One of the most common pieces of financial planning advice is to save a
fraction of your income and make personal sacrifices to ensure that this is
achieved. Often, this is painful and unattainable considering the
fact that we may be living in difficult times. Maybe in some months it seems
like an achievement if you get to pay your bills on time. But how do you save
money without undergoing through much pain and sacrifices? Here are 9 ways to
you can do it.
1. Get a jar
Throw in all
those coins you get as change from stores and the grocery. It sure might not
seem like much but it could add to something substantial at the end of the
year. This is something that might have ended up in the vending machine.
2. Be healthy
This might
not sound like the usual saving money tip but it could save you hundreds of
dollars a year. Poor health can cost you a lot of money in terms of seeking
medical help and treatment. It is an indirect way of saving so to speak.
3. Hunt for offers, freebies and cash backs
For most
things being sold online, there are plenty of alternative products being
offered on free samples, at discounts and other advertising strategies. Make
sure you are one of those who benefit. I have used a dozen of software offered
as freebies I searched online. When I compare the prices of alternative
products available for premium subscription/purchase, I realized I just saved
$1, 576.
4. Slow down the internet services
Go for a
slower internet provider and you will save some bucks, but you will get the
same services
5. Improve the credit score
Having poor
credit rating is one way to get into trouble financially. Accessing things like
cheap credit will be elusive to you if your credit score is horrible.
6. Post pone expenses
If you want
to buy something, try adopting the habit of postponing purchases until you feel
it is absolutely necessary to buy them. It works
7. Save all extra income
There are
some monies that come unexpected like gifts, picking cash in the streets (don’t
expect to pick any), pay increases, part-time income, etc. you can do without
such cash because you had never expected it in the first place. In a typical
year, you might receive 4% salary increment, get $400 on bonuses and tips,
receive $100 worth of gifts, and earn 2% interest on your savings and so on. If
you add all these, it could translate to hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
By the way, this is money you could easily have squandered because you think it
is free money.
8. Find cheaper means of paying your bills
Certainly there
are loopholes in the way you pay bills that could open a few opportunity to
save. For instance, you can make online payments instead of writing checks and
save the saved amount.
9. Cook your own meals at times
Eating out isn’t
a bad think but there is a lot of money to be saved by reducing the number of
times you eat out. As a matter of fact, eating out has consistently been proven
to be more expensive than eating at home.
10. Rent books, DVDS
These are some
of the stuff that you use once. So, instead of buying, I would suggest renting
some of them. You can also find free versions of ebooks, movies and music
online. And you can even reduce the number of hours you spend watching movies
and engage in more productive activities.
For instance, I
get most of my books and music from www.4shared.com
I also
discovered that some cool movies are available on YouTube and other sites.
Generally,
there are a thousand and one ways one can save money painlessly without the
need to change lifestyle. Just be on the watch out for all available saving
loopholes.