Everyone is after earning money but only few are after money saving. On an average one will find 10 articles or making money but only 1 article on money saving.
You all will be updated and familiar with moneymaking ways, but that is not more important to know, more important is how to save Money! Even if you earn $1000 in a day, it will be of no use unless and until you know how to save money. A person can spend thousand dollars in a day but it will be difficult for a person to save thousand dollars.
I did a routine check one day to find out how much money i spend in a day, in a week and in a month. I was surprised to see that i was spending more than half of my salary in a month and this applies to 90% of working people.
I would recommend and suggest to everyone to carry out such checks on a monthly basis and set a target on money saved. The saved money is very beneficial in emergencies. Normally on an average, 90% of people spend their 70% of monthly salary and therefore only 30% of money is saved. I will be sharing some tips on saving money which increase the 30% ratio to 60% or 70%.
That means after reading this blog you can increase your saving money % to more 40%.
Close All Your Credit Cards
First and foremost stop all your credit cards by paying the full and final payment. Credit card adds debt each month and prevents you from building wealth.
If you want to build a good credit score then stop using Credit card. Use of credit card will lower your credit score which will then create a negative impact if you are planning to have a loan in future.
Understanding credit card is little bit tricky, once you understand how credit card works, you are in a better position to manage a credit card and use it responsibility. If you only work seasonally, part-time, or not at all, you may not have enough money to pay a credit card balance. Getting a credit card without enough money to pay the bill can lead to debt troubles and damaged credit.
People with bad spending habits put themselves at risk of serious financial trouble by getting a credit card. Recent studies have shown that people have started spending more than credit card if compared with cash.
Surviving without a credit card at a time when electronic payments are taking over can be difficult, but there are some alternatives. You can use a debit card, which is linked to your saving account, in nearly every transaction where you would otherwise use a credit card.
A prepaid debit card, similar to a debit card but without a checking account, is another option, but beware of high fees.
Keep A Track Of Your Expenses
The real reason you track your expenses is to create financial awareness. If you do not know where your money goes or how you spend it, you won’t know what habits you can change in order to make your money work for you.
If you want to build wealth, then you need to stop wasting money.
Steps to Track your Expenses
1. Write down your monthly income.
2. Write out your monthly expenses. Start with food, shelter (your mortgage or rent plus utilities), clothing, and transportation.
3. Make sure your income minus your expenses equals zero.
4. If you cannot track your expenses manually, you can use some of the application like Mint, Quickbooks and personal capital.
Tracking your spending can help you identify serious spending issues. You can also see if your spending matched your priorities. It is easier to make changes when you realize that you are not reaching your financial goals because you eat out every night.
Tracking your spending allows you to see where your money is really going. It is essential if you want to understand your financial habits and make changes to them. It can help you realize when you need to stop spending, so you do not end up with a financial hangover.
When you overspend in a few categories, it can be tempting to stop and then try again next month.
It is important to continue to track throughout the month so you can identify what you need to change and by how much. A budget is something that evolves over time to help you meet your needs and goals.
Recognizing that you are overspending consistently in one area can help you know if you need to increase that category and cut in other areas.
Set Saving Goals
Setting Saving Goals will save at least 30% of your monthly income; these savings can be used for emergencies. Set a target every month, for example if you are earning $1000 in a month, please set 30% of your salary under target goals, that means $300 will be saved under goals.
One more example, let us say that you set a goal of owning an own house two years from today. In this case, you’d need to investigate the average home cost in the area you’d like to live in and start saving for the down payment on your new house (as a general rule, down payments are often required to be no less than 20% of the purchase price of the house).
Record and document your goals and then compare it with previous weeks and month. Comparison will provide a real picture as to what and where the money was spend. There are lot of application related to Financial Goals. Below are some of the examples of financial goals.
• Paying off debt.
• Saving for retirement.
• Building an emergency fund.
• Buying a home.
• Saving for a vacation.
• Starting a business.
• Feeling financially secure.
Have a monthly and weekly review on your goals, this will help in saving more than 20% of your salary income.
Remove Luxuries From Your Savings
Differential your expenses, some expenses are not essential. Remove such expenses from your income; on an average at least 10% of expenses are not essentials. I started this 2 years back and now I have cut down my expenses to 20%, I realized that such luxury expenses are not required and if required it will be rare or maybe once in a year.
Once you have a habit of leaving without luxury expenses, it will be beneficial in future savings. Below are some of the luxury expenses, which you can remove or avoid –
• Unsubscribe from optional television or internet packages.
• Switch to a family phone plan which is much cheaper
• Trade in an expensive car for one that is fuel-efficient and cheap to maintain.
• Sell any electronic gadgets going unused.
• Buy clothing and home furnishings from thrift stores.
• Carpool to Work.
• Use public transport.
• Close all Credit Cards.
• Avoid Multiple Holiday Trips.
• Make use of online purchase as these are much are cheaper than retail products.
Please remember this statement “Luxury is just a Weakness“. If you want to live a luxurious life then you can never save money, don not make a habit of leading a luxury life. I have seen people who have lost of everything to lead a luxury life. One can live without luxury but not without necessities.
Recall that the future is more important than the present and past. You should save money not for you, but for your family.
The early you start, the more you will save.
Check out my blogs on Online Earning & Passive Income as well.