Saving money is an art and not everyone is a master in it. It requires extreme passion and dedication to limit oneself from spending more. So many of us build new year’s resolutions to save money but only a handful keep up to it.
But don’t worry, you’re not alone in this struggle. In a study, it was found that almost 65 percent of Americans have no savings, despite the low unemployment rate in the USA.
But the good news is, it’s fixable, which means, you can always learn how to save money. All you have to do is to plan out an effective, easy, and realistic spending strategy and go accordingly.
To help you do that, I’ve enlisted a few tips and tricks that you must implement to save more and spend less.
Best Tips to Help Keep Your Finances on Track And Saving Money
1. Keep track of your expenses
Do you know what’s the most prevalent reason why people can’t save money? It’s because most people fail to keep effective records of the money they spend during a certain duration.
Believe me, you must duly record each and every transaction and payment. Only that will fetch you the desired results.
You can incorporate the use of Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets and intricately list all the expenses in different sectors – personal, household, professional, and others. You can also take help from the bank statements of your credit and debit cards to keep track of your expenditure wisely.
2. Be clear with the amount you want to save
Before you begin this journey, you must rightly identify your purpose of saving money and the amount you want to save for the same.
It can be anything – from buying a house, to buying a dress – no matter how big or small, a goal is a goal.
Remember, clear and defined goals can help you portion your daily expenses and savings.
3. Consider ways that can limit your expenditures
To effectively save money, limit your expenditures and daily expenses. Create a list of the things that you deem extremely important and the ones that are not important at the moment but incur a huge cost and then let go of the latter. This will effectively cut off spending more money.
Further, if you have a big goal, you can always make a few adjustments in your daily life.
For instance, limit the money spent on entertainment or eating out. When you have money, it will always tempt you to spend more, but don’t lose your focus and keep reminding yourself about your financial goals.
4. Avoid using credit cards to pay monthly dues
Credit cards, though seem attractive at first, become a problem for many in the end. This is because they spoil you with the advantage of spending money whenever and however much you want and most people spiral over it.
Since credit cards don’t let you spend your own money, you don’t realize that your expenses slowly gather up as a “loan” with a high rate of interest on it.
Further, users also fail to clear their debts to the bank within the due date and land in deep monetary trouble. You can learn more about this on Our Money Market and know how to use them correctly.
If you really want to keep up with your goals and save money, then don’t pay your bills with credit cards. Instead, start using debit cards and spend only what’s required.
5. Stay strong and determined!
During the initial stages, people easily lose focus and determination. But if you’re determined and focused on your goals, it wouldn’t be as tough as you think.
To help ease the process, you can also make use of financial tools that can help to keep a clean record of the expenditures, and also help you save.
But remember, no technology can replace the determination that it requires – that has to come from within you.
Over to you…
So, buddy, if you’ve been constantly struggling to save, make sure to implement these tips and tricks to smoothly navigate through this phase. Don’t lose focus, my friend – I promise, it will pay off!
