If you're like me, you're probably horrible at saving money, which really isn't a great trait.
All my life, I was conscious of money, yet when I started working, I never saved anything. It wasn't something that I was ever taught was a good thing to do. Now looking back, I wish that I had been taught some good saving habits, because it's just made it harder for me as I never got into it.
However, I've decided that it's now up to me to get my a into g and start saving. Not only because I've got planned overseas holidays in June this year and then again next year, but because I want to start saving to have a deposit for a house in a few years time.
So today I'm bringing you some of my tips that I've come up with that have helped me to save some money. Whether it's for big expenses, or just to have a bit of extra money in the bank for emergencies, these tips will help in some way.
Get A Money Box
I'm not sure this one really needs an explanation, but here it is. If you prefer to do things the old fashioned way with cash, then a money box or piggy bank is the best thing to get. I really like the tins that you can't get into without opening them with a can opener. I got my piggy bank from Farmers, they have a huge range of adorably decorated ones. Even a mason jar would work. You just need something to put cash into.
Use Cash
It's always easy to listen to people say that in order to save more, you need to spend less. The only thing is that when you're using a card, it's so easy to just swipe, swipe, swipe. The way I like to eliminate all the swiping and not keeping track of my spending is to use cash.
When I'm using cash, I can see exactly how much money I have left and it makes it easier for me to talk myself out of unnecessary purchases. It's also easier than checking my bank all the time to see how much money I have left.
Set Up An Automatic Payment
If you do prefer to use your card, or you don't like the thought of carrying cash around, then I would advise you to go to your bank and set up a new savings account that you can't touch without going in there. Plenty of banks do this. And while you're in there, you can set up an automatic payment to have a set amount go into the savings account each time you get paid. You need to be very good about it though and not change the automatic payment, and only go into the bank to get money from the account if you really need to. And no, that gorgeous dress does not count as a reason to get it.
Even if you don't put a regular amount in, it's still a good idea to have a savings account for some of the following tips.
Make A Budget
Everyone should know how much money is going in and out of their accounts when it comes to bill payments. But many people either don't have set amounts each pay, and then end up spending an entire pay on bills.
The best way to get around this is to set up automatic payments for each pay that over the course of the month will cover how much the bills are. One payment for each bill e.g. phone, power. That way you'll know exactly how much money you have left at each pay.
The next step in this is to set yourself an amount that is for spending on yourself. This is after all the necessities are paid for. It is not for food, or petrol. It's for yourself. I always find that saving doesn't work if you don't give yourself something to spend. Even if it's $10. The rest of the money left afterwards is to go into your savings account. At the end of the week, if you have any of your spending money left, this gets put into your savings as well.
Save All Your $5 Notes
One of the things that has really worked for me has been saving all the $5 notes that I come across. If you're in America, it would work the same with $1 notes as well.
All I do is put my $5 notes into my piggy bank whenever I get them. Because I use cash more these days, I end up with a lot of them, so in they go. At the end of the month, take it to the bank and deposit into your savings account.
Save Your Change
This one is very similar to the one above. At the end of the day, any spare change that you have gets put into a change jar/money box/piggy bank. When it gets full, go and cash it in at the bank and get it put into that savings account.
Use A Savings Plan
These are all over Pinterest. All you need to do is search savings plan and they all pop up. The most common one is the 52 week savings plan. You save $1 in week one, $2 in week two, $3 in week three, and so on until the end of the year where in total you've saved $1378.
I like the idea of this type of plan if you're not trying to save a huge amount of money. The only thing is that when you're saving, like many other things in this world, you want quick results. So after 5 weeks, you've only saved $15. This would make me feel like I'm not even trying, and eventually I would just stop.
My hint to get around this is to start from $52 and make your way down to $1. That way after five weeks, you've saved $250. This is a much more positive amount to be seeing, and for myself it would keep me motivated to keep saving.
Keep Consistent
My last goal is to keep consistent with your savings. Don't let yourself get off track, and eventually it will just become a normal thing for you to do, and before you know it, you'll have that extra money to pay off your debts, or to go on a holiday. You'll have that emergency fund for the just-in-case moments. As long as you keep going with your saving, you can't fail.
So now you know some of the ways that I'm helping myself get into the habit of saving money. What are some of your savings tips?
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