The first thing you should remember before taking the first steps on the path of saving is that proper saving is not an infringement of your needs and not a direct road to poverty. But, on the contrary, a competent setting of life priorities, which, in turn, allows you to come to the rational use of funds.
1. Account for All Income and Expenses
Experts advise taking into account income and expenses, writing out what things take the most money. One way to analyze your spending is to recalculate it on an annual basis. Perhaps, to save money, you can refuse a certain category of purchases.
Writing down expenses and incomes in a notebook is, of course, boring. But you can keep a budget for at least two or three months, and then you should analyze and optimize it. Today, convenient analytics is provided by banks in the personal account of mobile applications.
2. Plan Your Spending
You can spend only 5 minutes on compiling a shopping list at the grocery store: this practice will help you not only save money and time but also think over the menu. By the way, planning a diet for a week or a month also helps to save financial and time resources, eliminating unnecessary purchases.
What is more, having a menu scheduled several days in advance helps you stick to healthy eating habits, as chips and sodas are less likely to end up in the basket.
Planning can be extended to other family expenses, such as seasonal purchases throughout the year:
- in winter, expenses are often associated with festivities;
- in spring, most people revive their clothing;
- summer for many is a time of relaxation and long-awaited holiday;
- and in autumn, parents of schoolchildren will have to spend money on getting their child ready for school.
Even a rough seasonal shopping plan can save you money.
3. Switch to Conscious Consumption
According to Forextime, conscious consumption also saves money. There are several effective rules. First, you can refuse disposable packaging where it can be replaced with reusable. Some manufacturers in Nigeria sell grains, dried fruits, and even household chemicals by weight in your container. This is also a great way not only to save money since you do not pay for packaging but also to reduce waste.
If you like coffee to go, get a reusable cup — many coffee shops give discounts in this case. Secondly, you can borrow necessary items from other people, such as repair tools or a camping tent, or buy things in the secondary market. Thirdly, you can start Forex trading as a source of additional income and learn the types of candles in Forex.
4. Look for Promotions, Discounts, and Cashback
Shops today are fighting for the buyer, so any means are used to attract them:
- the liquidation of stale goods,
- promotions due to the holidays,
- seasonal discounts,
- Black Fridays and Cyber Mondays.
You can save a lot on such events: sellers discount from 5% to 90% of the cost of goods, depending on the specifics of the store. But the main thing that advanced buyers save on is cashback or a refund of part of the money for a purchase.
5. Save on Utilities and Provider Services
Meters for water and electricity will help save on utilities. To pay less, you should switch off the light, electrical appliances, and turn off the water that you do not use. The amount of energy consumed by a phone charger constantly plugged into a socket seems to be a trifle — 3 kWh per year. But already a few devices connected to the network will lead to unnecessary expenses.
It will also be useful to check paid subscriptions for various types of services: banking, Internet provider, mobile operator. Perhaps some money goes to services that are no longer relevant. Sometimes it is also not superfluous to change the mobile operator: this market has grown over the past few years, and competing firms offer favorable rates.
6. Buy Goods Online
More and more people are choosing online shopping. If you need to buy groceries, you can use the delivery services that many supermarkets have. Ordering groceries saves time, effort, and money if the customer applies a special promo code.
Also on the network, you can find communities for joint purchases and buy goods at wholesale prices, uniting with other buyers. However, you need to read the reviews to avoid scammers.
Profitable purchases can be made on marketplaces — online platforms that bring together various manufacturers. Comparing the prices of similar goods from different suppliers, you can find the most advantageous offer.
Do not neglect loyalty programs and other bonuses. In particular, on some platforms, you can link to the same product at a lower price from a competitor and ask for a discount for this.