We all want to save more money.
These days, it seems like we’re constantly haemorrhaging cash. Whether you’re dealing with substantial energy bills, or you’re trying to make ends meet when you’re going to the supermarket for your weekly bits. By the time you’ve paid for everything that you need, it’s hard to find anything left over for the things that you might want later on.
Fortunately, not all hope is lost. With the new year just around the corner, now’s the perfect time to make a change to your routine and update your money-saving habits. If you’ve been struggling to save cash recently, we’ve got some tips that could change all of that.
1. Make the Most of Apps
We’re living in the digital world – so why not make the most of it? These days there are apps available to help with everything from tracking your daily budget, to making sure that you don’t forget to pay your bills on time.
While filling your smartphone with extra tech might complicate your life, finding one or two tools you can use to simplify things can be a great way to transform your budget. Try testing out an automated app that tracks your bank statements, or a tool for applying voucher codes to your purchases and see how it affects your spending.
2. Prep for your Supermarket Shop
The next time you’re going shopping at your local supermarket, make sure you know what you want to buy. There are plenty of times when people go out shopping at the supermarket just to find that they end up bringing home products that they already have in their pantry or fridge. Checking out what you have at home will help you to ensure you’re not purchasing extra items that you don’t really need.
You can also think about what kind of meals you want to make for the week and buy larger amounts of each product in bulk when possible too. This will help you to save some cash on extra ingredients as you’ll be able to make multiple meals out of a large bag of salad or a couple of pieces of chicken.
3. Spread out the cost of big purchases
Sometimes we all need to buy items that are a little bigger than usual. For instance, you might need to replace your washing machine with a new and more energy-efficient model. On the other hand, you might decide that you need to buy a car and that you’d like to make sure that you’re buying a decent model that uses less fuel than your previous purchase.
A loan will help you to spread out the costs of those big expenses so that you can reduce the impact that they have on your finances over time. There are even plenty of specific loan products you can choose from.
4. Order smaller servings
When you go out to eat at a café or restaurant, think about whether you can get by with ordering smaller servings. This could be a great way to keep costs low if you’re worried about the cost of keeping up with your friends or coworkers. You can have a small meal or starter when you go to the restaurant, then have some cheaper snacks when you get back home.
Remember that ordering water with your meals is a great way to keep the cost of eating out as low as possible too, as water helps to fill your stomach and reduce your appetite. You could also check before you go to a restaurant whether they have any special deals on at the time to help you save extra cash. A lot of eateries offer money off for students.
5. Restrict your Online Shopping
Finally, it’s getting way too easy for most of us to buy items online these days. Within a couple of seconds and clicks, you can add endless products to your basket and go through the checkout with them in no time. You’ll also be able to create online accounts that let you check out even faster. To help reduce your temptation to buy extra items online, consider deleting your payment information.
If you don’t already have your payment information entered into your accounts online, then you’ll have to go and find your bank details before you can check out. You’ll still be able to buy items and services this way if you decide that you want to. However, the extra time that it takes to go and find your credit card will give you more time to think about your purchase.
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