Save money on energy bills.
Many people are unaware of how much money is wasted through all the gadgets and technology they own in their home. There are various machines within a home which takes up a lot energy, which results in higher electricity bill.
Appliances which contributes significantly to your energy bill.
- Television
- Washing machine
- Refrigerator
- Incandescent light bulb
- Hair dryer
- Monitors and desktop computers
To save money, first thing you should question yourself on is, what appliances uses a lot of electricity in my home? And, you should ask yourself, how you can reduce usage of some of these appliances in order to reduce your electricity bill? Remember don’t throw away money, think smart and save money. It takes hard work and dedication to earn money, make sure you’re not the one wasting your money. One of the best advice’s which can be given here is to turn off all the appliances that are not being used. For example, when no one is watching the TV, it would be advisable to turn it off. Turn off the lights when not being used, even though you might save a few pennies over a period of time, it eventually adds up to a lot of money. Moreover, use old fashioned techniques, like drying your hair with a towel, this would avoid the usage of a hair dryer. Small actions like this would help you save hundreds or even thousands throughout the years.
Shopping with a list, write a list and then go shopping.
Many people spend an unnecessary amount of money on the things they don’t require when they go shopping or when they are purchasing online. One way to reduce unnecessary spending is to decrease the number of times you go shopping, instead of going once a week, it would be advisable to rather go shopping once a month, similarly with online shopping.
Branded items VS non-branded items
Whether you wear branded or non-branded clothing, it does not show that you are rich or poor. In reality, many people who are struggling financially are showing off by buying and wearing the most expensive branded items, there is no need for this. Many rich people like Mark Zuckerberg, Simon Cowell, late Steve jobs and DJ Khaled are a few to mention who wear unbranded clothing, they mostly wear plain clothing. If they wanted to they could buy thousands of branded products, but they do not because they do not see a value in this. With this mentality it is clearly proven how the RICH GETS RICHER.
One thing we should clearly understand is how a branded item and non-branded item are the same thing, whether if it has a logo or not, it will always be the same thing. Therefore, when your out shopping or browsing online for a designer item, question yourself twice before buying it. To save money you should think and act smart.
Trend Followers
Many people follow the trend, they do not think of the costs involved, even if it’s an expensive item which they cannot afford, they will have the urge to go and buy it, rather than thinking of how they could have used this money to support them in the near future. Many people with this type of mentality fail in life, rather than saving the money for a rainy day, they go out and purchase the latest update.
Is upgrading worth it - iPhone X to iPhone XS
An example can be given with the apple iPhone device. Comparing both the latest iPhone X and iPhone XS, these two devices are exactly the same appearance wise, they both are similar in the height, width, and depth, as stated on the apple website. The only difference is the camera at the back, which seems to have a slight bump to It, which slightly increases camera quality. I personally do not see a value in this.
There is literally no visual difference to the human eye. There is no huge jump in tech. Internally, the only difference with the two devices is that, iPhone XS has a more up to date processer (Apple A12 Bionic) compared with the iPhone X (Apple A11 Bionic). The user will not have the slightest of clues that the processors were updated unless they read the phones spec. Essentially both phones are exactly the same apart from these small tweaks.
Yet, many people have upgraded from iPhone X to iPhone XS, many people have traded in their iPhone X, by selling them to the shop and then paying an extra amount on top to get this ‘new iPhone XS’. Overall, there is no value in such purchases/ upgrades, if you already have a similar product that performs exactly the same as the latest product out, then think twice before upgrading or purchase the product. You can save a lot of money.
Should You Buy Or Borrow
My personal tip, you can save an enormous amount of money by ‘borrowing’ products from the shop instead of spending money. For example, lets say you have a special occasion coming up, you require an attire for this day. Our personal instinct is to go out and purchase this attire. Instead of purchasing the attire, why not ‘borrow’ it. Such as, purchase it, wear it for that day making sure its not ruined in any way, keep the labels and receipt and then the next day just return it to get your money back. This could be done with any item, you can use it and then return it, but make sure you return the item as you bought it. There you have it, a small secret from myself to you. Essentially, if you want to become rich, you will need to think ahead and be smart, save the money for something better.
In conclusion, most of our earnings are spent on shopping, use your money wisely when it come to shopping. Spend less on items, even if it means to sacrifice quality at times. Before purchasing, look for a cheaper or a better deal. And, never buy things which you do not need.
Subscriptions – Useless subscriptions
Monthly or weekly subscriptions are where most of our earnings disappear to. On average around $200 a month is spent on subscription costs in the USA, and in the UK nearly £250 is wasted every month on subscription packages. Most people get unnecessary subscriptions. Money is one thing that takes time and effort to earn, do not just make the rich richer. Intelligence is required to save money, an advice which can be taken from this is to always think twice before going ahead with any subscriptions. Subscriptions are one aspect of money being wasted over a certain period of time, it all adds up to a huge amount of money after a certain period of time.
