How To Save Money Tips: 19 Simple Ways
Saving is simple if you follow some of the golden rules in mind that will make your life easy and make you a wealthy person if you invest the saved amount.
It all comes down to a simple and realistic strategy that will cater for your long and short-term goals. Let’s get started on the topic – “How to Save Money Tips”.
In this article, I am going to explain ways and tips to save money. I am also going to mention 19 practical ways to save money that you can apply to your regular lifestyle. I am listing some of the golden rules first to save money.
Table of Contents
1. Record Your Expenses
The first and foremost step to start saving money is to track your spending in a month. For example, keeping track of outdoor expenses, and groceries including the usual household monthly bill such as rent, gas, mobile phone bills, personal spending, and various other expenses.
2. Create A Budget
Now after knowing your current spending in a month, you can create a budget for the upcoming expenses in the month so that you can save money and control your overspending habits. Do not forget to count occasional spendings such as bike and car maintenance. Set spending goals that you feel comfortable with at the beginning of your journey. Try to increase your savings up to 15 to 20 per cent of your income eventually.
3. Find Ways To Cut Spending
If you are unable to save the much you would like, then you need to cut back on the unnecessary expenses. You can find good opportunities to save on non-essentials such as dining out, and entertainment costs, cell phone plans or car maintenance, and non-essential shopping expenses.
4. Set Goals For Saving
The best way to save money is by setting goals. It can be a long-term ( more than 4 years) goal or a short-term ( 1 to 3 years ) goal depending on the estimation of how long it will take to save the amount of money that you set as a goal.
Long Term Goals – Goals For House, Children Education, or Retirement.
Short Term Goals – Down Payment for Car, Vacation, Emergency Fund ( For 3 to 12 months of living expenses )
5. Determine Your Financial Priorities
After managing your income and expenses, your priorities are likely to have a greater impact on the way you allocate your savings. You should keep in mind that if you saving to replace your car, then your long-term goal such as retirement planning should not take a back seat to the short-term goals or needs. If you have a clear idea of your priorities, you will have a clear idea of where to allocate your savings.
6. Grow You Money
Invest the savings that will help your money to grow in value to counter inflation so that you can get an extra return on your saved sum of money.
You can invest your money in Mutual Funds that can give you a steady return of 12-20 per cent CAGR ( Compounded Annual Growth Rate ) yearly. I use the Groww app to invest in mutual funds that provided in-depth insights of mutual funds and have a user-friendly interface.
‘An investment in knowledge pays the best interest’
– Benjamin Franklin
To play it safer and to earn a fixed steady return of 7-8 per cent, fixed deposits are the best choice. I use INDmoney app for managing my money. It is easy to start a Fixed Deposit on INDmoney and earn 7% fixed returns which is the highest rate compared to other platforms. Investing in US Stocks feature is also available on INDmoney which is not available on any other platforms.
19 Practical Ways To Save Money
Now I am going to list some of the “Practical Ways To Save Money” that will give you a clear idea of how you can implement the above-mentioned strategies in your life.
No Debt Burden
When you have an active debt repayment, then you won’t be able to save in any way. Debt can be called a “Savings Killer”. You can clear your debts by the Debt Snowball Method which is the fastest method to clear your debts. You pay the loan from smallest to largest according to this method. Once you are free from your loans, you can focus on savings.
Cut Down On Groceries
When you go fro grocery shopping, it is likely that the bought non-essential items such as chips, biscuits and extra eatables that you actually have never bought. You did so after coming under the influence of your children after seeing their pity faces. You should also avoid shopping for any extra household things that you actually do not need. All these extra purchases can be proven to be saving busters.
Planning the grocery items weekly or monthly can be very beneficial since you calculate all the items that are needed to avoid buying the items that are already in your pantry. One pro tip – if you really want to save on your groceries spending, then leave the kids at home while going to the grocery shop.
You can also try online grocery shopping where you get impressive discounts that end up saving you money and also help you stick to your grocery list.
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Cancel Subscription & Membership
Nowadays, we end up taking multiple subscriptions like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, etc. You can cancel the ones that you do not frequently use and turn off the auto-renew feature.
If you cannot resist yourself, you can also go for the option of sharing screens with your friends or family members. Streaming platforms like Netflix and Hulu give you the option to watch your favourite shows on two or more screens ( with an upgraded account ). In this way, you end up spending less and saving more since the subscription amount can be shared with your family and friends.
