Save For What You Want With These Tips

It’s a New Year and while you may be focusing on your body for an overhaul, have you ever considered that now would be the year that you should overhaul your finances instead? Money makes the world go round and you certainly can’t manage in the world today without at least some money behind you. You deserve the chance to reboot and get your finances in the best possible shape so that you can come out of 2021 with a healthier bank account and a better understanding about how it all works.

Your personal finances have to be put under the spotlight if you are trying to save for things. You want to buy a house, so you save for a deposit and fees. You want to buy a car, so you use a car payment estimator to get an idea of your costs and you put the money down in your savings account every month. The beauty of taking the smaller steps with your finances is that you will learn a lot very quickly before using savvy shortcuts to make sure that your bank balance stays in the black and away from the red. Sometimes, you just need to give your finances and your bank accounts a proper spring clean to get the best out of them. Maybe this year is the year you want to get your act together with a travel budget, or you want to finally get around to buying the boat you’ve been eyeing. Whatever the purchase you need to know how to save for what you want, and with this in mind, we’ve got some suggestions to help you to do exactly that. Check them out below and let us know what you think!

• Pay Yourself First. Before you do anything each month, put your savings away into your account and do this before you pay your bills. Yes, savings are a luxury, but if you’re paying yourself first as a bill it becomes second nature to you to put your money aside each month. This is a great way to build up your savings and not even think about it. If you put yourself first, you’re going to be just as important as every other payment you need to make – and that’s a smart way to do it.
• Drop The Brands. You want to make savings, but you may not be aware that if you swap out your current rate of grocery brands to a generic brand for everything, you’re going to make huge savings. For example, wonky veg boxes offer more veggies and you don’t pay as much as the pre-packed options. When you swap from your branded options to the supermarket brands, or you shop around and buy at other stores, you will see how much you save in your weekly grocery budget. Use that money and move it to your savings account. You’ll be so surprised at how you can build it up.
• Check Local Auctions. If you are in need of goods for your home, have you ever considered asking your local police station? Lost and stolen items are kept for a finite amount of time before they are offered up for auction. You can bid on anything from bikes and toys to candles and furniture. All you need to do is call your local station and ask them when their next auction is. They’re not the only place that holds lost and found items, either, and you can bid low so you may grab a good bargain for unwanted things.
• Challenge Yourself. Let’s say that you want a new phone but you know you can’t touch your current savings, it’s time to challenge yourself. You need to be able to save the money for the phone before you allow yourself to buy it. So, if you don’t buy your usual coffee for a week, then that’s $25 saved. You can do this with cutting meat costs and eating vegetarian meals for a while, and you can even sell your old phone and see how much you can make. Once you get to the cost of a new phone, you’ll know for sure whether you want to buy it and that will tell you whether you are making the right choice.
• Get Rid Of Debt First. Before you buy any nice things for yourself you need to stop running up overdraft and credit card debt. Start chipping away at it all. Even that spare coffee money can make a huge difference to whether you are paying off debt or sitting on more of it. Once you have paid off your debts, all that money you were paying suddenly becomes spare money. This can then go into the savings account as if you’re still paying off the debts.
• Bye, Bye, Utilities. Have you ever been brave enough to call a company and threaten to leave? As a long-time customer you may find that you are not as looked after as the newbies – and that can sting a little! So, you need to be prepared to walk away from your current utility companies and telephone companies – they will most likely offer you a deal to keep you as a customer. You have to remember that they need you more than you think, and they know how hard it is to keep customers. They’ll want you and you can make great savings!
• Don’t Spend. It’s the weekend and it’s time to spend, right? No! It’s time to figure out how to have fun for free. Bust out the board games and get your friends over. Get your movies set up and have a crying session to The Notebook. Get your boots on and go for a walk. You need to get out there and enjoy some nature and some sunshine, and walking is totally free, so what are you waiting for?
• A Penny A Day. If you save a penny for day one, two pennies for day two, three pennies for day three, etc, you’re going to end up with over $650 by the end of the year. It’s a pretty good way to save as you won’t notice the pennies going and if you keep them saved, you could keep this going for years!
• Avoid Monthly Premiums. Do you have car and life insurance? How about home insurance? Did you know that while paying monthly looks like an attractive amount to pay, you’re being charged huge interest amounts? Yearly payments for insurance save you a bunch of money in insurance, and paying upfront means you don’t have to worry about being covered if you lose your job.
• Scrape The Top. At the end of every day go to your bank accounts and scrape off the top. So, if you have an odd amount like $56.76, move $6.76 to your savings account. You’d be so surprised how fast the money adds up in your savings account just by skimming off the excess. You won’t regret the time you take doing it, either, not when you could make a huge amount of savings!
• Add More to The Mortgage. With an additional $50 on the mortgage each month, you can pay it off a lot faster than you ever imagined. Always check for early repayment charges, but if it’s going to be less than the overall interest, it’s going to be worth that extra charge – right?
• You can make your money work for you by saving for what you want. You don’t have to wish; you just have to make it happen!