Many of us live paycheck to paycheck. For some, this is an absolute necessity. There is no wiggle room to adjust and start saving. For those of us that are simply bad with money, however, it’s time to make a change. You may want to be more comfortable on a regular basis, or you may want to start saving up for a big purchase like a car or a house. Either way, with this guide, you’ll be able to start putting your money away for that rainy day.
Understanding where your money is going is the first step to saving. Before you look at where your personal spending is going, however, you need to know where it legally has to go.
There is some wiggle room here. With utilities, you can change tariffs or even providers to get a better deal. With the rent, you could potentially negotiate it down. With taxes, you can work to find tax relief options that apply to you. Regardless, you need to know what your commitments are. Take your CERB benefits. Some people are finding that they need to make repayments – an extra cost that they certainly were not expecting. There are ways to repay this amount without worrying about the tax, but if you missed that deadline, you need to come up with a new strategy to help you make your CERB repayments.
If you want a good place to start saving, book an appointment with your bank. They can help you set up a savings account and give you a general outline of what and how you need to save. This tip is particularly useful if you are saving up for a car or a home, as it can help give you a guide on what you’ll need to see these goals through.
Many banking apps are now making it easy to understand your spending by automatically sorting payments or allowing you to create a budget for yourself. Knowing where your money goes can help you understand exactly what the monthly cost of your coffees are, or how much you are spending on streaming services. At the start, you’ll want to strip back your spending as much as possible until you reach your savings goal.
It can be hard to live on the bare bones of a budget, which is why it’s equally important to seek out free things to do in your city, or ways to save and still do what you love. For example, if you enjoy eating out, you can check out the menu of a top restaurant and try to make that meal right at home. You could go and explore all the green areas near you instead of paying to go somewhere. Having free or budget-friendly ways to live and enjoy yourself can make it easy and stress-free to pinch your pennies to save up.
