Living On A Budget: 5 Easy Ways To Save Money Everyday
Whether you’re a college student, just moved out of your parent’s house or are trying to save money for the future, it can be a difficult situation financially. Do you have enough money for rent? What about going out for a few drinks? And why is iced coffee so expensive?
Living on a budget doesn’t have to be stressful, so here are our five hacks to save money every day!
1. Don’t Eat Out Too Often
This is one that gets thrown around a lot, but it’s a crucial way to save money!
Eating out is too expensive at times, especially if you’re a picky eater. To avoid spending too much money eating at restaurants or diners, cook at home. There are always cheap varieties at grocery stores and a weekly shop, in the long run, will save you money.
Cooking is also a way to de-stress from a hard week at work or college. You might find that you enjoy eating at home with friends or by yourself more than you might think.
2. Create A Savings Account
If you get paid weekly, monthly or bi-weekly, make sure that you put at least 10 percent of your pay into a savings account.
Most online banking apps allow this to happen automatically once you set it up, so you won’t have to do it yourself every time you get paid. It saves money without you even realizing you are.
In a year, you will have saved, hopefully, enough money to be proud of. Plus, with the automatic online banking app, you won’t have to transfer the money yourself every month, which means you don’t have to fear checking your balance!
3. Don’t Take Your Credit/Debit Card Out On A Night Out
For college students especially: do not bring your card out to a club.
A lot of disasters happen from this, even more so now that contactless payments are a thing. Do not connect your card to apple pay either, because once you’re drunk, you will be buying everyone drinks.
Get a little bit of cash out before a night out and leave your card at home so you’re not tempted to use it.
Hot Tip: Pre-drink enough so that maybe you won’t even need too much cash out with you, either!
4. Invest In A Travel Mug
This one can’t be stressed enough. For coffee lovers everywhere, yes coffee from an over-priced franchise might taste delicious, but learn to make good coffee at home.
If you tend to drink at least 3 cups of coffee a day, invest in a travel mug and make your own coffee at home. It will save money and you don’t have to worry about queuing!
Even if you’re at work, you can easily pour the coffee from the kitchen into your travel mug and call it a day! It is an efficient and simple way to not overspend on things you don’t need to.
5. Set Yourself A Weekly Spending Budget
Setting yourself a weekly spending budget will not only save money, but it will also test your character. It shows great strength to not stray away from the budget you set yourself. Remember to make the budget as realistically as possible.
Prioritize the necessities, for example, things you need, not things you want. For right now, while you’re trying to save money, do not consider what you want. Once you have saved enough money or reached your goal, you can treat yourself with something you desire and the feeling will be even better once you’ve bought it!
Whatever you do, do not go over your weekly spending budget! Alternatively, you can set yourself a limit, and even be in competition with yourself to stay under the limit.
If you spend less than you’ve appointed yourself, then you can treat yourself with an iced coffee! Ah, what a privilege it has become to buy an iced coffee.
