Saving up money is a tricky concept.
You see, money always has to be spent anyways, no matter how much you need to save. You always need to eat, you might need transportation, all kinds of emergencies might happen, and all kinds of other issues might arise.
Still, somehow, people manage to succeed at saving up money, right? Here is a few tricks – while I’m not the best, I’ve noticed that these things help me out a lot.
Don’t buy food by portions. Don’t buy two chicken breasts because you think that’s all you’re going to eat that day. Buy food in advance. Buy a lot of chicken and freeze it up for future use. Vegetables and some ready meals can also be frozen.
Get a kilo of carrots. They’ll take a while to rot and they’re a good snack, even if you don’t use them in cooking. Buy canned corn instead of on the cob – it doesn’t feel as cool, but it tastes practically the same and can be stored for ages. Instead of buying one tiny bag of chips buy a giant bag that has multiple smaller portions inside – it’ll save you the money and the time.
In addition, that’s usually how shoping at markets works – and markets are cheaper in general, at least in the UK, so. Go for some market bulk purchases.
This obviously doesn’t mean you need to stop ever eating anything you didn’t cook yourself – sometimes going out is necessary or just unavoidable.
That doesn’t mean, however, that you should be having lunch at the café in front of your university every single day. That’s just being lazy and boujee.
Cook at home more often – that will let you experiment more, too. Get into meal prep and take lunch with you. Invite friends over instead of going to a restaurant – that will also give you a chance to impress them.
I’ve heard an overwhelming amount of my university mates say things like “When I’m holding cash in hand, it feels less real than if I were to pay with a card.”
Well, then don’t. Unless it’s necessary in a given situation (you’re going to the market) immediately pop all of your cash onto your card. It will feel more real, and it will be less likely to get snatched out of your hand and just be gone forever, so the saving up money operation gets an increased chance of success.
Not all things are going to be equally as good when coming from store brands, but some sure will be.
Cleaning products, spices, cutlery, sugar, flour and a lot of other things are often just as good as any other cooler brand you could have gotten, however. And, as you might have known beforehand, or already figured from the presence of this tip, store brand is definitely cheaper, even if it is dish soap.
If you’re going out with friends – which, hey, everybody has to have fun – get together at someone’s place first.
A whole bottle of regular cheap vodka will cost you less than a quarter of that at a bar or at a club; same goes for all other alcohol, too (which is hilarious because all bar/club alcohol is usually not any better in quality than the cheapest you can get at Tesco’s).
This will get you in the mood, let you still have a good time with your friends, all the while saving up money.
Re-usable bags to go grocery shopping; re-usable cups to save up at Starbucks; a menstrual cup and a lot of other things will end up saving you a lot of money in the long run. A lot of our consumption is based on waste, and you can reduce on that, while saving up money in the meantime.
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