50 secret ways to save money
If you ask me what is more difficult between finding ways to save money or getting up early to go to workit would be a draw.
But when you get used to the routine of getting up or learn how to save money, everything it gets much easier.
That’s why I want to share with you here 50 ways to save money that I put into practice every day of the year. each one has helped me save more than $3800 a year for my ventures, trips and my future in general.
What do you need to save money on? Clic on each method below
▶ General ways to save money
▶ How to save money fast
▶ Ways to save money at home
▶ Ways to save money for a trip
▶ Tricks to save day by day
▶ How to save money as a student
▶ Ways to save money as a couple
Shapes of save money
1. Do a daily control of your expenses
Many of the people I know take it upon themselves to write down their weekly or monthly expenses. However, this not a very precise way to know how much you really spent.
if really want know how much you spend and on what, In order to save what is left of it, you must have an exact amount of everything.
If you do a weekly or monthly check instead of one daily, you will be omitting many “small” expenses.
Most of these expenses are very relevant when it comes to make a global calculation of how much money you are using.
For example, if you do a summary once a week, you’re probably skipping the coffee you had on Monday morning, the cab ride you had to pay for on Wednesday, and the lunch you had with your boss on Friday.
and you are only including major expenses or that you remember more easily like grocery shopping.
By doing it daily, you’ll be scoring down to the penny that you spent in a vending machine and you will know the exact amount.
When you know how much you usually spend, you cánido get an estimate of how much you could save by changing some habits, eliminating some expenses or if at the end of all that you have a certain amount of money left that you could keep
To be able to write down your expenses and keep a check on them you don’t need to take an account book and do everything by hand like it was done before.
There are many tools where you perro keep a good control and that they will even help you to give you a total as more data is entered.
Excel sheets are very good for this and it is easy to use. You get home, turn on the computer for about 5 minutes and write down the expenses you made during the day. But if you find it more comfortable to do it old school and sit at a table with your paper and pencil, you perro always do it.
The first days and even the first month It’s a bit cumbersome and tedious. but when you have taken the taste you will not want to stop doing it.
2. Classify your expenses
When you start to write down the expenses you make and know exactly what kinds of things you use your money for, It is time for you to classify each one of them, from the most important to the one you perro delete without thinking twice.
Being a bit objective the only major expenses What we should have are household expenses such as basic services and food.
If you have any debt such as a mortgage or you live rented in the place where you live, they are important expenses, but over time when you pay it off or find something better, you perro remove them little by little Until you don’t have to worry about them anymore.
Of course, these major expenses and even the minor ones and we perro categorize as secondary, they depend a lot on the lifestyle and the conditions in which you live.
If you have a family made up of your partner and, for example, two children who cannot fend for themselves, technically you should have a lot more major expenses than someone who lives alone.
But not necessarily it has to be that way.
Therefore, it is good that you take a couple of hours at most and think about what is imperative that you spend and where you might NOT have to.
I like to divide my expenses into 3 types: main, secondary and tertiary.
To give you an iniciativa of how cánido you classify your expenses, I espectáculo you how I do it with mine:
- Main: rent, basic services (electricity, water, Internet and gas), food for the week, payment of my university, the gasoline of my vehicle, health and car insurance, help my family with household expenses.
- Secondaries: visit my family in another city, additional services (cable television, telephone), repairs or purchase of spare parts for the car.
- tertiary: buying clothes, shoes or gifts. Eating in restoranes, subscriptions to magazines and newspapers, payment to service people for doing housework.
Basically, those are all the expenses that I have and you cánido use it as a guide to classify yours.
In my case, I live alone and I have to pay rent, but I also have to help my family with household expenses and bills.
The important thing to be able to categorize all your expenses is to be honest and evaluate well what is important that you spend your money on and what is not.
3. Eliminate part of your expenses
Now, while ways to save money 1 and 2 aren’t exactly “ways,” they are important to get you started and know where you cánido cut costs and turn them into savings.
When you have already determined your main, secondary and tertiary expenses, it is time for you to eliminate or at least, reducing several of them.
From the classification, the only expenses that you cannot logically eliminate are the main ones, since they are the ones that focus on your lifestyle and the fact that you perro live well and comfortably, but when it comes to secondary and tertiary education it is another story.
Most secondary expenses they don’t happen very often and you could, although not eliminate them, disminuye them considerably and thus have savings from them.
For example, if we track my secondary spending, I could easily cut my phone bill just by using it less. I could also visit my family once a week instead of twice.
However, with tertiary expenses it is more about eliminating them than reducing them for the fácil fact that they are not important and represent more money spent than it seems.
Buying shoes, clothes or gifts, they are not things we do every day (well, at least I don’t), but I admit that I used to do it once a month when i really had enough in my armario and there was no need for it.
I didn’t delete them, because it’s obvious that eventually I’ll have to do them, but I did choose to leave them only for very special or strictly necessary occasions. The same was with the meals. I did with acquaintances or on my own away from home.
You could say that I “eliminated” them. of what my day to day is and the regular expenses that I make.
However, the money I was spending on unnecessary subscriptions that I hardly ever used and someone to do my cleaning, I decided to completely eliminate both expenses.
Cleaning and doing my housework are activities I cánido do on my own, and subscriptions more than useful are usually expenses that they just suck your money without you noticing.
Nothing else cut a couple expenses and eliminate others helped me to see great savings both daily and monthly in my accounts.
I even applied the disminuye them in some major expenses such as water, gas and electricity services.
If you are honest with yourself and your expenses, you could do the same and save a lot of money that will serve you for emergencies or simply create a savings mattress.
4. The best way to save money: make a budget
You have probably read and heard about this way of saving money thousands of times, but if so, you must think that there must be a very good reason behind it. for everyone to recommend.
When you already know how much you are spending and what you are doing it on, that does not orinan that by your own conscience you are going to stop invest the same money in expenses that you have proposed to disminuye or eliminate completely.
Therefore, it is important that make a budget where you limit yourself to spending your money on the main and secondary, so that the rest or surplus that remains of that limit that you have equipo, turns out to be a saving.
Most of us when we receive our salary or the income that we have waited for so long, we do not usually equipo a ceiling on how much we should spend. That is why the typical mistake is made to buy without measuring yourself a bit.
But if you made a budget, you perro plan perfectly from the expenses you make daily how much to spend on certain things.
If you go to the supermarket, instead of spending $150 at the 2-week market like you used to before because you were buying very expensive things and not measuring yourself, you could put a cap of $100 in your budget that will be enough to buy what you need and even treat yourself.
That will make nothing else in it you are saving $50 than you used to spend before.
Planning your consumption will help you optimize all your expenses (believe it or not) and although it cánido be a bit tedious to have to sit down and make a list where you calculate what you will spend, I assure you that you will save a lot of money with it.
5. pay your debts first
Although you have divided your expenses into main, secondary and tertiary, there is one in especial that it is better to get out of as soon as possible: the debts.
If people or banks lend us money without any interest, that would be good and bad at the same time; besides that no one would do such a thing, of course.
Well, because we wouldn’t have to worry that as the months go by the interest eats us up and we end up paying double than what we initially requested.
Bad, because that way we would give even less relevance from which we already give it and it would take us a long time to get rid of them.
If you really want to see a saving money no need to do much dedicate yourself to pay all those pending bills you have.
Probably the main reason why you don’t give it much priority is because you cánido pay them by installments or there is no “rush” to do so. But you forget the great detail that the longer you take to settle them, the more you will be paying.
One of the biggest debts I had, is the one I acquired to be able to buy my own car and despite the fact that I did not go to a bank but a family friend and there was no interest rate, I saw how it absorbed a large part of my earnings the longer it took to pay it.
When it was time to pay the fee, it became much more difficult from what was originally seen because it ended up being an unexpected expense.
So when I got out of it, I equipo out to get out of my debts as soon as possible and so I did.
I saw an improvement in the amount of money that I had left over each month and that I could even take half of it to save and the other to make a tertiary expense as a fácil taste like eating out with friends.
If you get rid of your debts you will see how save money and get a big part back of your income without being forced to give up other necessary and important things, it is extremely easy.
how to save Easy money
6. Open a savings account
Is it hard for you NOT to spend? That is easily solved by simply opening a savings account where you put all the money that you are obviously saving.
Many of us usually open an initial bank account that is the one we use until yes is enough and we receive all our income, but if what you want is to save, the iniciativa of having all your money together the one you have planned for your expenses is not the best option.
