28 Feb Pennies To Pounds
Need to save money? Making your money last until the end of the month while also putting aside some savings can be very difficult. It’s very easy to get stuck in a bit of a rut with companies as they can often gradually increase prices over time, that you won’t notice until you see the transaction on your bank statement. In most cases, the hardest thing about saving money is just getting started, therefore, carry on reading to find out how to save the pennies and the pounds.
Create A Budget
Lots of people love a budget, this is due to the fact that it aids you in controlling all of your funds, having a budget in place does not mean that you are limiting yourself to the bare minimum. It’s simply a list of the money that you are going to have to put aside when it comes into your bank account each month. Personal finance is personal, if you like to treat yourself on the way to work every Friday to a Costa that’s still OK, you just need to do the maths and make sure that it works within your budget.
The best way to put away or save a certain amount of money is to set up a standing order or direct debit into a savings account – this doesn’t have to be an enormous amount of money but every little helps, if you’re not a huge fan of saving this way you can always allocate the leftover money to your savings. There are also lots of other expenses such as petrol and food shopping that need to be taken in to account. Grocery shopping tends to be a big issue for most people, however, if you plan what you want and limit yourself to a budget it can reduce your spending a lot.
Set Yourself A Challenge
A no-spend challenge is where you pledge to not spend any money for a certain amount of time, obviously, that doesn’t mean you refuse to pay your bills or rent, but no money will be spent on unnecessary purchases. The type of things that you should be avoiding is when you pop to the shop to get some bread and milk but walk away with some biscuits, a magazine etc… this happens a lot more than we realise and setting yourself a no-spend challenge will make you more aware of just how often you make non-essential purchases.
The challenge is not as terrifying as it sounds, and you can do it for whatever time period you wish, this could be a week or maybe three. Beginning with a shorter period would be easier at the start and then gradually increasing it when you feel comfortable. The whole point of having the no-spend challenge is to save yourself some money but also will make you aware of your spending habits as it’s easy to get carried away. For example, you may find that unnecessary spending is happening when you’re bored or hungry. We recommend that you never go shopping hungry, you always end up purchasing those unnecessary items.
Cashback Websites
Ever heard of a cashback website? It’s free money! On cashback sites, they will list the websites that have cashback available and the numerous amounts that are accessible dependent on what you are purchasing at the time. There are lots of big-name shops listed on these types of sites. It’s a very simple process all you need to do is find a cashback rate that you want and select it. This will take you to the website that you are buying from, and you continue and complete your transaction like you normally would. The solitary change is that as you have clicked through from a cashback site so, your purchase will be tracked, and you’ll receive your cashback shortly after.
Try Doing Something You Would Normally Outsource
What are some of the things that you would normally pay someone else to do, could you potentially do them yourself to save some money? It can be surprising how many things we do actually outsource – some of the things you could consider doing yourself are your nails, car washing, dog walking, cleaning, dog grooming/pet grooming and decorating. Just by doing these few small tasks yourself it could save you a fair amount of money in the long run.
Hopefully you’ll find your savings begin to pile up with our tips for how to save money. For further advice we offer financial planning services, our experts can advise on the best way to save your money.
