Do you want to save money, live better, and breathe a sigh of relief knowing that you’re no longer living paycheck to paycheck?
It’s not only the rich that can save a substantial amount of money.
Most people will be able to save money with these useful tips for saving money that you might not have thought of.
This blog post is all about being smarter with your money so that you can enjoy all the things you want out of life, rather than feeling like you’re playing catch up all the time, or being afraid to check your bank account.
Why Saving Money Will Improve Your Life
Having a savings net allows you to relax more around money, knowing that even if your car breaks down, or you suddenly owe the government an extra $1000 in tax, you’re covered.
There is that famous phrase “money doesn’t buy happiness”, and whilst I agree with the premise of that, there is evidence that money in fact DOES buy happiness, up until a point.
Sure, it doesn’t buy moments with friends, relationships, love, and a lot of the truly important things in life.
However, a certain amount of money provides financial security that can leave you happier and able to enjoy the things that truly do matter, without money being the main worry in your life.
A lot of us don’t have a wealthy old aunt, or an inheritance to fall back on, which means achieving our big dreams in life is completely dependent on us and our ability to motivate ourselves.
Some dreams don’t require any money at all, but others, like traveling or buying your dream family home do, and every step you take towards saving is a step closer to living your dream life.
Saving money will also help you to live a better life if you’re being swallowed by debt.
When you have an extensive amount of debt, it can feel like you’re drowning and you can’t see a way out, but that’s not the case.
With a few smart ways to save money, you can work towards paying off your debt quickly and having financial freedom.
The Benefits Of Saving
If you need more convincing, here are a few benefits you can enjoy by saving money.
- Eradicating money-based stress from your life
- Financial freedom
- The ability to cover unexpected expenses
- The ability to be generous with money
- Achieving your biggest life goals
- Early retirement
- A great credit score
Ways To Save Money And Live Better
Here are 7 different ways you can save money to live better.
There are no outrageous tips on here that can only be done if you’re a millionaire.
Instead, these tips are all about working harder, not smarter to save money.
Define Your Financial Goal
Defining your goal will help you to gain the momentum you need to truly put your all into saving.
Saying “I want to save money” in most cases, will not inspire you to ACTUALLY save money, because you could save $1 and have achieved that goal. It’s not specific enough.
By telling yourself “I want to save $15,000 in the next 30 months”, it gives you a tangible goal that you can track monthly and will keep you accountable and motivated when you’re ready for a Zara shopping spree.
It’s also important to get clear on your why.
It’s totally fine if you want to save money simply to have a net of money to fall back on, but you’ll probably find it easier to stick to your savings goal if you have something specific you’re saving for, whether that’s a month of backpacking, a new car, early retirement, you name it.
Revise Your Outgoings
Do you ACTUALLY know exactly how much money is leaving your account each month and what for?
Spend time writing down your monthly incomings and outgoings.
Make sure you write down all of your bills, including rent, an average of how much fuel you use, your phone bill, etc, all the way down to small $3 a month subscriptions.
Some of your bills will be fixed and there will be nothing you can change about them, but some are more fluid.
For example, you may be able to reduce your fuel costs by cycling to work 3 days a week or reduce your grocery bill by planning your meals.
After you’ve done this, look to see whether there are any monthly outgoings that you aren’t using. Subscription services are normally worth looking at.
If you have Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, and Hulu, ask yourself whether all of these are necessary or if you could cut back to one streaming service.
Do you pay for any apps on your phone monthly? If so, do you use them regularly?
You might find there are several services/subscriptions costing you $5 here or $10 there that by cutting out, you could find yourself saving a couple of hundred dollars per year.
Shop Around
Often, companies work on the basis that you will continue with their services every year because switching is a pain in the butt.
Because of this, they usually increase prices year upon year, regardless of how loyal a customer you are.
By shopping around when it comes to renewal time, you can save yourself a large chunk of money if you’re willing to spend a little time researching the best offers.
There are often new customer offers that will give you a discount for your first year or extra perks.
The biggest bill you can save money on by shopping around in my opinion is car insurance. You can save yourself hundreds of dollars by switching to the same great coverage you’ve always had.
Reduce Unnecessary Spending
This is one of those not-so-fun tasks, where you have to face up to reality and realize where you’ve been going wrong until now.
If you’re a numbers person, the best thing I find to do is to view all of your outgoings over the past month and write them down in columns, labeled bills, food, entertainment, shopping, etc.
It’s very hard to argue with numbers, and soon, you’ll see exactly how much that daily coffee is costing you per month, or that your shoe collection has become a bit excessive.
That should be enough to give you a little bit of a shock and a good dose of motivation to save money.
A lot of daily expenses can be easily cut, by making your lunch, or walking a different way to work that doesn’t pass by a Starbucks. Those small amounts really do add up.
Save Money Automatically
If you’ve always had intentions of transferring any money left at the month to a savings account, only to find your account looking pretty empty right before payday, you’re not alone.
Saving money at the beginning of the month is proven to be a more effective way of budgeting better and ultimately, saving more money.
Choose a percentage of your wage that you would like to save per month, and set up a direct debit that transfers it into a savings account on payday, before you’re even aware of it being gone from your pay.
That way, you know how much money you are left to budget with, while feeling good about the fact that you’ve already put away some money for the month.
You can also save money with every expense you make via Revolut. It helps you save your “spare change” with every expense.
Keep Yourself Accountable
It’s a good idea to let your friends and family know about your saving goals so that they can support you the best they can.
It’s easier to say no when friends suggest a luxury spa break if they know your reasoning behind it.
You might find that you’re loved ones are really supportive and suggest cheap or free activities instead, because after all, they just want to spend time with you, and time is free.
Find Out What Works For You
There is no clear way to save money, because everyone’s situation is different, and everyone’s brain works a little differently too.
A friend’s method of saving money might be impossible for you to stick to and vice versa.
There are many different methods people use to save money so they can live better.
Here are a couple of ways to save more.
No-spend challenge
These are often done for a month-long period, although some people manage a no-spend year.
The point of this challenge is not to spend no money (you’d find yourself homeless pretty quickly), but instead to cut out wasteful spending, such as that delicious but costly daily Starbucks order.
You can still spend money on essentials, so you don’t need to be walking around in holey clothes, but setting this intention will help you to save money quickly, and also become more inventive with activities, and be handier with fixing things.
The 100 envelope challenge
This challenge involves labeling 100 envelopes with amounts ranging from $1 to $100. Every week, you pick out 2 random envelopes and put the amount of cash written on the envelope inside.
Admittedly this isn’t going to be possible for everyone, but if it is possible for you, you can save $5,050, which is not an amount to sniff at.
Final Thoughts On Save Money, Live Better
Those are my tips on how to save money, live better, and finally be in control of money, so that it works for you, not against you.
The great thing about saving is that it can become addictive once you start to see your money adding up, which will give you, even more, drive to push towards your goal quickly.
If you have a friend in the same position as you, suggest saving together, as this can be a great way to hold each other accountable and hype each other up until you’ve reached your goal.
Need help with your money mindset? Read our post about positive money affirmations.