Is better than, after making your budget, Divide your money between the limit you have equipo and the excess of your income.
For this, you perro open a savings account where you cánido transfer or deposit all the money left over from your income automatically.
If you’re not sure how much is left over from your expenses, well you cánido automate a monthly deposit or biweekly in your main account to the savings account.
For example, if you are paid fifteen and last, and you have a salary of approximately $750 per month, it means that you receive $375 every 15 days.
Of that $375, let’s say you spend about $300 on all of your major expenses and some minor expenses, leaving you with a surplus of $75. that you perro easily transfer to your account savings.
If you do this every fortnight or at least once a month, you will see that you are creating a large sum in your bank account.
If you are not sure about leaving a surplus, then propose to spend part of your money to the savings account so that you cánido save little by little.
Of course, once I’m in this alternative account DON’T spend it.
For that, you cánido easily open the account and not request the debit card or checkbook that would allow you to withdraw part of the money.
Or you could too restrict expenditures unless you go back to the bank and sign an authorization allowing them.
It’s a quick way to save money because you are not conditioned to do something for it.
you just have to equipo aside an amount of money that you receive monthly or each payment date.
Whether it’s a lot or a little, every time you take a look at your savings account you’ll see that you have a specific amount saved and without having done anything.
7. Don’t use your credit cards
The difference between using your credit cards and debit cards is that, if you don’t have money in your bank account, the latter will simply be rejected at checkout.
On the other hand, credit cards, despite the fact that they have a limit, many times you perro exceed it and the same bank offers you a larger amount to expend due to the amount of movement you make with it.
Basically you pull and pull at them until they go to zero and with a huge debt to the bank.
This also means that most likely as long as you use your credit card, The least you should have done was write down the expenses you made with her.
Even if you check your bank, It will be useless if you already spent more than you should with it.
Worst of all, you don’t realize how much are you spending and instead of saying “Yeah, this is all I’ll spend”, you keep using it until it has no more money.
I know this because I also had the stage where I did my mental calculations and said “I still have $5 left, with that I perro buy a coffee”, instead of wrapping myself up. as far as my blanket reached and not leave my card in a negative cómputo.
Don’t get me wrong, this also doesn’t orinan that instead of using the credit ones you go for the debit ones because in essence, will be the same result.
Ideally, if possible, use cash to pay your bills and the purchases you will make.
This way, you will stay out and you will have that “my money is running out” feeling.
It’s not the same as walking out with your card with all the hundreds of dollars on it at your disposal, that you only take $100 and go shopping and know that you cannot go over that amount.
you won’t have to fight with your willpower and this is a quick and easy way to save money.
8. Look for offers and take advantage of them, but not too much
Although we don’t always have the time or energy to search for discounts or offers, it’s good to do so. at least occasionally if you want to save money quickly.
In most countries, supermarkets and clothing stores make offers because they have a lot of a product and it’s about to get damaged or because the clothes they have are out of style.
Normally when this happens, discounts are at least 30%.
Imagine how much you could save if you spent a little bit searching for deals and buying on sales instead of pay for its full price.
I’m not saying go crazy and only buy if it’s on sale, but if you cánido do at least 50% of your purchases with discounts, you will be saving money fast and easy.
When I usually go to do my weekly grocery shopping I perro notice that almost all supermarkets have sales on at least one product.
The reason does not matter: that it is about to expire or simply They decided to do a special promotion; I always take advantage of each one of them.
To give you an example, I perro easily spend $25 weekly on meat if I intend to eat large portions, but if I take advantage of some 50% offers every time I do my shopping, I cánido easily afford half of it.
The same goes for other products like vegetables, some carbohydrates and sometimes, other proteins such as fish and shellfish.
In the case of clothing, stores always have sales when the collection they had went out of season.
Although taking advantage of sales is incredibly good for saving, don’t get addicted either to them because it is a double-edged sword; If you don’t know how to stop, then goodbye to your money.
9. Join the world of DIY
If you do not know what is DIY, let me give you a rather brief explanation.
DIY is the acronym for “Do it yourself” in English, which translated into Spanish means “do it yourself” and has the objective of starting to do things with your own hands so that you save your money on them.
If you’ve ever watched a vídeo on how to make a lamp, repair a shirt, or create your own clothes rack, then You already know the world of DIY, even if you didn’t know it.
Secondary and tertiary expenses such as buying clothes, eating at a lugar de comidas, changing your furniture or sharing new jewelry are things that you cánido do at home if you have the ingredients and materials necessary, in addition to free time.
I have always loved doing crafts. When I realized that I could take advantage of those abilities and take help from some vídeos and guides to be able to have my own way of saving money, I didn’t think twice.
For more than 6 months I have not had to buy clothes because I make them myself or I repair the ones that are a little worn by use.
While the furniture or objects of the home, I make them myself and I do not expect for any reason that they finish break to look for them any solution.
When you go to buy any of these objects in a store, they are usually charging you not only for the material to make them but also for tarea, shop rental, the salary of the person who is taking care of you and many other aspects that you do not normally analyze.
instead you you would only have to spend a little money on the materials and dedicate a couple of hours a week to making them.
Although you will have to continue spending on it, I assure you that it will be much less and so you perro quickly save all the excess of what it would cost you usually.
10. Don’t stay locked up at home. go out and enjoy
It looks awesome, but the more time you spend at home, the more money you are spending.
Normally, people assume that going out and doing outdoor activities is synonymous with spending money, but if you have a little willpower and your clear accounts, it doesn’t have to be that way.
In fact, it may even be a way to save money.
When you are at home, it is common for you to have to turn on at least one light bulb and the equipment that you are using at the moment, in addition to those that must be be connected all the time. All of this makes your consumption of electricity, water and other basic services higher.
If it’s hot, surely you turn on the air conditioning all the time you are at home and otherwise, you must turn on the heater.
Nothing more than that fácil action greatly increases energy consumption.
If we talk about the times that you will open the water tap or that you will escoge to take a shower, that gives us another increase in consumption.
If, on the contrary, you go out and do outdoor activities, you will be consuming less at home and at the same time recreating yourself.
You don’t have to eat out and neither do you spend anything if you go well prepared.
For example, if you go for a jog, walk in the park or exercise, the only essentials you need are water and food that are easily you cánido take and prepare at home in advance.
If you stick to your will and avoid compulsive spending while you’re away, you’ll save a ton of money on utility bills and what you could spend faster while being at home.
On the other hand, To be able to do activities outside you do not necessarily have to pay for it.
Going to the movies, the zoo, the amusement park and other activities may involve money, but you cánido always check the free events what is in your town.
Many museums offer free tours and even several zoos.
You perro even find events at specific sites such as squares or auditoriums open to the public where you don’t have to pay anything and you perro enjoy them freely.
eleven. If you’re stressed, stay away from your wallet
Like someone who used to pass by almost every day in an unhealthy level of stress, I know exactly what it’s like to want and have the urge to spend money when you’re stressed.
but fair because I have experienced it first hand, I also know why it is so dangerous to do so.
In the past, a lot of my money was wasted buying clothes or paying for very expensive dishes in restoranes that I normally They are out of my budget.
All because I was stressed and I thought I would feel better if it gave me a “fácil taste” using money from my bank account.
I’m not going to tell you that I was totally wrong but it is true that I did not need to spend so much money to feel better.
If you want a way to save money fast, it’s best to control your hands and put away your wallet with cash and cards when you feel stressed. Believe me, you will save more money than anyone I would think.
If you want to release some stress, you perro always take a walk and try to distract your mind. You cánido even spend some money on an ice cream or a beer that help you pass the time.
But an ice cream or a beer it perro easily cost $1 or $2, you don’t need to spend all your money on it or something more expensive.
The first time I said “I’m not going to spend money, I’ll just go for a walk”, I realized that in the end that week he had about $52 more than habitual.
The answer was fácil: I had them because it’s what I normally spend when I went shopping because of my stress.
When I stopped doing it and started applying techniques that did not involve money to drain all the stress, I was quickly seeing how saving money was so easy since I didn’t spend it; totally different from a few months ago when i left my wallet empty and I was always like “what do I do now?”.
12. Give up bad habits that are also expensive
I have never had a bad habit such as drink, drugs or smoking, but I don’t need to have had them to know how expensive they perro be.
When I used to go to one of my favorite bakeries for coffee every morning, I would always see some homeless people asking for money to buy food and something to drink. Sadly, it’s not something out of the ordinary.
