10 SIMPLE MONEY SAVING TIPS

Do you ever find yourself having those internal thoughts?

I wish I could save money but nothing I do seems to work.

Your memory takes you back to those times you started saving only to find shortly after something unexpected came up and your savings disappeared.

Or what about when you sat down to do a budget and couldn’t find anything left over so it became one of those impossible goals.

Well the great news is savings can become reality for most people, it’s simply a case of working out how or where and then taking action.

Below are my top 10 Money Saving tips from my coaching library

Money is never a 'One size fits all so just like my clients I have coached use these money saving tips as a resource and select the ones you think will work best for you.

Set a goal to applyi 1 or 2 (or more if you choose) and start enjoying the satisfaction that accompanies the ability to save money and keep it.

1. Cancel or adjust subscriptions and memberships

Go through your banks statement for the last 3 months and make a list of all the subscriptions you have, Spotify, Netflix, Gym, apps etc.

Once you have a list decide whether these are still of value to you, are you using them or have you simply forgotten they exist. Cancel any you haven’t uses for ages and for others consider the type of plan you are subscribed to, can you lower the cost by changing plans and still access the part of the service that you enjoy?

My Online Budget planner has an automatic feature that recognizes when a user hasn’t logged in for a certain period and automatically emails them to let them know they aren’t using it so go and cancel their subscription, there’s no point paying for something you don’t use.

I doubt anything you are currently subscribed to will be doing that, they are happy just taking your money so put an end to it today.

2. Ditch the brands

We get so tied up in brands and it sucks money out of people big time. Now personally I don’t think there is any substitute for Wattie’s tomato sauce but hey, so many other staples not the same. Buy plain pack for as many items as possible. Same with cleaners and detergents. 

Did you know vinegar and water cleans just about anything you can think of, $3 for two litre’s of vinegar mixed with one litre of water gives you three litres of cleaning product that can be used for almost anything. Compare that with how much you spend each month on fancy cleaning brands and look at how much you can be saving.

Now with clothing there is something said about buying quality but ask yourself the question in this area too. Are high profile expensive brands necessary for everything? You may be surprised.

3. Ask for discounts

There’s a video in the Q&A video section called ’10 words you should use every day’. If you haven’t watched it take a couple of minutes to do so. Here's the link.
Watch the video now!

You will be amazed at how much you can save simply by building the discipline to ask even at times where you don’t think you will get one.

Timing can pay big dividends also. Whenever we are in the market for a new appliance or piece of furniture, we have always got the best results in the last week of a month. If a store or salesperson isn’t hitting their target and the month is running out they will want to do a deal with you so negotiate hard and save.

4. Re write your budget without extra income

It is amazing how many people I coach who have got in the habit of making a budget based on assumed income form commission or overtime etc.

When it doesn’t eventuate, stress takes over and their budget goes out the window.

Have a go at rewriting your budget to make things work on your base income only. Then everything you earn over and above can immediately go into savings to build an emergency fund or towards your goals.

A lot of people dismiss doing this because they have built the habit of relying on the extra income. Give it a go, you may be surprised at how you can actually make it balance.

5. Reprogram your behaviour

We just can’t help it, and we are tempted everywhere these days. It doesn’t matter where it is whenever we are waiting in a line to buy stuff some clever marketing guru has convinced the store owner to surround us with temptation. And it works, for them that is, we can’t resist picking up something and adding it to the pile.

Try this trick that has paid dividends for my coaching clients who used to give in to the temptation every time.

As you approach the checkout line, pause and stop, glance over what you have in your possession and say the following (insert your own applicable words)

“Got the bread, got the milk, got the cereal, great I have everything I came for”

Now when you are standing in the que and your eyes begin to wonder just say to yourself, “I have got everything I came for” and stand firm.

6. Have lunch days not lunch weeks

Have you ever stopped to look at how much lunches actually cost over the course of a year. It can be quite mind-blowing.

Taking lunches isn’t always that practical and sometimes the effort seems to much however building the discipline to take lunches has huge results. Imagine if you only bought lunch 2 days a week instead of 5, that’s a 60% saving on your money.

Example

Spending $10 a day equals $5,000 a year, 60% savings is $3,000. That could be your family holiday paid for. Now that’s worth doing.

7. Give away money

Are you nuts? I can here you are screaming that from here, “How can I save money if I am giving it away”

So bear with me while I explain. There is something about giving away money that releases you from the feeling of not having enough. It’s actually quite freeing.

Now I am not saying go and give away money at the expense of paying your bills and putting food on the table but giving to a cause you believe changes your mindset about money.

The feel-good feeling translates into other positive decisions you start to make with money.

Ask yourself the question, what is it you are really passionate about and then make a commitment to add into your budget an amount you want to give to the cause. Even if it is only $10 a week, add this into your budget and see what happens.

My daughter at the age of 15 decided she would take $5 each week of her money and keep it handy to give to buskers, she had a real passion for music and the hard work artists put into getting established.

Little did she know that this simple act would lead to her later in life being paid by musicians to create artwork for their CD’s and promotional material.

You never know how giving will come back and reward you unless you put it into action.

8. Make debt your enemy

Servicing debt sucks so much money out of peoples lives so if you have any short-term debts such as outstanding credit card balances, personal loans and overdrafts create a plan to wipe them out as fast as you can.

A word of caution though, balance this with growing some savings because it is having savings that will stop you. Spiralling back into debt.

The 1/3rd rule is a proven process for achieving this, check out how it works by watching this short video. 

9. Calculate everything annually

Regardless of your pay cycle or spending routine always calculate everything annually.

Looking at your income and saying to yourself I earn $62,400 is better than saying I earn $1,200. It is a lot more empowering and cause you to want to get the most out of your money.

In the same way looking at an expense and saying I spend $2,400 on power is petter than saying I spend $200. I

It is easy to see the benefit of shopping around if your looking to save money and bring down a $2,400 expense than a $200 one.

This strategy is simply about providing you the motivation to actually find a solution. And it you do this over several areas those combined savings soon add up.

It’s one of the reasons my Online Planner was designed to start by looking at your budget/plan from an annualised framework. Something most other programs miss out.

Remember you have access to the planner if you are a registered member so if you aren’t yet using it why not give it a go.

10. Seek advice/guidance

Money can be a sensitive topic, we don’t stand around the BBQ and talk about money, especially if we aren’t quite getting it balanced.

Push past this barrier and talk with someone, a friend, family member, budget advisor or hey, there’s even me. Often simply talking unlocks your thinking and you find the answer yourself, it just turns out that the other person was just a sounding board that helped you clear out all the noise and find some focus.

Go ahead and book a FREE 30-minute Discovery Call if you want to have a conversation.

And most importantly, don’t forget the golden rule

"Those who are diligent with little, get to manage much"

These money saving tips are designed to help you begin the process of saving money. 

Your savings may start small, but they can grow quickly and if you use the success of the little wins to spark other ideas or strategies then your real savings capacity will gain momentum.