Smart Tips on How to Save Money For a Financial Project

We all need money to survive. For so many of us, our income isn’t guaranteed. Today you are employed and tomorrow you might be laid off from work. Knowing how to save money is a life skill that everyone should have.

Spending money no doubt is so easy, at times we actually spend our income before we receive our paycheck.

This could be because our financial needs truly outweigh our financial income, for some of us, it could be because we can’t control our spending habits.

Whichever group you might fall into, If you are here reading this, chances are you are looking to take control of your finances and finding ways to save money.

You are perhaps saving money for a house, for tuition, to pay off a debt, saving money on groceries, or you might be saving money for a wedding.

The very first step in saving money is to be aware of your finances and how much you spend, simply put; you need to know your incomings and your outgoings.

In order to save a lot of money, you must be ready to take actions to drastically reduce your outgoings and think very carefully about your income before you spend every penny. And avoid the temptation to go shopping on payday.

Top 10 Ways to Save a Lot of Money Fast

Use The 30 day Rule: The 30-day rule means waiting for 30 days before making any massive purchases, It’s a great rule to follow if you are an impulse buyer.

So, how does the 30 days Rule work? When you feel the urge to splurge, pause and walk out of the store or if you are trying to shop online, go off the page. Note the item you are looking to get on paper, also note the date and the price. If after 30 days you still feel you need to buy this item, then you place the order but not on credit.

Get a Piggy Bank: Get a traditional piggy bank, one wide enough to take money notes. You could start saving in a piggy bank any time of the year but it’s usually best to start at the start of the year.

You’ll need to decide how much you intend to put in the piggy bank and how frequently. For example, you might want to save $10 every day or $50 every week. Whatever works best for you. @ $50 a week at the end of the year, you will get $50*52 = $2600.

Cook From Scratch: Not only does cooking from scratch help you save a lot of money, but it can also help you be healthier. Meals cooked from scratch taste better contain fewer preservatives and also fill your pocket with money in the long run. Click on this link for some simple meals you can cook from scratch.

Want to Save Money Fast? Keep Reading

Reduce Your Utility Bills: Replace all light bulbs with energy-efficient bulbs(LEDs), turn the heat down, if you are walking around indoors with skimpy clothes, you are burning money, wear warm clothes and wrap yourself up.

Don’t leave the shower running, time your extractor fans, make sure your boiler is efficient, stay away from electric heating if you can; they are very expensive to run. Finally, compare energy supply prices to be sure you are getting the best deal

Pay off Your Debt: If you have debts that you’re servicing, you need to clear these debts off before you start saving money. I’d strongly advise you to read this article on the benefits of clearing off your debts, especially those with high-interest charges before you start saving.

Take Advantage of your Employer’s Pension Contribution: If you are working chances are your company has a pension scheme. If you haven’t registered, I strongly advise you to do so as you might be missing out. Click here for more information on how pension contribution works.

Want to Save Money Fast Each Month? Keep Reading!

Pack a Lunch Box for Work: I know this is easier said than done as we are all always in a hurry, but you could make it a habit to pack your lunch box the night before. The same advice applies to Coffee.

For example, if you spend £5 on lunch every day at work and you work 5 days a week, that’s 5*£5= £25. For 4 weeks that’s £100. You’ll have an extra £100 saved if you decide to skip buying lunch at work and take a packed meal from home instead. Most offices have a microwave, use it!

Use the One week rule: The one-week rule is similar to the 30-day rule. You can use this for less expensive purchases. You need to wait a week before placing that order, you should see it as delayed gratification, and you’ll also get a chance to do research about the product you want to buy.

Open an ISA Account: ISAs (Individual Savings Accounts) are simple accounts for making tax-free savings and investments. They were introduced by the UK government in 1999 to encourage people to save for the future. If you are not in the UK, your country might have similar arrangements. Do take advantage of it.

Learn DIY Skills: Learning money-saving DIY skills like painting, gardening, home repair, cooking, basic car maintenance, and sewing, can help you save a lot of money as you will be able to do these jobs yourself when the need arises.