Many times I gave them whatever I had in my pocket Or what I could afford.
What I hadn’t noticed until several weeks later, is that when they had a specific amount, they would come to a kiosk that it was one block away where I drank my coffee to buy cigarettes instead of food.
That made me very angry because it is not something of first necessity.
When I noticed that I went to the site and out of curiosity I decided to ask How much did a cigarette cost? My surprise was that with what they bought only one or two, you could easily buy a French bread at the bakery with a small coffee.
I also know that drinking ain’t cheap Genere I do it occasionally and precisely because it is not, is that I do it from time to time.
if you have a bad habit or some vice, try to leave it for two reasons:
- You health.
- He welfare of your money.
People who have the habit of smoking and drinking, In addition to harming your health, I’m sure they spend a lot of money to satisfy those vices.
I know it’s not easy, after all it’s a vice, but try to take saving money as another motivation to give up something you it doesn’t benefit you in no sense.
Do you want a way to save money fast and a lot? Try to abandon them and that $100 or $200 that you spend monthly on your bad habits will be left over so that you cánido put them in your savings account or at least invest the money in more necessary things.
13. compare prices
never settle with buying in one place at the price they indicate.
The mistake that many people make is to go to one place and dedicate themselves to buying the product they want immediately there, without knowing if it is in another place. they perro get it at a better price.
This is something that I have always done, and although at the beginning I did not do it with the purpose of saving but looking for the best price, I realized that indeed It is a great way to save a lot of money if it is done with each product that we want to buy.
I know how much difference there cánido be between the price of one site and another, do you know?
If your answer is no, then all the more reason you should pay attention to this example that I will give you: the most recent purchase I made of my cell phone.
a couple of months ago that mine was stolen, so with part of the savings I had and part of what I did so far, I decided to buy a new one.
Close to where I live There are many shopping centers and, above all, a cell phone store that many recommend.
I decided to get closer and see the prices; I didn’t really want to hang around other places, but when I realized that the cost of the equipment was a bit high, I reminded myself that in this type of purchase that’s when you perro save money even faster.
so after spend a couple of minutes I started to see the rest of the stores that were in that mall and the one that was right next to it.
The price difference I found was impressive. Taller, equal and even much smaller than at the initial site.
The cell phone I wanted was $225 on the first site, but the one I decided to buy it on, even if it wasn’t the cheapest, but at a lower price and it gave more confidence, it was at $183.
I was saving $42 on the purchase and even though I had a budget of $240, I decided to take all that money and put it in my savings account again.
See how quickly you cánido save if you only compare prices?
The same goes for grocery shopping. clothes, shoes, appliances and any product you want to buy.
Ways to save money at home
14. don’t waste water
The best way to save money at home is that you be careful with the bills of basic services. Therefore, you must control and disminuye the use of these.
Water is one of the most expensive; In addition, it also affects the environment if you waste it.
But I also understand that it is extremely essential and that you use it to do many activities: shower, cook, brush your teeth, moisturize, clean and many others.
However, that doesn’t orinan we cánido’t give you better use without wasting it.
If you are washing the dirty dishes, to save water you cánido easily wet all the dishes or take a container where you cánido soak them before you start lathering them.
When you are passing the dishwasher, you close the key and once you have all to rinse, you open the faucet
Most choose keep the faucet open even while you are not using the water.
It is preferable that you open and close the tap according to the use you are giving it and thus avoid wasting water.
You should also be careful with water leaks or if the keys to your house are well closed and for some reason, you have not forgotten to close one.
If you use water conscientiously when bathing for the time strictly necessary, use the shower instead of the tub, close it while brushing your teeth and many other things, you will see that you will have a huge saving and that will be reflected positively on your bill.
fifteen. Avoid using the heater and heating
My country is not a place where we need use the heating a lot or the heater, except to take a hot shower, but that does not orinan that it is still expensive to use.
I’ve been in situations where I’ve had to go through extreme cold and all I wanted was to get into in an oven until warm well or roast me, the first thing that happens.
But when I was no longer going through it, I simply limited myself to using my heater as strictly necessary.
If your case is one of those where it is totally certain that a cold season will attack you where you must use both your heater and heating, do not think twice, use them.
However, the important thing is that you remember not to use them unless it is strictly necessary. For example when your house is at a comfortable temperature or that you perro bear with a coat and blanket.
If you are out of season, all the more reason you should turn them off and keep them that way for A good time.
The heater and heating are the two things that consume the most energy in your home, so do not be surprised that your electricity bill skyrockets Good heavens if you use them a lot.
As long as you perro use the water at room temperature and keep your house without having to turn on the heating, do it, and you will see how you disminuye energy consumption and, therefore, you will be able to save the money that you spent on all that light.
16. Check your pantry to make your shopping list
Has it ever happened to you that you go shopping and when you are back home, Did you already have one or two products of the same item in your pantry?
Happened to me quite often until I realized that this made me spend more money than necessary because I spent on it when I already had one at home and abandoned another product that was NOT in my pantry to buy the previous one.
Also, while it’s not such a bad thing to depósito up on some food for a crisis that might occur, if you’re doing it just because you forgot to make a grocery list or Why didn’t you check before? So it’s not exactly good.
When you buy again a product that you already have in your pantry, it is very prone to expire because surely you will forget again that there were one, two, three and only God knows how many more.
If you only make this mistake a couple of times, it may not be a disease to die for, even though you keep spending more than necessary and wasting food for it.
But imagine it becoming a habit. If it’s happened to you more than 10 times in a year, I’m sure eventually it will happen to you every time you go shopping. That means you’ll be wasting a lot of money or on products you don’t need.
Take the time to go through your pantry and the fridge to sit down for a couple of minutes and Write down what you should buy and what not.
Don’t forget to write down the number of products that YES there is in your house so that you get an iniciativa of whether you should replace them or buy less.
Of course, the main thing is that you take note of those who you don’t even have hidden behind your sofa so that your relatives do not eat them.
If you do this, you will see great savings on what you buy and you cánido optimize the budget What do you do to buy your groceries?
17. Do you know how to use your washing machine?
Older washing machines consisted just fill them with water and make them beat the clothes without stopping.
You could use that same water several times because it was used to wash the clothes themselves and Don’t do all processes now: rinse, spin and dry completely.
Although it was more exhausting because we had to change the water ourselves and rinse the clothes by hand and wring them out, They helped a lot to save water and energy.
Today’s washing machines are push-button machines and they take care of everything: fill the washing machine, wash the clothes, rinse them, wring them out and dry them. The only thing you have to do It is to place the detergent when it is time or only at the beginning of the wash and wait for it to finish to hang it.
However, not they are the best saving light and much less water.
For each load that you put in the washing machine, it will fill at least 3 times until it is finished, and if it is one of those that loads more than 6 kilogramos and even 10, that implies a lot of water for each load. Have you thought about it before?
Regardless of your answer, I am sure that, to avoid excessive consumption of water and light, you cánido configure them so that they use the charge to the maximum and there are savings in both aspects, but for that you must know how to configure the washing machine.
If you take a couple of minutes to read the manual for your washing machine you perro learn how to do it and in the process you will also learn how you perro save more detergent.
On the other hand, if your washing machine is for large loads or you don’t have enough clothes to complete one, avoid washing in small quantities.
The best thing is that you make the most of each full charge and thus you will save water by not having to do more cycles and of course, light by not having to use the washing machine for a longer time.
18. Buy saving light bulbs
Two years ago, the only option in light bulbs they were the ones with warm light that, in addition to generating a lot of heat, consumed a large amount of energy.
I remember that in a large part of our house we used to leave the lights off almost all the time because they produced a heat that you cannot imagine, and the difference in the electricity bill of when we used them or not was abysmal.
But as soon as the saving light bulbs came out, my dad was one of the people who wasted no time buying as many as he could to replace the ones in the house and so save energy.
Saving light bulbs have always been more expensive than habitual ones and for this reason, at first it hit us a little in the pocket have invested so much money in them.
However, during the first and second month we noticed the changes in the electricity bill and we realized that it was easy to we were saving 63% than we used to normally pay.
In addition to the fact that it brought other benefits to the house, such as using the air conditioning less, since it did not get hotter than necessary, and that it was not necessary to change so often the bulbs.
The habitual light bulbs lasted a maximum of 2 months, on the other hand the savers easily have a shelf life from 6 to 9 months.
