Do you ever wish your money could go further? It can seem that all your hard work doesn’t leave you with very much at the end of the day. By the time you’ve paid your bills, put money aside for savings and paying back your credit card -what’s left? If you’re tired of being left with barely any money by the end of the month, change your money habits for good by taking a look at these smart ways to make money last longer.
1. Budget
Budgeting is a dreaded word, but those who stick to a budget find that they have a lot more money left over at the end of the month, and aren’t left worrying about affording lunch during that last week before payday. Budgeting for beginners needn’t be as difficult as it sounds. Once you’ve worked out how much money you have coming in and what all of your outgoings are, you can make some sensible decisions about what to do with the rest.
Sticking to a budget requires some determination, but once you start seeing your savings balance increase – you’ll soon be motivated to stick to it, especially when you start seeing enough savings to do more of what you enjoy such as going on trips or vacations.
2. Reduce your taxes, legally
We all complain about paying taxes, but there are ways to help you reduce them without breaking the law. There are some great secrets to reducing your taxes that not many will know about, including making retirement account contributions, learning credits and home office deductions are just of the ways you can reduce the amount of taxes you pay – helping our income to stretch further.
3. Switch utility providers
Many people stay with the same utility providers for years without ever seeing if there’s a better deal available elsewhere. It’s easy to get comfortable with a service, but a quick comparison search could show you that another company will offer the same services at a lower rate, especially for new customers. This is also something you can do with your cell phone provider or cable service and could help you save hundreds or even thousands a year, without losing out on the services you love.
4. Start food planning
Food planning is a simple way to help you save money on your weekly grocery bill. Planning out your meals will help you work out exactly what you need to include on your grocery shopping list each week, while also helping you to save on food waste, which is a growing global issue right now.
Planning your meals can also help you to learn to eat healthier, as you can prepare more of what you eat in advance rather than relying on convenience food or on takeout. You could also consider batch-cooking your meals and freezing them to help make the most of your leftovers.
5. Save money on your purchases
How often do you shop around for the best price on the goods that you buy? When shopping online, there are a lot of ways to save money. Digital discount codes and coupons can get you huge savings on your purchases, leaving you with the leftover change to put towards your savings.
Make sure that you sign up for email newsletters from your favorite stores to be the first to be told about sales and discount days that could help you save on some of the things on your wishlist? Don’t want the email spam? Simply set up a folder to redirect all of your items so that you can take a look at them at your leisure.
7. Invest your money
Want to make your money grow? Invest it! Investing your money is a great way to help boost your savings to put towards your retirement, a mortgage deposit and other things that are in your future financial plans.
You don’t need to have a big investment budget to make money, Canadian penny stocks are an attractive investment opportunity, and you can use them to work your way up to larger investments. Investment apps are also a popular option for first-timers looking for an easy way to get started with investments.
8. Ditch your vehicle
Your car can be a big drain on your finances, with fuel and maintenance costs factoring into a huge part of your monthly outgoings. Why not pledge to use your car less? Doing this will not only help you save money on your car’s running costs, but it will also benefit the environment too.
Walking or cycling to work or taking the bus/train could help you to save money overall, as well as free up some of that time usually spent in traffic to tackle your emails or other tasks you wouldn’t normally be able to do while driving. Using more active forms of travel like cycling will also help to make you fitter – meaning you can ditch that gym membership!
9. Save on entertainment
While being on a budget can limit your entertainment activities, you don’t have to give up doing the things you love altogether. Groupon and other websites offer some amazing deals on theatre and movie tickets, while you can also get some great deals for restaurants and bars online too. It’s worth following your favorite hangouts on social media to take advantage of the best deals too.
Meanwhile, if there’s a student living in your home, you could ask them to sign up to Amazon Prime, Apple Music and other subscription services at a discounted rate to help save you money each month. Entertainment doesn’t have to cost the earth to be fun; you just need to get creative with where to find it.
While it can seem like a long road until the end of the month, by making the most of money-saving tips, you can help your money stretch further. From growing your savings to taking advantage of the best deals and offers, there are many ways you can make the most of what you got and grow what’s left over. Start using your new money-savvy skills to make your income go further for a better financial future.
Here’s some money saving inspirational quotes to get you inspired
Salman is a prolific environmental writer, and has authored more than 500 articles in reputed journals, magazines and websites. He is proactively engaged in creating mass awareness on renewable energy, waste management, sustainability and conservation all over the world.
Salman can be reached on salman@cleantechloops.com
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