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Growing up I was always told to save, save and save some more to be able to buy the things I wanted. There was no advice on investing and spending wisely to grow your wealth.
I’ve changed my money mindset and attitude towards wealth a LOT over the past few years. And I’m sharing these saving money tips with anyone who is struggling because they have helped me enormously.
I’m a goals person and love to work towards something BIG. Striving for something that seems out of reach pushes me to work hard and not give up when the road gets tough.
Earning a million dollars might seem unachievable, and it certainly isn’t an easy thing to do!
These tips alone will not make you a millionaire, obviously. But if you can incorporate these habits into your life as well as starting side hustles, a small business or blog, they will help you in the long term.
Follow These Tips To Move Closer To Financial Freedom
Ready to get started? Let’s go!
1. Buy Expensive Things
Now I get that this sounds like the complete opposite of what we are trying to achieve here.
But, stay with me and I’ll explain what I mean by this.
I used to buy cheap stuff All. The. Time. And I thought that by doing this I was saving money and not wasting it away on expensive items. But this was actually hurting my finances more that I realized.
Let me explain.
Say you buy a cheap pair of sunglasses. They break after a few wears so you need to buy more sunglasses. You buy more cheap ones and the same thing happens over and over. If those sunglasses cost $15 and you’ve bought 10 pairs, you’ve spent $150. See where I’m going with this?
If you had spent let’s say $100 on a decent pair of sunglasses, you could have saved money and the trouble of having to purchase so many sunglasses.
Investing in more expensive items helps you in the long run. And, if you do want to update your belongings, the good thing about well made, more expensive items is that they last. So you can sell them on later if you want.
2. Shop End of Season Sales
Holding out to shop for seasonal items like clothes and shoes at the end of their season has saved me hundreds of dollars.
What I do is spend as little as possible on items when they’re in season, I wait, and then purchase in the end of season sales. Unless I desperately need something in the way of clothing or shoes, I do this every year and I honestly save so much.
I will buy a winter coat right at the end of winter when they all go on sale and similar items like hats, gloves, scarves. And in summer I will buy my swimwear and summer clothes at the end of summer.
So if you’re in the habit of impulse buying or paying full price for these items, consider shopping in the end of season sales. It will save you heaps!
3. Organize Your Closets
It can be all too easy throwing things into closets and totally forgetting about them. They collect dust, don’t get used, and it ends up being a waste of money.
Especially if you need something and know it’s “somewhere in the house”, but you wouldn’t know where to look so you end up buying it just for convenience.
This is a bad habit to get into! To avoid this, every couple of months you should organize your items, know exactly what you have in your closets and arrange things accordingly. Using storage baskets and containers with labels on them will help hugely.
If you have a habit of keeping clutter or hoarding items you never use, it’s time to stop. Go through your items, if they haven’t been used in the last 12 months, look at donating them to charity or selling them through an online marketplace.
Not only will you be decluttering your closets, you will be decluttering your mind and be able to keep on top of things.
4. Go Through Your Finances Every Single Month
Maybe not the most exciting job (although strangely I do enjoy it). However, going through your finances every single month will put you ahead and ensure you’re not overspending.
I personally like to use digital spreadsheets combined with writing things down. I just find that easier for me. But if you want to use an app that helps you track your finances that’s good too.
Here are some popular apps you can download and use to track your finances:
5. Use The Snowball Effect To Slash Your Debt
Debt can be so suffocating and keep you awake at night. If you are struggling to pay off your debts, then you should definitely consider the snowball method which works like this.
Start with your smallest debt, no matter what the interest rates are, trust me on this. You pay the minimum on all your other debts while focusing on paying as much as you can until you get that smaller debt FULLY paid off.
Then, take all the money you were paying on your smallest debt and apply it to the next smallest debt until that is paid off. Keep rolling that money over to the next debt, like a snowball, and that is the fastest way to slay your debts.
💫 Tips:
👉 Stay focused on getting that debt paid off, it’s important to get rid of it for good.
👉 Take surveys for cash in your spare time to boost your income. Every bit counts!
👉 Avoid using your credit card(s) at all costs.
6. Make THIS Rule For Yourself
This rule will help keep you in check with your spending and acquiring items you don’t really need.
So, what is it?
Only choosing five of everything.
What do I mean by this?