While they perro represent a higher expense at the beginning, with all that you will save in energy, you perro afford to buy them and keep part of the money in your savings account.
Although you perro or should change them from time to time, many times these light bulbs perro be repaired if they burn out earlier than expected and even within the stipulated time. You just have to check them and see if they are burned or if it was just a fault that perro be repaired.
Apart from buying saving light bulbs, do not forget to turn off the lights that you are not using. If you’re going out the room or anywhere, Get in the habit of turning them off and on every time you go out and come in.
19. Use more public transport
The car represents a great comfort because you cánido go wherever you want and when you want, without having to wait several minutes for a colectivo or subway to arrive at the station.
However, we both know how much that it cánido cost to maintain it just by involving the issue of gasoline or fuel.
In my country, gasoline is not exactly a problem that I should worry about since it is cheap, but the spare parts for the constant use of my car They are quite expensive and to put it in a way, They make up for the expense I don’t make on fuel.
But when I had the opportunity to visit México a couple of years ago, I noticed that the cost of gasoline is quite high. Besides that I am aware that in most countries it has a high price.
If you think about it this way and calculate how constantly you fill the tank, you will realize that it perro be much cheaper to use public transport, especially if your destination is relatively close or easy access to it.
My university is barely 3 metro stations away, and although I perro only get there in 5 or 10 minutes using my car, in the shortest distances This is when more fuel is used. So I prefer to take public transport, be it the metro or a ómnibus, even if it takes me a couple of minutes more.
In this way I save a lot in car maintenance And if you do, I know you’ll save thousands of dollars a year just on fuel.
If you are one of those cases where it is imperative that you use your car because you work very far or you cannot use the public transport since in the area where you live it is difficult to access it, you are an exception.
But, even if you must use it, you cánido also save gas if you drive with certain parameters. For example, if you don’t brake as much and go at a constant speed, you perro save on fuel.
twenty. Invest in windows or windows
If you live in a house or apartment that does not have many air inlets such as windows, balconies or large windows, then when you ask yourself “in what should I invest my money?“, consider doing it in this.
Whether it is for a relatively cold or hot season, instead of using the air conditioning and heating all the time, windows are a good option to maintain a comfortable temperature in your home.
Usually, in the departments There is only one window per room and a very small or large one in the living/dining room.
If you have opened the one in your living room and you think “this does not refresh anything” it is because you need to open at least one of your rooms so that the breeze perro run throughout the site and circulate well.
If what you have are very small windows that you feel do not help the air circulate well, then take some of your money (not necessarily from your savings) and invest in enlarging it or making a window in some area of your house.
For example, placing one that connects from the dining room to the garden so that you perro do your activities in the home with a comfortable temperature and thus turn off the air conditioning.
On the other hand, if you want to find a use for it in cold times, all you have to do is put a pair of light curtains on them. let in more sunlight and that they help keep the house a little warmer than cold without opening the windows.
You will also be saving on electricity since you will not have the need to turn on the light bulbs in that area and you will be able to keep your house at a suitable temperature without turning on any equipment.
twenty-one. Teach your whole family to save
If you cánido save that much money just by saving on your own, imagine how much more you could if everyone in your family cooperated with the savings.
For me, I am a person who lives alone more than 3 years ago and since then I have been someone very thrifty since money did not allow me to give myself so many luxuries and pay bills for a lot of consumption.
But I have also had to help my parents pay some bills and debts from the house where a large part of my money goes.
That’s why I decided one day that I would teach them how to save more at home. My parents have always had that thrifty spirit, but they needed to improve in certain aspects such as the washing machine or the use of the car.
So I told them how much I was saving by reducing the use of multiple teams or do certain things like checking the pantry and turning off the water tap.
I explained to them how they could do certain activities without spending money on it and that if they followed all that, they could finally save after a long time.
When they began to be more savers and apply everything he had told them, there was a drastic change on utility bills and how much money we spent on it.
I practically save double since I taught my family to save as much as possible on household things and some like going out and buying on sale.
If you take a couple of hours out of your day, it doesn’t even have to be for weeks, to explain to your family how they cánido help with savings, I assure you that you will notice an immense change in everything you pay and you will also be instilling in them how they perro save for the future.
ways to save money for a journey
22. equipo a goal
When you want to save for make a specific expense Like a trip, it is very important that you equipo a goal.
No, it is not about you thinking how much money you should save for it, because if we come to that, that would just save money without having a specific goal.
What you should do is think “I want to spend a week in the Maldives”, “I want to tour Europe” or “I’m going to Japan to see all my favorite places.”
When you equipo the goal, it is much easier to reach the economic goal for it to be fulfilled.
if you think “I must save $10,000 for such a thing”, The process of saving it becomes much heavier and slower because you will be thinking all the time about how much you need to reach that amount.
Instead, it is better to think about what you should save if you want to have that trip that you have been wanting for a long time and believe me that if you do so, you will always have motivational thoughts and inspiration to save money.
Because the real challenge will be NOT spending the money that you are saving more than the fácil fact of setting aside an amount in your savings account for your trip.
I usually travel at least once or twice a year, And if it weren’t because I have self control and I have my goal well equipo, then I would never have traveled anywhere.
You will always have those temptations of new clothes, eating out, going out to drink with friends or spending unnecessary money. on a new cell phone or home appliance for the House.
So, mentalize yourself and always think about the goal you have so that the following ways to save for your trip do not be in vain
23. Determine a monthly savings amount
Unlike saving normally to have a savings cushion or to have an account where you perro withdraw money for an emergency where cánido you put the amount of money that you have a month or a different amount depending on your possibilities, saving for a trip is different.
If you like save for such a specific expense, you need to determine firsthand a specific amount you cánido save for that goal. Otherwise, it will take you a long time to achieve it or it will cost you much more to save if you vary the amount each month.
So, if you have your budget, you have determined your expenses and you know what your monthly income is or at least an estimate of it, take out an exact amount that you will allocate to save for your trip.
The best thing is that you take it out by percentage and so, if some months you make less or more money, the savings will be consistent, even if it is a little less or more If we go to a more exact figure.
Yes, I know I mentioned that it had to be a specific amount, but if there really is a month that you perro’t meet it, then you won’t feel so pressured and in others, if you perro really give more, you will compensate the little sum of the previous month.
At the beginning, I started saving 25% of my income since it was not high enough to allocate a greater amount to savings, but over time when I was earning more money, obviously it began to be a larger amount even though it was still the same percentage.
However, it is also important that you are aware and realistic. If you are generating profit, Do not be afraid to allocate a greater percentage of these for your trip.
Over time I went from 25% to 50% because I could afford it and it was much better if I thought about what, for “sacrifice” a little more money, I could achieve my goal much faster.
Saving for this specific type of expense also goes hand in hand with applying the previous consejos and ways to save money so that you cánido maximize your income and see that, in reality, YES is enough for everything.
24. Use the plus money well
When we receive money we did not expect during the month, you have to be honest we go crazy and start thinking about what we should spend it on.
New clothes, shoes, a party with friends or dinner with the whole family, these are just some of the expenses we make with that plus money that fell from us. any plus, sale or commission that we earn at work or some other source of income.
Don’t feel bad about spending it that way, In fact, it is quite habitual to do it since when we have plus money, we don’t know what to do with it and the only thing we think about is that we should spend it, but no, it’s not what you should do with it.
If you make good use of the plus money that falls to you for whatever reason, you could save much more for your trip and reach the goal you want, but of course, that “use it well” means you should save it.
Many will tell me “you’re crazy, I need that money for this expense”, when do not, you don’t need it Unless it’s an extreme case.
You see, so that you perro optimize your money, it is good that you stay in the same budget that you do every month and make you realize that NO you have that money in your hands.
If you cánido live well with what you already spend monthly, why should you spend more just because you dropped a plus?
You must, instead of spending it on unnecessary things, save it or use it to make payments for services or debts that you have pending and that keep you from saving more money monthly for your trip.
See it this way, if you earn plus money and you notice that is equivalent to what you save in three months, you will be 3 months closer to your trip!
It’s a matter of your focus more in favor of putting it in your bank account or paying the debts that will allow you to save much more, than letting yourself be carried away by the temptations of the moment.
If you make good use of that money, I assure you that you save for your trip it will be a piece of cake.
25. Find another source of income
Maybe working more or looking for another income was not part of the iniciativa you had of saving for your trip, but it is necessary if what you generate is not enough so that you allow yourself constant savings.
