or the trip of a lifetime.
None of these steps are overly onerous but can make a big difference to your financial wellbeing.
