Are you currently stressed?
Tired of living pay to pay?
Do you feel like bills are just piling on top of each other?
Today we are talking about saving money with Investing For Life. Something to keep in mind when admiring your neighbour with a cool car or that acquaintance you see on Instagram that is always going out like they have all the money in the world. Just remember everyone started with ZERO.
1. First thing you need to do is to create your goals!
Having dreams and goals is not just a little kid thing. Now is the perfect time to try to implement those goals and make them happen! So you are going to get out a piece of paper or word document and I want you to create a timeline of what you want to achieve financially and when. This could look a little bit like this:
2021 December → Save 5K
2022 June → Save 10K
2025 January → Have enough for a house deposit
2026 March → Buy my dream house
Now your goals may look a little bit different to what I have written but make sure these goals are personal and that you really want to achieve them.
2. Create a budget.
Now don't be one of those people who skip this step because you think you are too cool for budgeting. This is a very important skill to learn in life. The first thing you need to do is layout your expenses in front of you. A few ways you can do this is by grabbing a blank piece of paper and writing down all income you are receiving and your current and future expenses (this can also be done on a word document or excel sheet). When you are creating a budget you need to be realistic, otherwise you most likely will give up if you go too hardcore at first. If you budget correctly, you won't be restricting yourself.
Something you can do to reduce your expenses is by eating out or ordering Uber eats less. Instead try to set a limit to how much you want to spend eating out, this could look like only eating out 2 - 3 times a week or only spending X amount on takeout a week. Not only will this help financially but it will also help you eat healthier. Another thing you can do is have a look at your debit or credit card purchases. Did you notice that you are spending money on things you don't really need? When creating your budget have a look at what money you need to spend and things you want to buy. If you are on a tight budget and have a lot of bills you need to pay, try to reduce the things you want but not completely because it could be depressing living on the bear minimum.
3. Pay off you debt!
When trying to save money a good thing to look into is to pay off your bad debts (car loan, personal loan, unpaid bills, fines, etc), once you pay these off it will feel like a whole new pay check has come through to your bank account. First thing is you need to look at is to know how much you owe and what your repayments look like. If you have created a budget for yourself, try to prioritise paying more then the minimum repayment back or pay more of the debt off more frequently. One thing I DO NOT recommend is using your emergency savings to pay off debt. Those emergency savings are for emergencies and this could save you from getting into more debt.
4. You can save extra money by creating a side hustle.
The money from your side hustle could be for pure savings. This side hustle does not need to be too serious or anything complicated. You could start writing eBooks, start a dog walking side hustle, if you have kids you could offer to drop other kids to the same school for an X amount. You could mow other peoples lawns, you could baby sit, you can sell things online. you could do anything that someone would pay you for.
Something I like to do, is to have a spending limit on myself, I like to set out $100 a week to do anything I like with but this strategy is not easy for everyone. If you want to do this, how about trying with a large amount, for example, lets say at the moment you spend about $500 a week, for the first month only limit yourself to spending $450 a week and then the second month only limit yourself to $400 a week and slowly make your way down to a desired amount. I believe that if you really want to save you can do it, all you have to do is want it. Saving can be like a roller coaster. Your savings go up and down and side to side but don't let this scare you. Sometimes the best way to save money, is by investing in yourself.
0 Comments