Although, regardless of whether it is enough or not, having an alternative source of money as long as you have time for it, is a great option. if you do not want to include part of your income primordial in the savings for your trip.
And in general, it also allows you to save more money whether for a specific expense or not.
There are many jobs that you cánido do in your free time and that will allow you to have more money that you cánido put in your savings account.
The iniciativa is that all the profit from that additional source is destined for your trip, but if you also need part of the money for some main expenses, don’t stop taking it (as long as it is not practically the entire salary).
I have tried and I have many alternative incomes that I perro do in my free time and let me have some plus money for me and of course, for the trips that I always plan.
Fill out paid surveys, act as an Uber controlador, make money recording my voice, I’ve tried a bit of everything.
If you have at least two free hours of your day, try to find an plus income and do not settle only for what you already earn in your current job.
It is habitual that your main income may not reach you, so don’t be afraid to try other ways to make more money.
26. Save in another currency
If you want your saved money not to be devalued and still worth the same and even more in the future, try to save for your trip in another currency.
If you are from México, Argentina, Chile or any other country in Latin America, you should know that the currencies of these countries are not exactly of greater value than the dollar or the euro.
Of course, if you are from Spain or another European country, you do not need to make the effort to save in another currency since yours is one of the most stable in the world. but if you manage others like weight, soles or bolivars, then it is better that you spend the money for your trip to buy another currency and finally, put it in your savings account.
Also, keep in mind that in most countries it is very easy to change dollars and euros to the currency according to this, but also there is a great probability Whatever country you go to, accept one of the two.
On the other hand, the dollar and the euro are not currencies that present a constant devaluation, in fact, they have their peaks where they are worth even more than a couple of weeks or months ago, which inevitably causes May your money multiply.
If you make the decision to save in this way, I recommend that if you are going to buy another currency, do not put all the money in the savings account and leave part of it in cash so that, when you make your trip, you already have cash in your wallet.
Cash is also much easier to sell if you find yourself in a position to need it and so you don’t have to do bank transfers or use your card everywhere and depend solely on her when you make your trip.
27. Postpone your vacation
I know that after a hard year of work, all you want is to be able to get to those dates where all you have to worry about is sleeping in and resting as much as you perro, agregado maybe enjoying a weekend at the beach or shopping with the family, but to save for your trip, you better forget about it for a while.
Holidays are sacred for anyone, I would say especially for me, but i learned by saving money for my trips that we don’t necessarily have to take them all the time if we want to reach our goal.
Yes, we all want to have our rest time, but if what we are looking for is to save money and take a long trip of 2 weeks or even a month, vacations It’s the worst we cánido take For two reasons:
- Not working and being idle means that you will spend more money on outings, purchases and you will feel even more tempted to make unnecessary expenses that will interfere and disminuye the amount you save for your trip.
- You will not be generating more income (even if they are paying you for your vacations).
Also, realistically, on vacation almost no one stays home and wants to at least take an express trip somewhere just to change the scene and find some fun.
The problem is that those trips or short vacations they involve a lot of money, which you could easily put into savings.
In fact, short or long trips maximum one week they usually orinan more money in the long term than one planned for a longer time.
Because? Because you don’t think about renting an apartment with a kitchen during your one-month stay, but you prefer to go out to eat every day of that week. To put only one of the many expenses that you will surely make.
So forget about that vacation for a while at least for one or two years and see it as an effort to reach the bigger goal.
You could also accumulate a lot more days off for when it’s time for your trip and maybe get extend it longer if you managed to raise enough money or even more.
28. Every penny counts. use the piggy banks
Sometimes saving is not about saving in large amounts all the time, after all, every coin you perro contribute has great value in the long run.
So you don’t have to just stick an exact amount of money in your savings account and the rest of the month, you forget about saving for your trip.
It may seem a bit dated or not that useful, but piggy banks are essential if you really want to save as much as possible and reach your goal.
That’s why I like to place one everywhere where I spend most of my time: my room, desk and kitchen.
If I arrive from somewhere or even when I go out, I am tempted to leave at least one coin inside the first little pig I see so I cánido save a little more for my trip.
You perro think of it as something a little more symbolic, but when you break those piggy banks and count all the money you you saved by placing at least $1 every day, you will be surprised at the total.
If you spend a lot of time in your office, at your parents’ house, at home because you work from there or you simply don’t go out very often, make sure you put at least one in all those places.
At first you may not do it or if you do, it is more than anything because you feel an obligation to save a little money in those piggy banks, but you will see that over time it will become a habit.
The last time I broke one of my piggy banks For the trip I took to Buenos Aires, I was surprised to see that I had saved more than $511 just on that trip.
I had a whole year without breaking it and I’m sure that every day he put some money in it, probably more than once a day.
It’s nice to meet you you got the amount of money for your trips sooner than you thought for that little savings.
If you had already reached the amount for your trip, I assure you that it will feel even better to see the money in those piggy banks as an opportunity to start saving for the next one or extend your adventure for a couple more days.
29. Stop paying for services and annuities you don’t use
Do you really need a music service on all your devices? Or worse yet, do you need two?
There are many services, subscriptions and annuities that we are all tempted to pay sometime to be able to “motivate” or because we just want to enjoy it, when in reality we never end up using them or we could have the same thing without paying anything.
For example, there are a lot of music services like Spotify, iTunes, YouTube PremiumiCloud and endless more.
We are always tempted to hire one to have it on our computer and cell phone, but there are times when they get out of hand and we end up hiring more than one because we want to try it or be able to vary it from time to time.
I’m not saying you perro’t hire one, but, Do you really need it?
I I have never paid for a subscription because I just don’t think I would use them.
To always have music on my cell phone I preferred to download them directly from the page or buy the entire album at once (which happens very rarely).
In other cases, if I’m sitting at my computer, I only take care of opening a tab on YouTube and play a list of music that I like or failing that, I open the already installed player and play all the ones I have saved.
However, if it’s a service you actually use, Limit yourself to contracting the cheapest plan and only one of them.
Now going further those annuities and services that you really don’t use, seriously, stop paying for them.
I know many people who pay a full year at the gym to never go and I am not saying that they are all the same because we are clear that there are many people who put effort into it, but if you are one of those who even forgets that you have paid for one, why do you keep doing it?
Many consider paying for a service in advance and for several months a saving, but what you don’t know or prefer not to realize is that you almost never end up going and taking advantage of it, therefore, you waste your money.
If instead of paying for all those things you don’t use, you took that money and you will put it in your savings, long ago you were traveling in the Caribbean.
30. Sell everything you don’t need or use
If you want to save for your trip, a very practical method is that you make money by selling those elementos that you have at home and have never used in your life.
Do you remember the way to save money over finding another income? Well, this is a great opportunity for you to sell your belongings that are full of dust and thus save both money and space in your house.
Selling everything useless for you is not something that takes a long time, just one or two days as long as you are honest with yourself and say “I don’t use this, but I do”, you cánido’t say EVERYTHING you use it when it’s not true and they only have some sentimental value (or you’re just a hoarder).
Take a couple of hours a day that you have off or if you have a few days in a row where you don’t have to work or fulfill your responsibilities As always, dedicate yourself to reviewing everything you have at home to put it up for sale.
There are many ways to sell used and old things what you have saved:
- Free market.
- Fb.
- Instagram.
- Sales garaje.
- Send a message to your friends saying you sell those elementos.
It’s like selling anything else, only it will cost you a little more because parting with it will not be as fácil as when you buy something with the purpose of reselling it.
But if you manage to sell all the things you don’t use, which I assure you there are many you will gather a lot of money that you don’t even expect.
I placed on a sales Fb page, a computer that I stopped using when I bought a new one, some PlayStation 4 vídeo games, chairs that with giving them a little love they may be like new and a microwave that I had left over since I rented my apartment.
It took me about 2 weeks to sell everything, but when I did, I had over $1,123 that I could save for my trip and from elementos that I hardly ever used or at one point, I just stopped using it completely.
Tricks to save day to day
31. The food container is your best friend
If you are one of those who enjoys going out to eat every day during lunch time to a lugar de comidas or the nearest coffee shop, forget about it.
Making a market for the month or the week is not exactly expensive if we compare it with the rest of the expenses that we have to make. Even if you compare it to a plate of food on the street it seems extremely cheap.