The Top 8 Ways To Save Money on Groceries

Get a Budget Planner: This is a great step to take if you want to be in charge of your finances. You need a budget planner! You need to know how much you get every month/week, how much you spend, and what exactly you are spending on.

When you keep track of this information it can give you an idea of where you need to start cutting from.

Pay for Your Groceries with Cash: This is a great way to save a lot of money fast especially if you are the type that buys on impulse. When shopping for groceries, always shop with cash, it will stop you from picking unnecessary items as you’ll be forced to stick to your shopping list. You could check the prices online (the store’s website), so you know how much cash you need for your shopping trip.

Always Have a Shopping List: This money-saving tip compliments the one above. You need to always have a shopping list, if you don’t you’ll end up buying what you haven’t budgeted for and therefore wasting your money. So, have a list and make it a habit to always stick to your list.

Convenience Stores: I know we need to help our local stores grow, but these stores are called convenience stores for a reason. If you are trying to save money you have no business shopping in a convenience store unless it’s for an emergency. Prices of goods in convenience stores are more expensive than like for like goods in superstores.

You Can Save a Lot on Groceries, Keep Reading!

Shop in the Evenings: Most people say that superstores tend to slash the prices of perishable foods by more than 50% in the evenings to avoid waste as these stores would have to bin or donate these foods.

So if you do most of your shopping in a convenience store, you’ve been paying a premium price. you can put all that money aside and watch your savings go up, remember every penny counts

Buy In Bulk: This is one of my biggest money-saving secrets. I buy in bulk always. Every non-perishable item in my house is bought in bulk. It may not practical for you if you have very little space. But if you do have space I strongly advise you buy in bulk especially when items are on sale.

I also buy some Perishable food in bulk and dump them in the freezer. For example, if Aldi is selling beef cut at half the original price, I would buy more than I need and store the excess in the freezer. Try to invest in a good freezer, you will benefit a great deal from it.

Always Compare Store Prices: I do this all the time, I normally already know what I need to shop for, what I do is I check the prices of items on my shopping list across my preferred stores.

I have saved a lot of money so many times by doing this as the price of grocery items are always changing. Always request a price match, most superstores do price matching and it’s great( asking a store to sell an item at the same price it’s sold at a different store)

Register for Loyalty Cards: Registering for loyalty/reward cards can save you a lot of money over time. All you need to do is register for a loyalty card with the superstore you shop with, scan the card whenever you shop.

Always keep your loyalty cards in your wallet/purse so you don’t forget to take them to the store. If you are in the UK, click here to read about the best loyalty/reward cards.

How to Cut Cost at Home to Save Money

Cancel Needless Direct debit: At times it’s easy to forget all the direct debit payments we have set up over time. So once in a while, go through your bank accounts and cancel any Direct debit payment you can do without.

Car Share: If you have to travel to work, car sharing is one way you can save a lot of money. Buddy up with your colleagues that live close to you and take turns driving to work.

If you don’t own a car, you could ask to pay towards buying petrol. You can also enlist your neighbours to help with school drop off.

Cancel TV Licence: If you are working full time, chances are you hardly ever have time for TV. Also, if you don’t watch live tv, there’s no need to pay for a TV license. There’s so much free content out there, you can have all your entertainment from Netflix or Amazon.

Sign up For Cash Back Sites: Cashback sites such as Quidco, Topcashback, and KidStart are sites that pay you when you go through them to buy items from retailers or service providers. It’s free to register and you should avoid any cashback site with paid registration

How to Cut Expenses

Get a Bus Pass: If you regularly travel to work or school with public transport, it’s a lot cheaper to sign up for a bus pass as you get discounts when you buy your tickets in advance. Getting a bus pass will save you some money over time.

Cancel Subscriptions: If you have subscriptions you rarely use it’s advisable you cancel them. For example, if you have subscribed for Amazon Prime and you rarely place orders on Amazon or don’t have any need for rushed Amazon deliveries, you have no need for the service and you could do with saving that money.

