Collaborative post – All suggestions and opinions are my own.
We all hear about just how much everyone seems to be struggling with money at the moment. In Britain, ‘the cost of living crisis’ dominates our news programmes and most people are looking for ways to make extra savings or earn more cash. Saving money is in most of our thoughts and we all need to share any good tips we come across.
For me, I have found that energy bills have risen massively and the cost of petrol has hit my pockets hard. As well as this, I have found the weekly shopping become more costly too. So I am definitely looking very closely at my finances and trying to make cuts wherever I can, without allowing my standard of living to slip unnecessarily.
Watching the Pennies
It is important to set yourself goals and these include when saving up for things. I always have holidays in my head, so before I begin playing around with my money, I usually work out what I will have to pay for in the next six months. I have also got possible repairs and emergency money in mind when I make long term financial decisions.
For working out how long it will take me to reach a certain amount, I now use online calculators such as SavingsCalculator.Org which allow you to work out how much you are likely to need to save per month to reach a target or how long it is likely to take to get to that figure.
As well as working out how much I need for future projects and holidays, I can also work out the shortfall in income or the amount of overspending I am doing. Once I have this sorted, I begin to look for ways to cut back.
Some of my favourite ways include:
– Go through my subscriptions to apps and TV packages. Which do I currently not use much or can I do without? Sometimes it can be painful but ditching a streaming platform for six months can make a real difference to my bank balance.
– Look for easy ways to increase my income, such as opportunities to sell a few bits and bobs on ebay. Again, it is not always easy to say goodbye to possessions but sometimes a good old clear-out makes you feel better as well as helping to inflate your savings a little.
– Use the round-up option on banking apps to save small amounts each time you spend. When I pay for something, the Nationwide Building Society asks me of I want to save the amount that would have rounded my spend up to the nearest pound. This then goes straight into my esavings. It is a Ninja way to save pennies without really noticing.
It is important though, to do some calculations and have some potential figures in your head. Then you know what to aim for and exactly how much to reduce your outgoings by, if you are going to make it work for you.
I have written about my suggestions of how to potentially boost your income in a previous post:
In A Nutshell
Even though we are going through challenging times financially, there are several ways we can change our dealing with money to make sure our savings keep growing and that we don’t drown in debt.
Using a useful website you can change parameters and make predictions about how to build your savings. At the same time you can make reasonable adjustments to your outgoings or add additional income sources to top up your bank account.
Final Thought
Thank you so much for taking the time to read my article about how I prefer to save money and shave off my spending habits. Small changes have made such an impact on my own savings and helped me to continue to afford indulgences such as my recent trip to Antwerp to see the Christmas lights. For more of my suggestions about saving money, check out my other article.