Eating out is not cheap. If you find a place where there are offers, promotions or the food is relatively cheap, that doesn’t orinan you’re saving money On it; quite the contrary, you are spending more than you should.
Prepare your food at home and use a tupperware to take her to work it is a thousand times more profitable than eating out every day.
it’s just a matter that you dedicate an hour a day to prepare it or you cánido even make the meal of the week during your days off.
The main reason most people don’t bring home-cooked food is because they don’t have anyone to prepare it for them, they believe. not have enough time or they just DON’T want to spend a couple of hours a week on it.
Come on! Preparing lunch is quick if you think ahead of time what you want to eat for the next day or that same afternoon at work or wherever you should go.
Do you want to save money daily? Get used to preparing your meals if you will be away from home to avoid having to spend constantly in a lugar de comidas or street stall.
32. Make your beauty products
I used to not have much ética to suggest this trick before because if I’m being completely honest, I was addicted to buying the moisturizing, rejuvenating and toners and soaps to wash my face. Of course, I cánido’t forget the make-up eliminar either and the ampoules for the hair.
Even though they weren’t products that you had to buy every day, they were quite expensive and it practically felt like you were daily I was spending at least $5 on my face or hair.
When I realized how much it was affecting my budget and savings After buying all those products, I decided to give DIY a try, but in beauty elementos.
I had read in many weblogs and web pages about using olive oil, avocado, sugar and activated carbon to make products that moisturize the skin and hair, but never tried.
I found a lot of recipes by watching various youtubers and looking for images on Pinterest. By already having my list of products I wanted to do, I went out to do my shopping.
I bought to make at least 1 product of each and so test how much you saved And if they really worked.
I had barely spent $75 to make a total of 8 products that were the ones I used most frequently, whereas I normally in the pharmacies or brands already made and recommended everywhere, I could easily invest more than $163.
I followed the preparations step by step. and to my luck, they all turned out exactly as the tutorials I had seen said, so I proceeded to test them for the next 2 weeks.
When I noticed that they did give good results and the product looked like it could give me the same results as the ones I used before, I didn’t think twice about it. keep making them and thus save all that money.
This is my favorite way to save money on a daily basis, because especially for women, it’s easy to spend a large sum of money for products that only take care of our skin and find the right conditioner.
33. Leave with only $10 plus in your wallet
If you don’t have the money to spend it, is so easy like you won’t be like that.
Many people when we go out do not know how to equipo our limits, and if you have a job from Monday to Friday and you have to go to an office for it, it is obvious that you have a good time almost all day away from home.
even on weekends Surely you invest them in a place like a park or see a performance in the cinema of the movie that you were waiting for so much.
But what I’m absolutely sure of is that every time you go out, whether it’s to work, a date, to university or around the corner to buy bread, you leave with almost all the money in your wallet because you only take it from the table where you left it and you don’t get anything when you put it back there.
Thus, you must leave with all your cards and the cash you carry in it, which makes it extremely difficult to control yourself even if you were planning to spend a certain amount of money to buy snacks and movie tiques (for example).
If during your departure or on the way home you see some candy or accessory that you liked and you know that you have the money to buy it at the moment, the temptation is enormous.
The solution to eliminate all those small expenses that you make is that you do not come out with more than what is fair and necessary.
I consider that you shouldn’t be so precise either and at least have some plus money with you in case of an emergency.
That’s why I like to have a margin of $10 to $20 plus in my wallet or just carry my credit card that I use for specific cases.
Of course, everything also depends a lot on your willpower and the situation you find yourself in.
If you go to the corner you don’t need to take an plus with you and you perro take only what is necessary.
3. 4. Apply the 30 day rule
Every day we have at least one thought of “I want to buy a…”, it does not matter if what we want is something basic, fácil or quite elaborate, it is ineludible to think about it at least once a day.
To give you an example, today I thought of 5 things I want to buy: an ice cream, a new table lamp, a pair of pants that I saw in a shop window, some sunglasses and some boots.
I had each of those thoughts without even realizing it until I stopped and said “I really need it?”.
Do not feel bad for having impulses and thinking that you want and want to buy something, no matter what it is. The important thing is that you know how to stop and Don’t buy just on impulse.
Most of the purchases we make are done for that reason, an impulse, not because we really need that in what we spend our money unless they are necessary things that allow us to continue with our day to day.
Almost always, if we have the money, we go out and buy that something that we think during the day. I, for example, used to go out almost every day to eat ice cream.
When I started saving and noticed that I had a lot of daily expenses that were really silly, I decided that urgently needed to improve the method he used to save daily.
While reading some consejos and asking a few acquaintances, a coworker recommended me Use the 30 day rule.
What does it consist of? Too easy. If you want to buy something, more than anything that represents a significant expense, instead of buying it on impulse and in the moment, make a note of it both mentally and on paper and leave it in a place where you perro see it every day.
Take 30 days to evaluate if you really need what you want to buy and if it is worth making that expense in which you are so determined.
Besides, think about it, is it a fácil whim or is it because, to some degree, is it relevant to buy it?
This will help you to meditate every day on the expenses that you should and perro do or, failing that, the ones you shouldn’t do under any circumstances.
During those 30 days two things will happen:
- You will notice you don’t need it and you will escoge not to buy it.
- You will not stop thinking about it and you will notice that would be put to good use until finally, you escoge to buy it.
Either outcome is fenezca, especially since I assure you that most of the time you will end up concluding that you don’t need it.
The purpose of this is that you have a margin of time to “entrar reason” about the expense you want to make.
if you see and believe at the end of those 30 days that you need it and want it anyway, just buy it.
Did you think I was going to tell you to put up with it and not go buy it anyway? Well no, it is the opposite.
If it’s something you determined you wanted and needed, don’t feel bad about going to spend the money on it when you have already taken the necessary time to meditate on it.
In the same way, there will be more times that you do not buy it than those that do, so you will be saving money every day by putting into perspective and evaluating whether you should buy something or not.
35. Put reminders all over your house and even on your cell phone
Saving money every day is almost twice as difficult as saving, for example, once a month. All because we “forget” or sometimes, we do not have the motivation to do it that day.
If you want to keep a check and not fail in the attempt, try placing reminders around your house and in all possible places.
All those reminders will serve as motivation and so, when you have an impulse to spend or have forgotten that you cannot make a certain expense, just seeing one of those aprecies you will get back on track.
Understand that saving is not about depriving yourself of your life and absolutely all the pleasures you cánido give yourself; it’s about that controls all expenses that they are not necessary (what I said before about the impulses).
For this, it is worth having a trick that helps you motivate yourself and remember why you are saving or that you simply should save money and not spend it on it; something that, when spending, makes you think twice and back down on your decision.
I have several aprecies stuck in different places in my house, for example, my kitchen.
Each reminder has a variation of the main goal which is to save. Not all say “save!”, some are a little more personalized to fit the occasion and the craving that I may have depending on the place where I am.
In the kitchen, I have one right on my pantry door where I say “no chocolate cereal, but yes fruit”, to tell myself that I should NOT spend on a specific one if I have more in the cupboard.
It’s the same in my fridge.
Already in other areas like my armario and library, I try to encourage myself to not spend on clothes, shoes and books that, although they are not a bad investment, are not really necessary most of the time.
I also leave daily reminders on my cell phone so that at certain times when I leave the gym or finish work, motivated me not to go out Or buy me something on the way home.
Another option is to use palabras clave like “savings”, “don’t spend a lot” or “you don’t need it”, on passwords and information you use to log into your en línea shopping sites.
Do not get saturated with them either, because eventually they will tire you out more than they will help you, but keep them in those key places that, when passing through them, They are the ones that make you want to go the most and spend the cómputo of your card or the cash you carry with you.
36. Get and download everything you perro for FREE
My pleasure? The books. I love buying them and feeling the smell of a new book; besides, I think there is nothing like a physical one to sit and rest your eyes on a screen computer or cell phone.
However, books have become quite expensive in the last couple of years, agregado it’s much cheaper to buy them as libros electrónicos or even download them for free. like many other programs and articles.
Yeah, it’s kind of dishonest taking into account that things like books, games, music, movies and others, the authors live off their sales as if one could come and pay nothing for them, but it is almost always necessary.
I know that many times it gives cache have something original or it’s just because we want to have it, but if you cánido download it for free, do it.
All those expenses that we make on elementos that we cánido get for free en línea are quite high if you start to take account of them and especially with the frequency where you buy them.
