Most people find it difficult to get ahead of their bills and save money. When you’re struggling to keep your head above water financially, it may seem as if having a healthy savings account is a matter of luck rather than effort. If you cut expenses where you can and rearrange your finances, however, you can begin saving regardless of how modest your income is.
Easy Ways to start saving money
The easiest way to begin saving money is to bring your lunch to work rather than going out to eat. It’s tempting to go out every day when you work in an office because you want to breathe some fresh air and clear your head for a few minutes. However, you can still do these things without spending money. Pack some food for yourself that you really enjoy and have a picnic in a local park during nice weather. If you do eat in the break room, make sure to go for a walk or otherwise leave the office after you’ve eaten and before your break is over. That way, you can still get the benefits of leaving the office–and get some exercise in too–without spending unnecessary amounts of money on food. If eating in all the time sounds boring to you, go out to lunch on Fridays as a reward for getting through another week of work and eat in the rest of the time.
Ways to Save Money by Spending More
In order to find other ways of saving money, you’ll have to figure out where your money is going. Keep track of your expenses for a month and then examine them to see where you are spending extra money. When you cut expenses, put half of what you’re saving into a savings account so that you can reward yourself for successfully cutting the expenses. Once a week, treat yourself to something nice but inexpensive out of your savings. This will help keep you motivated to save without significantly impacting your savings.
Paying yourself first in this manner is important, and it often helps if you pay yourself in cash out of your paycheck and then re-deposit the cash in your savings account. This allows you to feel the bills in your hand and realize that you really are reaching your goals.
You should get in the habit of using cash for purchases instead of your debit card whenever you can. Don’t take out large sums of cash–for example, you don’t want to pay hundreds of dollars for a new television in cash–but you should use cash for your daily expenses. This will allow you to stay within your budget. For example, if you have $50 budgeted for groceries, taking out $50 in cash and leaving your debit card at home keeps you on track because you can’t spend any more than the budgeted amount.
Saving money is important to your financial health and for reducing your stress level. Although it takes self-discipline to save, almost anybody can get money into savings and improve their finances by following the advice you just read. As you save, you’ll be motivated to save even more and will come up with many ideas of your own for saving money.
