Seven Ways You Can Get More Financially Savvy

Money can be one of the most challenging things in the world, but luckily there are a few things you can do to make your bank account feel a little healthier this summer…

Get Budgeting

First of all, it’s time to start budgeting. Having a household budget is something that everyone should force themselves to do, even though let’s face it, no one really likes sitting down to talk or think about how to save money! It’s necessary to see where exactly you’re spending more cash than you should – maybe you haven’t realised how much your daily lattes add up, or you have the occasional bar bill after a night out that makes your head spin. Listing your incomings against your outgoings will help you to figure out where you’re going wrong.

Use Cash Instead Of Cards

Using cash instead of your credit cards is a tried and tested way of spending a little less money. If we’re completely honest with ourselves, we tend to make purchases on our credit cards that we’d never make if we had to hand over a stash of notes for a completely unnecessary new jacket or pair of shoes – so ditch that magic plastic card and start getting out a certain amount of cash from the bank every week instead. It will make budgeting a whole lot easier and stop you spending more than you should.

Start Investing

If you’ve never invested any money before, why not start now? The world of stocks and shares can seem pretty confusing to anyone who hasn’t really entered it before, but it’s a lot more manageable than you might think, particularly if you use a program to help you out when you’re working out what exactly to do. If you’re feeling a little lost, you might be wondering ‘is binaryrobot365 legit?’ and the answer is, thankfully, yes. It’s an automated trading service that will help you feel a lot less confused about the whole subject.

Change The Way You Socialise

If you tend to go out for dinner with your friends, then let’s face it – you might just go onto a bar or club afterwards and wake up the next morning with a banging headache and the vague memory of having spent far too much money. That means that it could be time to change the way that you socialise – instead of going out and spending more than you can really afford on alcohol and partying, why not have a night in at your house instead? Put on Netflix, make some popcorn, open a bottle of wine and have a night that’s both cost effective and fun.

Quit The Gym

Gym memberships tend to be pretty extortionate – and if you think about it carefully, do you really go there enough to make it worthwhile? If the answer is no, then it could be time to quit the gym. A lot of places will let you pay a fee every time you go in instead of every month, which might be cheaper – but if not, start looking for other methods of exercise. Buy some supportive running shoes and try out Couch To 5K, or even fitness videos like Yoga With Adriene, for which you’ll only need comfortable clothes and a yoga mat. Fitness doesn’t have to involve spending a fortune.

Look Out For Deals

It’s always a good idea to keep your eyes open for deals when you’re out shopping, whether you see three shirts for the price of two when you’re at a shopping centre, or if your favourite shampoo is marked as half price at the grocery store. The most important thing to remember about deals is that you shouldn’t go for them for the sake of saving money if you wouldn’t buy the product any way – that means that you’d be spending money instead of saving it! You could also look into couponing – you can get them on various websites and in magazines and newspapers.

Get Rid Of Your Car

Finally, if you live in an urban area with good transportation links, it could be time to get rid of your car. With parking costs, insurance payments, payments for the car itself, and petrol costs, cars can be very expensive to run – and not always worth it. If that’s the case for you, start looking into how much you could get if you decided to sell it, and how much public transport would cost to get yourself to work. Walking is also much healthier than driving, which is an added bonus. I certainly benefited financially from being car-free for a few years in my early and mid 20s – just make sure you save the difference and don’t spend the savings in new ways.