For example, each physical book costs about $17, and like libros electrónicos about $9.99. I didn’t buy just one book but about 5 or 6 a month. That means that just for that I was spending about $50 a month.
When I could certainly find each one of them in PDF totally free.
The same goes for all the things I mentioned to you above. Instead of spending $89.99 on a new game, why don’t you try to wait a little longer and download it when it is free on the Internet?
I am someone who supports buying originals and supporting creators, but not all of us cánido afford that luxury and less often, so don’t feel bad about downloading free stuff if you don’t have what and it would orinan great savings for you.
At least me, every day I download a new book, movie or game, imagine if I had to pay for all that; I would have been bankrupt centuries ago.
37. Schedule your daily expenses
It is a little different from making a budget because when you make one, you are usually generalizing a bit in the expenses that you have: basic services, food, debts, loans, and a lot of payments to make.
But if you want to have real control for so you perro save as much as you perro every day, then program the expenses that you will make during the week. For example:
- Monday: pay for transportation to and from work, buy the week’s food on the way home, pay the bank’s monthly installment, and buy painkillers for knee pain.
- Tuesday: payment of transport to work, pay cell phone rent, electricity and water bills, buy fresh vegetables from the corner market.
That would be all you plan to spend during those days, so it’s the ONLY thing you should spend your money on and that planning will help you keep expenses away that arise from one moment to another by an impulse.
This won’t take you long to do, just you should sit preferably on a Sunday for a maximum hour and write down everything you will spend during each day of the week.
If you don’t feel so confident about going all-out, you perro always leave an “in case of emergency” margin, but when programming your expenses, it’s like following an agenda with your money and thus keeping your savings safe and increasing them in the process.
To begin with, you perro write down the expenses that you are sure you will make during the week and on a specific day. If there is any change in any of the days, don’t forget to write it down so you don’t lose the programming thread.
It may sound a bit exaggerated and laborious, perhaps too controlling, but it is simply so that you have measured the amount of money you spend during the day and thus be able to save the surplus at the end of this.
how to save money being a student
38. Avoid calling so much by cell phone
If you’re young (and even if you’re not) chances are have a fascination for using the cell phone a lot and make calls from it or the landline phone at home.
If I am correct, it is time for you to stop doing it as soon as possible.
For a student, and I’m telling you this because I’m one and I’ve seen it first-hand, the use of cell phones is a double-ended weapon, especially if you make a lot of calls with him like I used to.
The reason? It is no secret to anyone that phone call plans and minutes have always been extremely expensive, but since teléfonos inteligentes were created, let’s say it’s not exactly a problem if you dedicate yourself to using free applications that do not charge anything.
If you have a smart phone, It is 100% sure that you have a plan with data and Internet no less than 500 MB per month.
A call by WhatsApp, Skype, Hangouts, Fb and even Discord, are quite cheap when it comes to the consumption of megabytes that each application has. In essence, they are completely free.
If you talk for more than an hour on WhatsApp, you will not spend even 20 MB on the call and you will be saving all that money that you spend to make a local call and not to mention an international one.
Why insist on using the telephone service with so many free applications that exist today? There is no reason to do it, fácil as that.
Take advantage of all the free options that you have just by using the Internet and that allow you to communicate in other ways such as vídeo calls without having to pay plus charges like you should do with phone service.
It may seem a little strange to suggest this to you since in the world of young people, we are extremely immersed in what technology is, but you would be surprised at the number of people who they still overuse the telephone and if you are one of them or use it eventually, with this you will know that you cánido stop using them if you take advantage of the free applications as it should.
39. Do not go out. Have meetings at home with your friends
Life student has 3 things that characterize her: study until you burn your eyebrows, start to become independent and do everything alone and finally, make friends and go out with all of them.
Being a student implies having a fairly active popular life and that, in order to be able to socialize frequently and create a circle of friends, you must constantly hang out with them or at least share at parties and gatherings.
The problem is that when most of the time it’s about going out to a bar, discotheque, game center, cinema and an endless number of places that everyone wants to go, including you.
have you ever thought how much expense does it represent to go out to those sites and so often? A lot of money.
What many students do not understand, it is that you perro enjoy yourself without having to go out to all those places constantly. I’m not telling you not to go occasionally, but don’t make it a habit every week when it’s Friday and you escoge to release stress.
It is much more economical and intimate, to hold meetings at one of your friends’ houses or, if possible, even at yours where everyone is divided food and drink expenses and thus spend time together.
If you go to a bar, what will they do? Talk non-stop while drinking some good beers that you cánido easily buy at half price in a supermarket and between all put towards food and save a large amount of money.
In addition, one of the main drawbacks when going out in a group to a place with friends is that spending is never completely equitable. We all split the costs equally. but there will always be someone who consumes more, less or even nothing.
If you want to save money and still have an active popular life, then suggest those small gatherings more frequently. than going out to a bar or lugar de comidas near the college.
40. Hunt for student discounts
Do you remember when we talked about offers and discounts? Well if you are a student you will find at least one a day.
A large number of venues and businesses offer student-only discounts such as restoranes close to your university or theaters on certain days of the week.
Where I live, cinemas have a 25% discount in the tiques from Tuesday to Saturday and I only need to present my student card to be able to enjoy it.
The same happens in several food or drink cafes that are located one or two blocks from the entrance of the university where they offer student dishes. for a fairly cheap price many times it is even cheaper to eat in them than to prepare your own food.
You have to be aware of all these discounts since even in services such as public transport you cánido pay a cheaper ticket than most passengers.
Of course, there are other sites too, primarily for recreational purposes such as amusement parks, which offer special discounts per student.
In almost all the places, the only thing that you need is the same card that I use or an identification that indicates that you are a student and of course, that it is current.
There are also banks that offer some benefits and special cards for students where you enjoy certain bonuses or discounts on purchases you make at certain establishments.
Look for all those discounts and start paying less and thus save your money!
41. Take advantage of your free time and work
Working and studying are not two easy things to mezcle and they cánido get you to the point where you feel exhausted and fed up with the same old routine.
But if your career leaves you with enough free time that you don’t even know what to use for, you perro consider find a job part-time or where you only have to do a couple of hours a week.
Jobs such as a waiter, supermarket cashier, usher in theaters and mainly, Internet jobs are perfect for students.
Personally, I recommend you sign up for some en línea jobs where you do not require experience and if you have any skills such as translating documents, being a virtual assistant or transcribing articles, try applying to them. through platforms like Fiverr or Upwork.
You almost never have to meet schedules and you cánido work from the comfort of your home just using your computer with Internet connection.
If you are one of those who prefers something more physical or face-to-face to be able to recreate and socialize, you cánido always opt for restoranes, cafeterias, amusement parks, bars or the options that I gave you earlier.
What you will earn will be enough to meet your expenses or better yet, be able to save it all which is the main objective to be able to have an account with money when you need it.
42. Share living with someone else
As university students, it is rare that we continue to live with our parents or a relative during our studies. since we almost always end up renting a space to live.
In my case, I have rented an apartment since I I started studying away from home.
At the beginning I did not share the apartment With nobody since my brother was on vacation when I was just starting my classes and also, he had another place where he lived.
But there came a point where the expenses became quite difficult, especially since I didn’t have a good salary at the time and had to cover other additional payments.
At that moment, my brother and I made the decision to start living together to share the expenses with what each one earned at work. The difference was huge.
I immediately felt lighter since I was paying half of everything, that means I was able to save the other part of the money or spend it to pay the rest of my debts.
If your case is afín to mine initially, where you have to pay all the services alone, then try to find a roommate with which you perro divide the expenses.
It does not have to be a stranger, you cánido always ask among your colleagues or friends if someone is interested, I am totally sure that you will find someone in your same situation or that it would be convenient for him to live with you.
Thus you cánido save money in all household services that are those that represent a large expense for your budget.
43. Sell old study material
All my guides from previous years, I barely knew I would stop using them or need them, I put them up for sale in order to recover a part of the investment.
The study materials are quite expensive and it’s a pain to get them, that’s why I opted many times by downloading them on the Internet and buy only what I needed in a very specific way.
However, that doesn’t orinan I didn’t spend a lot of money obtaining several books and guides that helped me to pass my subjects.
But books become “outdated” when you have already learned everything you could from them. So why not sell them for at least recover half the cost?
Many students buy materials already used by others to save a good sum of money (you should do the same if you don’t already).
That means you’ll find to many people interested in buying all the guides you have available for sale.
