4 Tips To Save Money Every Month
It is said that “saving is the basis of fortune” and it could not be more true. Having a “mattress” saved can help us when faced with a bad economic situation to invest or think about the future. Therefore, in the following article we will give you some tips to save money each month.
And then use it as you see fit!
Why is it good to save money?
It is always necessary to have a little money saved to be used for an emergency, to do a good business or for extraordinary expenses.
Not everyone has the habit of saving and, even worse, they do not know what its benefits are. At any time, something unforeseen can arise that requires you to have cash. How do we solve it if we only have debts and the credit card in red?
Perhaps you are one of those people who “lives today”, but you should bear in mind that if the present goes well for you, maybe things will change tomorrow. We must always be prepared.
This does not mean that we stop giving ourselves some tastes, but it does mean that these additional and unnecessary expenses are more the rule than the exception. There are many expenses that affect our economy: vacations, dinners in restaurants, weekend getaways or clothes.
We also spend a lot when it is sale season, when there are offers or promotions in our favorite stores or if we are bored.
Tips to save money
On the one hand, it is about being more organized or intelligent and, on the other, about giving up certain “pleasures” that only try to fill a void or give us the feeling of happiness for a short time.
For example, “whims” for clothes, shoes, or nights out can be reduced as much as possible in order to save money. Here we give you other recommendations:
1. Write down your expenses
One of the best ways to save money is to know your spending habits. This means that for a month you take the trouble to write down everything you spend. When you return from shopping or paying bills, place those values in a notebook (or Excel spreadsheet).
Be detailed in your annotations to realize what things you are spending too much on. When we know where we are spending the money, we can eliminate those unnecessary items.
Why don’t you make your coffee at home and take it in a special cup? What if instead of buying lunch you cook it the day before?
2. Establish a budget
If you are in charge of doing the shopping and paying the bills at home, surely you know the approximate value of what you need each month. Take into account all the fixed expenses and do not go beyond what is stipulated.
Of course, there may be changes, for example (that the electricity bill has increased), but you can reduce your electricity costs by turning on fewer lights or doing laundry only once a week.
The budget can help us in many ways because, on the one hand we know how much we spend and on the other we have a maximum “cap”. Make the account of how much you spend on food, transportation and services.
3. Set aside for savings
Many times we have very little money available to save.
It is recommended that the savings each month be around 10% of the salary, and to ensure that this sum reaches the indicated place (a safe, under the mattress or a small investment) we must separate it when we receive the salary.
It is necessary to establish what situations or purchases deserve the withdrawal of certain money that has been saved. For example, a medical emergency, a car problem, an urgent home fix, etc. Saving money is not synonymous with spending it “on anything”, but we will be as at the beginning.
4. Reduce your expenses and debts
As a first step, we recommend that you stop paying the minimum credit card and try to advance installments on your personal loans. In this way you will avoid incurring greater debts due to interest or penalties.
Second, it is very important that you reduce your monthly expenses.
Are you dining out every weekend? Do it only once a month.
Do you buy clothes every time you get paid? You only buy clothes for special occasions like.
In this way, your finances will be a little “calmer” and you can save money.