Another factor is forgetting to cancel the subscription after the time frame you agreed to get have it for, money is charged for services you don’t know you have. In addition, many people don’t bother to cancel subscriptions and continue to pay for something they make no use of.
Subscriptions that you can live without
- TV and music services
- Gym membership – most people get gym memberships and hardly make use of it, you can do the exact same routine outside of the gym. You can buy some of the equipment’s for home use, the amount you spend a year on monthly or annual gym membership can be spent more wisely.
- Netflix.
- News paper and magazine subscriptions
How to save money with subscriptions
Sometimes it is a necessity to have some of these subscriptions in our daily lives, however why pay the original cost of the subscription packages when you could get it for much cheaper. All you have to do is play it smart with these service providers. Who wouldn’t want a customer to come on-board, even if they are making a small profit from getting you on-board, it is better than nothing for them. Next time when you are planning to get a subscription package, make sure you haggle your way to getting the best deal. A small trick is to keep on declining the offer customer service gives to you, you will definitely get a better deal.
Debt
Getting out of debt will allow you to save money. Never get into debt; this is one of the worst things you could do to yourself. Life is much better when you do not have to pay back money you have already used. Managing your money is key to not getting into debt, try to save some money on the side every time you earn money. Even if it’s a small percentage out of the total amount you earn, it would help for a rainy day. Always think ahead, prepare for the future, if you know you will need a certain amount of money for something in the future, then find ways around into acquiring this money. Work an extra part time job or establish a side business, whatever you need to do to not get into debt. It has been proven that debt can play a huge factor into your mental and physical state, many people feel lost when they are in debt.
How to get out of debt?
If you are in an unfortunate state of being in dept, it is important to make plans to get out from it. Do not waste money on the things you do not require, in times like this every penny saved can contribute into you getting out of debt. Make a plan using pen and paper, write down your expenditure and find out how you can get this debt paid off. Sacrifice spending on your daily expenses, if you smoke, stop smoking, if you paying for a subscription, you can stop it for a few months until the debt is paid off, make a cut in your spending, minimize your spending for a certain period of time until your debts are cleared off.
Biggest debt you can get yourselves into
- Mortgages
This is one of the biggest debts known to exist in the world today. Many people get mortgages to buy a property, they then pay a monthly mortgage payments on average for 25 to 30 years.
- Financing a car
Many people get cars with a huge debt in their hands. A monthly payment is agreed with additional interest charges on top of original price of the car.
- Credit card
Credit card is the easiest ways to get money that is not yours. People start pending money they don’t have, the use of credit card has increased over time, many people are struggling to pay of the money they used through credit card.
Furthermore, if debt is causing you to fall back in life, be smart and take action. Do not let this be a setback for you to moving forward in life, ever give up and continue in life. Patience is key! Once you have come out from this debt, make promises with yourself to never get into this situation again. Think about the future and plan ahead, this would lead to success and internal happiness.
Daily expenses
Structure your lifestyle to reduce the costs of daily expenses, these daily expenses eventually adds up to a huge amount at the end of the year. Your daily expenditures could be the culprits in making you poor. To save money you must compromise on your daily expenses.
Habitual expenditure
Smoking – People who are addicted to smoking tend to spend thousands of pounds annually on cigarettes. On average, a pack of cigarette costs $6.28, in a month this can cost you $188 per month and in a year $2,292. A substantial amount of money is spent on something that has no beneficial value to your life. One should always understand the constraints these habits cause to your bank balance.
Unnecessary spending – There are daily routines in a person’s life that can be changed to save some extra money. For example, people who have jobs tend to go out and purchase their food at lunchtime, on average they spend $5 a day, if they work 5 days a week, this can add up to $25 a week, and $100 a months. An alternative to this is to make your own food at home, or pack leftover food to take into work.
Another example could be shown with travel expenses, many people rather spend more money and travel quicker to their destination, and other rather spend a tiny amount but take longer to get to their destination. Such as travelling with a bus rather than a train can save you a good amount on a daily bases. Alternatively, even better a healthier option is to ride a bicycle to the destination rather than spending money on public transportation. Do the calculations, over a certain period of weeks, months and years a huge amount is wasted. It is easy to save money! It is the little things that requires compromises in a person’s daily routine to save money.
Overall, our daily spending habits can be the key to success in saving a lot of money. The best way to go about this is to make a plan, alternate your spending habits and you’ll see a huge difference to your bank balance.