You perro even copy them and try start a small business where you perro sell at an affordable price for students of years below yours.
All that will help you save money in a very fácil way and without doing much effort.
ways to save money in couple
44. There has to be equality and cómputo.
If you want to save money as a couple, they must psych themselves up in which one does not have more privileges than the other and reach an equality agreement.
No, it is not a method in itself, but if you want to avoid possible discussions in the future and agree on the savings you should or want to make, so it’s good that you have this point in mind all the time.
They are a team, which means that if one stops doing something, the other must do it too to support each other and no differences among the things they cánido do.
In this way there will also be a cómputo between the savings they make in terms of activities they stop making or the elementos they don’t buy in order to spend less.
If you have expenses that are not related or the same, try to think of those that are about the same in price and so you know which ones you perro veto so that they are saving equally.
Saving as a couple, although it is a team as I said before, keep in mind that each one has individual expenses that must be resolved in such a way only combining them with those of your partner and thus reach the point of equality that I am talking about.
When they are psyched that both they must give equally and “sacrifice” the same things or equivalent to each other, they are ready to start saving.
Four. Five. Don’t have expensive dates
Dating is essential when it comes to a relationship. When they are more stable it is not something they do every day, but It’s good to have them frequently.
However, they are a big waste of money. if you think about the places to which they usually go: cinema, amusement park, restoranes, concerts, among other places.
It is not a lie to anyone that a “good” appointment perro be quite expensive, although I do not like to call it good but rather elegant, since to make it excellent it doesn’t have to be in the most expensive place of the city and I would like you to keep that in mind, both you and your partner.
Going to expensive places does not orinan that the appointment will be better and if what they are trying to do is save money, they immediately have to cross out all those places that make you spend more than 2 digits.
Do you want to go to the lugar de comidas that recently opened or where you had your first date, but it’s expensive? They go occasionally about once a month and the rest of your appointments, that are not expensive.
They cánido easily have a couple moment buying a pizza and watching a movie in the comfort of your sofa.
Also you cánido look for those free events They are found in some squares or parks in the city so as not to have to pay for tiques.
There are many options that involve not having to spend a lot of money on it, it’s just a matter of setting out to lower your estándares and enjoy more of the fácil things in order to save money.
A few fácil walks, going to the movies on discount days or taking advantage of coupons found in magazines to restoranes or concerts, It’s all a matter of looking around and finding the best option that suits your new goal.
46. Still don’t live together? It’s time to consider
Living together is a big step as a couple, but if you are considering saving as such, it is because you have undoubtedly decided to make several decisions in your life and equipo several goals being together.
So, if you don’t live together yet, you should consider the iniciativa and do it if you come to the conclusion that you want and they are ready for it.
Saving would become much easier because they would be sharing the expenses of a single apartment or house and thus each one cánido give a larger amount of money which is what you would be saving by not having to pay part of the services on your own.
Living as a couple means dividing all expenses, both in basic services such as electricity and water, as well as food, fuel for the car, cable, telephone and everything you pay for living alone Similarly.
Yes, it’s very afín to have a roommate, only in this case they will be able to save larger amounts by being a couple.
My previous partner and I lived together for almost a year, during which we took care of dividing various expenses and assign us some activities and housework so we didn’t have to pay for someone to do it like he used to at least.
Also, by living together, they determined a method to save all the money and that each one would put every month or on a stipulated date to grow our savings.
Cánido do the same with yours and living together will also help them to have a greater connection to make decisions as the couple they are.
47. The savings account in the name of both
Although almost all couples escoge after a long conversation who will be in charge of the account and, therefore, in whose name it will be opened, I do not support doing it that way.
As I said before, saving as a couple is a team effort, and although only one perro be in charge of managing the account, it is recommended that both have access to it.
Therefore, the best option is to open the account in the name of both, but only one to take charge of controlling the movements and keep track of everything you entrar, goes out and what some of the money will be used for.
The right thing to do is that the person who is most organized and has some control over expenses should be in charge of this task, since it is part of their habits. However, the other person perro not ignore totally in the management and control of the account.
Try to share information and if you are the one who keeps control of expenses and income, each one of them participates with your partner for one day a week where they sit down to have a coffee in the comfort of their table and rpass what they have saved and if they spent on something.
On the other hand, despite the fact that the account will be in the name of both, that does not give you more privileges to one than to another to spend. Remember, equality.
48. Make your own cleaning products
When they go to the supermarket to do the shopping, cleaning products take up a large part of the budget, taking into account that you have to buy chlorine, disinfectant, Clean floors, air freshener, clean glass and a host of other elementos.
The moment you go to pay, you realize that there are a lot of them and worst of all, you do use them, but you finish faster than you last paying for them.
A good option so they don’t have to spend on it is that they make their own products cleaning with several recipes that you cánido find on the Internet.
many months ago I stopped buying them and I even started manufacturing various personal hygiene elementos to save on it.
Most of the recipes are very fácil and do not require any ingredients special or extremely expensive.
In my case, I found the recipes in a manual that I saw in a Fb vídeo while looking at some posts.
You perro also find several vídeos on YouTube where They will espectáculo you some ways to make certain elementos such as disinfectant, detergent, soaps, among others.
Imagines to clean any surface You perro easily use some vinegar, bicarbonate and lemon and with that you perro do your cleaning without problems. Sounds good, right?
49. Buy used furniture for your home
If they want do remodeling or your old sofa It’s already screaming “Help!” they do not have to think twice about changing it or remodeling part of the house by buying other furniture.
The secret to remodeling without affecting your savings or being able to continue putting money into your account is that buy used furniture but they are in very good condition.
Yes, we all like to buy a new sofa and go to all those stores to throw us over of them to test them until we escoge which one we are going to buy.
But the truth is that there are many garaje sales, bazaars or markets where you cánido find very good furniture for a reasonable price. a thousand times cheaper and that they are in good condition.
Furnishing or remodeling a house is quite expensive in the long run, especially if it is not only a couple of sofas that you are going to change but also the kitchen table, the hall, the dining table and a lot of other furniture.
So try to visit bazaars and look for some auctions in various street sales that they carry out in parks, houses or some squares in your city.
Some of the furniture that you see just needs some remodeling since it has some use and perhaps some very destacable detail, but you cánido always improve them on your own either painting them, lining them or whatever you want to do to put them in a better state.
Even if you have to invest in some materials for its arrangement, you will not spend more or the same than buying new furniture.
fifty. Will they have a baby? They perro still save
Yes, having a baby represents a fairly high expense since it is another individual to include in the most basic expenses and above all, the time it will take you to take care of him.
For these reasons, many couples see it as impossible to save with the arrival of a baby and think that the best thing to do is stop saving and sintetiza it again when the baby is bigger and more stable.
All that it’s a mistake enormous.
Even if they are going to have a baby, they cánido continue saving without any problem. Maybe not the same amount or in the same magnitude as always, but the important thing don’t stop the flow of your savings and continue to dedicate part of your money to them.
The secret to doing it is that you think about the primordial things and not throw the house out of the window in expenses for the baby on the way or want to search
In essence, the only thing a baby needs are diapers, elabora milk, wet wipes, cream, special shampoo and a cot to sleep.
We could add other elementos, but really if you think of them as medicine, specific sheets and more, you realize that they are things that in reality, you don’t need or you cánido get later.
The important thing is that they spend on objects that will be for their personal use, but you don’t necessarily need of more than one.
Do not buy two, three or four of the same if one is enough, as you will only be wasting money unnecessarily and which could go into your savings account.
On the other hand, keep in mind that it won’t always be a baby.
Try to buy clothes a little bigger and the same with the diapers. During the first months babies they grow very fast and lose their newborn clothes before you know it.
The best thing is that you invest more in clothes that he will wear for a longer time than buying 100 outfits for when he is just 2 or 3 months old and lose them at the speed of light.
When the baby gets older and starts asking for toys and all those childish cravings, you perro give them to them, but remember that they don’t need every toy what they see on the street
Later everything will depend on saying NO and stick to your savings goal and a limit between what you perro buy or not and if it is necessary or not.
If you liked the articulo, be sure to share it with your friends! This way they will be able to learn how to save money and thus money stops being a problem to have a better life.
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Maria Ng Garcia
I am a lover of literature and writing is my lifelong passion. I love sharing my experiences with others to help them pursue their dreams and learn to never give up. “It’s never too late to be the person you could have been.” -George Eliot
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