Ditch Bottled Water: If you are trying to save a lot of money and you still spend money on bottled water. You might want to consider the fact that bottled water is not necessarily safer than tap water.

If you are truly concerned about the safety of your local tap water, you may want to invest in a water filter as this is a cheaper option, also you will be saving the environment. You could also get a water bottle if you love the convenience of bottled water.

Cancel Your Gym Membership: If you are trying to cut down your expenses and save money, canceling your gym membership if you have one is something you should consider. With a bit of creativity, you can do most of the exercises you do at the gym in your home. You could also watch workout videos on YouTube while working out.

Have a no-spend day every week: Choose a day in the week where you decide to spend no money at all. Preferably a day when you will be at home all day. Eat up leftovers that have been tucked away in your freezer.

How to Save With No Money

Shop in Outlets: Quality products are good as they last longer as they withstand wear and tear, good news is you don’t have to pay a hefty price for them. Shop in outlets where products are sold at wallet-friendly rates. You could also plan to shop during massive sales periods like Black Friday.

Cycle to Work: Cycling to work not only saves you a lot of money. It also helps you stay fit and it keeps the environment clean. if cycling to work is an option, you will do yourself a huge favour doing it.

Furnish for Free: If you are looking to furnish your house before you go buying brand new furniture or household items at expensive prices. You could have a look on Facebook or Gumtree to see if anyone is offering free furniture or even willing to sell furniture you are in need of

Don’t Save Your Card Details Online: Saving your card details online makes it really easy to shop on retail websites. Make it a habit to delete your card details from websites so you don’t easily click the buy button.

How to Save Money Fast on A Low Income

Book Your Holidays in Advance: We all need some sort of relaxation. If you must go on holiday, make sure to book your holiday in advance. Last-minute bookings are very expensive, you will get a very cheap deal if you book your holiday in advance.

Search for Better Energy Deal: Once in a while go on a comparison website to make sure you are getting the best energy deals.

You can also call your energy provider and ask for a discount, they’ll happily give you a discount if you haggle.

Cut Down Smoking and Drinking: Smoking can be very expensive! If you do smoke, you will save a lot of money if you decide to give up your smoking habit. Cutting down on drinking will also cut down your expenses.

Sim only Phone plans: You don’t need to be locked in a mobile phone contract, If you can afford it, buy a phone outright. You will save a lot of money if you get a sim online plan and pop the sim card on your phone.

How To Make Quick Cash By Creating Extra Income

Sell Unused Items: Chances are there are items lying around the home that you haven’t used for a while( longer than a year). It’s time to dust them up and list them on Facebook or gumtree. Selling unused items will help you make quick cash and also keep your home free from clutter.

Sign Up For Paying Surveys: Signing up for paying surveys is a sure way of making extra income. It won’t make you rich but it will give you some extra cash, some really good surveys are, Panelbase, 20Cogs, Swagbucks, Toluna. You can easily do the surveys when you are bored to pass time.

Rent Out Your Extra Room: If you have got an extra room in your home, you could list your spare room on websites like Spareroom, or you could host your home on Airbnb.

Rent Your Parking Spot: If you live close to the city center or a busy area, you could rent out your parking spot during the day while you are at work. There are lots of websites where you can register to list your driveway. Read this story to get more insights about renting your parking spot

Best Money Saving Apps

Monzo: This is a free app that’s available on Android and IOS. It’s so great for tracking your spending and Monzo has the vision to make money work for everyone.

Money Dashboard: This free app will help you keep track of all your bills and subscriptions. All your transactions will be brilliantly labeled into categories so you can easily see and manage your accounts.

52 Weeks Money Challenge: This free app was created based on the popular 52-week Challenge for saving money. This money-saving app is great for those who find it really difficult to plan and save money.

Wallet: Wallet is a great finance app that puts all your financial transactions in one place. It will help you save money and also help you make future financial plans.

Moneyfy: This is a great money-saving app that will help you track your expenses and also assist in managing your money.