he weird thing about saving money is that we all know how to do it – you just stop spending it right? That’s often easier said than done and sometimes we need a few reminders about how to budget correctly. We all know daily takeaway coffees can add up to thousands of dollars a year, yet we somehow still fall into the habit of buying one or two every day, even though we’re trying to budget. Here are a few things you might want to think about if you’re trying to save money for a holiday or a house…
1. Everything except food and rent is a luxury
It’s easy to get confused about what constitutes a luxury particularly if you get into the habit of buying something regularly. Drinks at bars, dinners out, magazines, unnecessary clothing and general impulse buys are all luxuries. Pretty much everything except rent and basic food is a luxury. If you’re serious about saving, ditch luxuries.
2. If you can’t pay cash for it, you can’t afford it
Avoid paying interest on anything ever except for property. Never pay interest on appliances, cars or anything that will decrease in value. It’s much better to pay cash for a cheaper car than pay off a more expensive one because you will never get the money back for it.
3. Check your credit card statements diligently every month
Cancel any subscriptions to things you no longer use, check where all your money is going (electricity, gym memberships) and see if there are areas you can cut back on.
4. Decide where you’re going to cut corners
Being frugal all the time isn’t fun but unless you’re a millionaire, you’re going to have to scrimp on some things. I scrimp on everything except grocery food and clothing – I’ll pay good money for quality produce and clothing because it’s important to me to buy good quality, long lasting and ethical clothing and to eat nourishing food. I scrimp on everything else though. Entertainment, restaurants, beauty products, hair products, travel. Decide what’s important to you and allocate your funds to those things and go el cheapo on everything else.
5. Stop automating your payments
Automating payments is a big time saver but sometimes you might end up paying a lot of money for something you’re not using. Pay attention to where your money is going and if you physically have to pay your electricity bill every month it might make you more aware of how much it costs and it will encourage you to cut down on your consumption.
This week on Straight and Curly, Kelly and I are talking about our favourite budget hacks and how you can keep your dollars in your pocket. You can listen to it here, on iTunes and however Android people listen to podcasts.
Also just a heads up that Stacey and I are having a wee little break from Sweet Teen Club. It takes a lot of work and money to produce a weekly podcast so we’re looking at ways we can ease the financial burden of hosting fees and production fees without constantly begging for donations every week or chasing sponsors. If you have any suggestions – we’d love to hear it!
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Do you have any budget tips you’d like to share? Anything that helps you keep money in your bank account and not in the till at your local pub?
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