I’m talking pairs of shoes, bags, lipsticks, earrings and the like. Only allow yourself to purchase five, or another number of your choosing but try not to go above five with these items.
The main idea of this is to cut impulse buying, becoming aware of what you do and do not need and knowing exactly how much you are spending on these items.
7. Include Forgotten Necessities In Your Budget
One mistake I made when I first started budgeting was forgetting to include necessities, like car repairs and medical appointments.
It’s easy to write down your main expenses like rent/mortgage, phone bills, college fees etc. But don’t get caught out when other expenses pop up that you haven’t budgeted for.
These sorts of expenses can pop up and surprise you at any given moment.
So if you can include spare cash in your budget for these unexpected expenses then you won’t have to dip into your savings or pull out your credit card.
Furthermore, if you don’t yet have an emergency fund, the best time to start building one is right now.
With daily item prices increasing every day, now is the time to open a savings account that accrues interest.
Grow Your Emergency Fund With CIT’s High Interest Rates
CIT offers high interest rates on their savings accounts to help grow your money faster. In fact, they offer interest rates that are typically 11X higher than the national average or greater. If you want to earn HIGH interest on your savings, open a CIT savings account to start growing your money quickly.
Open a CIT Savings Builder account and watch your emergency fund grow faster.
8. Plan Your Grocery Store Visits
A lot of us head to the grocery store for just a few things, and come out with a lot more than we went in for! How does it happen??
By not planning!
Before you start your grocery shopping, make sure you always have a shopping list and DO NOT buy outside this list. Unless it is something you forgot to include on your list that you need!
Another tip is to never visit the grocery store hungry. Because you may be tempted to buy snacks you don’t necessarily need and therefore spend more money.
9. Buy Second Hand Items For Your Kids
If you have kids, keep reading! If you don’t, we’ll see you shortly at number 10 below 😉
These days with the amount of toys and clothes there are in the world thanks to more affordability and availability, parents tend to buy their kids a lot of stuff. And the truth is kids don’t need nearly as much as we might think they do.
A lot of it comes from impulse buying, something we are trying to avoid here!
I’m not saying don’t ever buy your kids something new or treat them from time to time. But if you are in the habit of spending cash on your kids buying them new stuff every week, look at where you might be able to thrift shop.
These could be second hand items like bikes, scooters, outdoor toys, good quality clothes.
As the old saying goes “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure” and you can save so much money by getting thrifty.
10. Delegate Every Day Jobs
Now it’s time to look at some areas in your life that you could be delegating to someone else, to free up more of your time. And therefore, able to earn more money.
Not everyone can afford to outsource and delegate jobs to others. But if you can, then great! You will free up valuable time and it will help you in the long run.
Do you run a small business? Then consider hiring a VA to help out. Or maybe you have jobs around the house that you don’t have time to get to. Hire a cleaner, a gardener, a nanny, have your family and friends help out in their spare time.
Sometimes we want to do everything ourselves, or fail to see what areas we could be delegating to others. Even if you can focus on one area where you have the extra help then you’re on the right path.
11. Stop Watching TV
Do you want to make money while you sleep so you can watch all the TV you want down the track? Then you need to cut back on or completely eliminate watching TV while you are focusing on growing your wealth and saving your money.
While I was getting my blog off the ground I knew I would have to be disciplined to get it to where I wanted it. ie. Making Money!
I was so committed to my blog that I was willing to make these sacrifices. So I made the decision not to watch any TV shows for 12 months. And even now I will only watch a movie or two on the weekends.
Not only will you be using your time wisely but you can save money on subscription services.
12. Use Technology To Save Hundreds
Since there’s pretty much an app for everything these days, it’s a good idea to start using technology to help you save money.
Some of these apps have helped me save on every day purchases while others have helped to track my finances and budget.
Here are some of the top money saving apps for 2023 that you can download and start saving with right now:
- Qapital – Advanced Saving Technology
- Ibotta – Cash Back Rewards App
- Digit – Great For Paying Off Debt
- Fetch Rewards – Best Rewards App
- Honey – Best For Coupons
- Capital One Shopping – Also Great For Coupons
- Shopkick – In-Store Shopping Rewards
Related reading:
- Best Tips on How To Save Money With No Spend Days
- How To Start A Profitable Blog – Step By Step
- How To Stop Living Paycheck To Paycheck In 2023!
Let me know if you have any questions in the comments below. I would love to hear from you!
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