My best techniques to save money and stack those bank notes high
A GUIDE TO SAVE YOU MONEY
Forget frequent small purchases!
Keep an eye on all your small purchases, these leave a very big dent in your wallet without even thinking about it! It's something we do by habit, we buy those 2 or 3 coffees a day, we buy a few drinks after work, we buy a $2 or $3 drink from the store, I guess it's only $2 so it's not that much right? Let me break down the facts about the problem with the frequent small purchases situation.
When I was still living in New Zealand and spent a month constantly on the go I would have to buy two coffees a day priced at $4.50 - $5 each. After I saw the total cost per month it really changed my thinking, it's even less noticeable living in a country like Spain as the cost of living is alot lower with a coffee from a local bar costing around €1.20.
Those two coffes a day were costing me $70 a week & at the end of the month it was costing me $300! That's $3600 a year! That's your deposit on your new car, maybe two years is a chunk of money towards your deposit for a new home or your backpacking adventure around Asia. I'm not saying don't buy anything but even if you cut the cost in half you will notice a massive saving, i.e. buy one coffee instead of two.
Coffee-2 per day at $4.80 each Weekly- $67.20 Monthly- $268.80 Yearly- $3225.60
Exercise 1. Make a list like the list above and write down upto three regular purchases you make during the week that are under $10 a item. Now take your total for the year and imagine something you have always wanted and see yourself using it or being there in the moment and really believe you have it, now hold that 2nd cup of coffee and ask yourself what one would be better in the long run?
Now write down what you want to use this money for with the total amount, think big and think about something you have always wanted to do, wanted to buy, maybe save a certain amount of money or use this for a deposit for some kind of investment.
The final step is to take action, so whether you prefer to save in cash or use a separate account I want you to take all the money that you would normally use for these small purchases and put it into that account and start the saving, Watch your account grow rapidly! Enjoy!
Note -It only takes two weeks to form a habit, the rest is simple
Today you say goodbye to personal credit cards!
Guys, I think everybody already knows this but I have to say it again to get it out there. This is by far one of the worst things we can do, give our hard earned cash to companies that act as friends, that will offer more and more cash every time the loan is paid. " Welcome! VIP member ! Low interest just for you! These are not friends, these are enemies. Getting in the habit of using your own money when you have it is the best way, you will never get rich if the minute you get paid you have to pay back a higher percentage to pay off debt, only to take out a new loan because you're short again.
Make a plan to pay off all the outstanding debt as fast as you can, even if you need to cut costs in other areas. The faster you pay it off you will be back on track and stop living from pay check to pay check.
Don't get me wrong, credit cards can be very handy when used correctly for improving credit score, business or for emergency purposes but next time you swipe ask yourself do you really need that new dress or shirt today or can it wait? It also causes unnecessary stress.
I've had credit cards and loans in the past for some of the reasons stated above but I always made sure the reason was for something that would help me in the long run, i.e. creditscore for something bigger. Whenever I borrowed money I always paid off the loan as soon as I possibly could, most of the time I paid it off a year or more earlier.
Exercise - Find a good pair of scissors and chop that card up.
Become an impulse saver!
I fell in love with this method. A few years ago when I was using BNZ in New Zealand I used their amazing '' You money '' app to my advantage and dragged small and large amounts into my savings account all the time.
Most of the time we get an ugre to do something when we can see it, start small, drag $2 or $5 maybe $10. (This is all extra savings after you have put away your main savings for the month) Repeat this a few times throughout the day, maybe the week if they're larger amounts or whenever you get the feeling that you want to save quickly transfer a small amount over.
The repetitive nature of this method became so normal for me after a month I wasn't even thinking about doing it, it became something I just did as part of my daily routine. the amounts started getting bigger every month and when I saw how much I actually needed to live off the impulse saving became more frequent.
The great thing about this method is that it's the reverse side of the ''frequent small purchases'' as we spoke about eariler. When we're dealing with small amounts whether it be spending or saving, small frequent amounts always seem to go unnoticed by the brain which means at the end off the week you could save an extra $100 that you never would of saved if you had to transfer $100 one single transaction.
Start today and watch how simple this method can help your account grow.
Block your savings account!
Most early saving withdrawals are impulse, call your bank and set up a block so only they can move the money over for you when requested by phone. Chances are if it's not an emergency you'll change your mind waiting on the phone when you remember how hard you have been saving.
The budget challenge method!
This is a challenge I gave myself. To stay within a $5-$10 daily food limit for shopping. Most of the year I have a bodybuilding style diet so I'm never starving and I normally shop daily.
I set myself a limit of $10 a day which was always plenty and I always have enough food left over from the previous days to keep me going. I.e. I would buy a kilo of chicken breast, eggs, fruits and vegetables for one day, it also allows you to be creative while trying to stay within the budget.
This goes for everything, so if you use this money for a $8 lunch just remember you only have another $2 left. This method really made me look at how much money I really spend in the supermarkets and it's good to know how much you only really need to live off and still live good. Like I said, eating is very important to me as I train alot and would I never cut it to the point when I'm not giving my body the suffient amount of food. Don't stress too much if one day you go for that lunch, or one day you want a special dinner because you will already be ahead from all the previous days that you have saved.
Exercise Whether you go weekly, daily or monthly shopping set a realistic budget goal and kill it! For example, if you normally send $100 try and spend $80 and after the first month see if you can get any lower while still living at the same level.