Buy Generic
You can buy generic items like food supplies ( like rice and wheat), medicines, and cleaning supplies that will cost you way too less than the expensive branded ones. Keep in mind, that a huge cost is involved in marketing the branded products that you need to pay from your pocket while purchasing them. Generic items are not less in quality in any way compare to the branded ones. It’s just that we do not have awareness about generic products.
Cut Cable Costs
Cable prices are sky-rocketing nowadays that cost you way more even if you are not watching all the channels properly. To save this huge spending on cable, you can take a monthly subscription to the streaming platforms that are way cheaper compared to the cable fees. Keep in mind – do take the subscription that you actually use to avoid overspending on multiple streaming platforms that will cost you more than the cable fees.
Reduce Energy Cost
Are you aware that you can also save on your electricity costs? You can do that by making simple changes to your life like installing dimmer lights or LED bulbs, using energy-saving appliances like refrigerators, air conditioners, fans, etc. These small changes will create a huge impact in the long run.
Unsubscribe From Emails
You might have a habit of spending on shopping offers that you get in your email inbox from time to time that you might have subscribed. You know a little secret – It’s a great way for the brands to make more money and on the other side, you tend to spend more money.
It is better to unsubscribe from these marketing emails, you tend to spend less on unnecessary items and your inbox will be less cluttered by unwanted emails. It’s a win-win situation.
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Check Your Insurance Rates
You can save a lot of money while you are spending on your insurance by comparing different platforms. You might be paying more for the insurance plan that you might get at a more affordable rate just by comparing different platforms and doing a bit of research.
Eat Home Food (Pack Lunch)
We often tend to buy lunch from our favourite restaurants during office hours a few times a week which may seem reasonable to you. You can save a lot just by packing lunch and eating more home food since the restaurant’s food is way too expensive. You can make an estimation of the savings that you can do just by shopping a full week of your household grocery from the cost of two meals at restaurants.
Ask For Discounts ( Pay in Cash )
You can save a lot just by asking for the offers and discounts when you visit outdoor places. All you need to do is ask for any discount offers, coupons for the students, teachers, and senior citizens or any special discounts when you visit places like Parks, Movie Theaters, Shopping Malls, Museums or Sporting Events.
Decrease Your Mobile Phone Bill
Saving money on your monthly cell phone bills is not a difficult task. You can look for ways to cut costs like useless data plans, phone insurance and useless warranties. Don’t hesitate to switch your provider completely if you getting more affordable rates from the other network provider.
Try a Spending Freeze Challenge
You can take a spending freeze challenge for a month where you avoid spending on unnecessary activities like impulse buying and avoiding restaurant meals and those unnecessary spending activities that increase your monthly budget.
DIY…Is the key
Before you pay for the fixing of new fancy light fixtures, bench or home appliances, you can fix it yourself just by doing a simple Google or YouTube search that will save you a lot of money.
If you find it hard to do it yourself you can tell your neighbour or friend so that he can check and fix things for you. You can also borrow tools from your friends or neighbour needed to do some DIY work rather than going out and buying them.
Avoid the Coffee Or Tea Shop
I know it hurts and I get it! But you can save money just by drinking coffee or tea in the comfort of your home. This way you can save a significant amount of money just by changing simple daily habits.
Rent Instead Of Buying Books
Before clicking on the buy now button for a brand new book online you can visit your local library to see whether you can get that particular book for borrowing. You can also rent books online which will save you a lot of money in the long run. Websites like Justbooks and DoorStep books can be helpful.
Staycation Is The Best Option
When you are looking to save money, you can lose the most amount of money if you decide to go for a vacation. Instead of that, you can try out places in your own city. Not only this will save you money but you will also find fresh and new places to visit and get to know your city a lot better than before.
Use of Cashback Apps and Coupons
You might be amazed after knowing the fact there are many apps out there that you can use while you are doing normal shopping online to get extra cashback and coupons. Apps like Cashkaro, Earnkaro will help you get extra savings on every purchase.
Refinance your mortgage and loans
Refinancing your mortgage and loans is the better option to save on interest rates with refinancing loans so low these days. Reach out to your trusted financial advisor for more information on refinancing.
Sell Everything
Selling the things that you don’t need in your day-to-day life, is a good option when you are looking to save for the sake of your financial future. Things like the old phone, an unused armchair that your aunt gifted you, old appliances etc. Selling them online on platforms like OLX is a good option to get extra cash.
How to Start Saving Money
You will only save money when you maintain a healthy balance of following all the habits that are mentioned above. These are not the hard and fast rules that needed to be followed strictly. When you actually keep in mind all these practical methods and golden rules of saving money and apply these rules one by one in your life; that is when you are going to see the difference. Once you take the feel of extra money into your bank account, it will be worth it.