Money Saving Secrets Exposed

26 Jul Money Saving Secrets Exposed

“Geez and ages! Where the money gone?” Ever asked yourself this just a week after payday?

You daydream and think about all the things you could do, if only you had more money. But what have you done to improve your financial situation?

I’ll give you a moment to really examine your actions…

Now if you have come to the realization that you really haven’t made any real move to improve your finances, and yet you continue to gripe and moan, then you are like most people.

If you genuinely want to put aside more money now, so you can be more than just comfortable in the future, then you’ve got to look for small ways to start stashing that cash, because let’s face it, we often don’t win the lotto, as we dream about doing, and so we’ve got to be realistic about our personal situation.

The trick to saving more money, especially when your income stays at one level, is to develop new habits. Of course, an additional side hustle may also help.

Check out the following money saving tips to help you save money in ways, you may not have thought of.

Pay yourself first

I know this sounds cornier than Cornelieus in that Kiss Corn Bread advertisement, but it really works. Of course it doesn’t mean skip out on your landlord because you owe it to yourself to take your money upfront, regardless of what is left over, but the concept is to make saving automatic to decrease the chances of not doing it at all.

Ensure that the first deduction goes to your savings by taking out a standing order or making a salary deduction to a separate savings account. How much this is set up for depends on how much you can afford, but even small amounts count, so don’t put it off because you think you can’t do it in a big way. If you can only save $600 a month, make sure to save it. It may seem little, but over the 12 months that works out to $7,200. Trust me, at the end of a year, you’d rather be $7,200 richer instead of realising that what you considered to be small amounts, that were too small to save, could have accumulated into a sizeable nest egg over time.

Squeeze spending

To make the most of this tip, you really need to look at all areas of your life. How much do you spend on lunch every day, and can you find a way to consistently spend less? How much do you spend on gas and have you considered carpooling to cut costs? How much money do you spend on entertainment, and do you think you can make some sacrifices here? What about your grocery bill?

Buy stocks

If you take this piece of advice and invest what you can afford every month into the stock market, over time, you will have an enviable portfolio. Dollar cost averaging means investing the same amount of money every month to even out the average cost you pay per stock, and this is a great tactic for investing with small amounts of cash. Talk to a stockbroker to get started.

Prevention is better than cure

The old folks love to say this, but do you know that it actually makes a lot of financial sense. Take for instance a simple matter of staying on top of your vehicle maintenance schedule. Checking your tyres and fluids might cost some money, but you could potentially deter a huge expense, if a problem goes undetected and then escalates into a much larger, and more costly issue.

Beware of bulk-buying

Trinis have really got into the American bulk-buying trend, and while there are a few good bargains in between for sure, there are also some financial pitfalls, such as sinking too deep into shopping at bulk traders (for e.g. PriceSmart). You might end up buying much more than you need, and going way over budget. You may even start to buy things you have never indulged in before (and could possibly continue to do without).

Although these suggestions are all sure to work, they are not really secrets in the true sense of the word. Despite the fact that these tips have not been kept hush-hush, and have probably been touted by most financial advisors, they have not really been widely adopted.

Hopefully, you can put them into practice and start seeing some results… something more along the lines of “I wonder what I’ll do with all the money I’ve saved this year boy?”

Author bio: Natalia Jones publishes dcaribbeanentrepreneur.com, which features business tips and news for upcoming entrepreneurs across the Caribbean.