Every year the top financial new year resolution is related to saving more money but every year we struggle to save and reach our goals.
I have put together 15 hacks that will increase our savings without feeling like we are missing out.
You might say but Nd I have a goal that’s why I want to save more…….yes I hear you but is your goal specific and clear?
For example, I want to save for an emergency fund is a good goal but it’s better if you say I want to save £5,000 as my emergency savings.
Another part of setting and achieving goals is to mark and celebrate milestones as you reach the goal
We are constantly bombarded by big companies and their marketing campaigns to consume more, wants are being sold as needs.
Ask yourself “Do I need this or want it?” Many times being truthful with this answer makes all the difference.
Another money savings hack is the 30-day rule – The 30-day rule says before you buy anything write the item and send the money to savings, if after 30 days you still need the item you can get it. Most times we realise we don’t need that item.
This is important because with debt you are allowing money principles work against you.
Depending on your situation you can review your bad loans and reduce the interest paid thereby putting more money in your pocket
Credit Card Debt
Use comparison sites to see if you can transfer your balance to another credit card provider offering an interest-free period for a time
After which you work towards clearing the loan or drastically reducing before the end of the interest-free period saving yourself a ton of interest.
Debt Stacking
This involves listing all loans, making minimum payments for all except one which you attack with every extra payment and once you have paid that off you rollover all the payments to the next debt and so on till you are done
Use either the snowball or avalanche method to list and attack the debt.
If you are struggling with debt read our post on: How to pay off debt quickly
Your savings goal will determine the type of account that will house the funds but it should be in a separate from what you use for daily expenses.
Another hack to boost your savings is to move the funds frequently to take advantage of sign-up bonus and perks
Paying yourself first is one of the most important personal finance habits.
Lots of people make the mistake of waiting till the end of the month to think about savings from the leftover, you are doing it backwards.
To pay yourself first you need to decide the amount and to do this you need is to work out your essential monthly expenses (rent, utilities, food, transport), then from what’s left determine what you need to save.
The next step is to set up this amount to be transferred automatically after you have been paid without your willpower or interaction thereby paying yourself first
Personal finance comprises income and expenses, reduce your expenses while increasing your income.
You can increase your income through side hustles, another job, a pay rise, promotion etc
It’s better to immediately save/invest a large percentage or all of the increase. Decide today what that percentage will be.
Every year we have expenses that can be paid annually or monthly, there is usually a significant difference between the monthly and annual payments.
In most cases, the annual payment are cheaper and presents opportunities for a discount during negotiation
Annual payment are usually cheaper because offering monthly payments is equivalent to giving you a loan for the amount of the annual subscription.
Take advantage of annual payments by setting up a sinking fund months before the payment is due
Growing up, we spent cash and had piggy banks to save the change but we now use credit/debit cards and that means we won’t be dealing with change but there is a way to save the spare change.
All you have to do sign up to some apps such as Plum, Tandem, Moneybox e.t.c that achieve the same goal
This is how it works
The 4 walls of our budget as it’s popularly called (Housing, Food, Utilities, Transport) is where most expenses go and we want to reduce it.
Housing: Rule of thumb is your rent/mortgage should not be over 35%, you can also house hack, rent a room, Airbnb your home e.t.c
Food shopping is one of the biggest weekly expenses for families and you can reduce this expense by
Review Subscriptions. Many times we subscribe to things and forget about them
The idea here is to track your expenses, be smart and only pay for things that you enjoy and regularly use.
Some of us are lucky to have money left over some months, this is not the time to spend but to save, during those months we should send those funds directly to our savings.
This also applies to the money we get like a tax refund, cash gifts etc, we should not think to spend but save/invest when it comes to money.
With comparison sites it’s easy to compare prices of products and services and the savings opportunity is huge
By the end of the year will be surprised how much you have saved if you transfer the money to a savings account
You can also link this activity to the 30-day rule earlier mentioned regarding delaying purchases.
Automatically finding the best coupons online is very simple
All you have to do is download the Honey browser extension and it will alert you whenever a coupon code is available.
If it finds multiple, it will test every available code to find the best one.
Cashback programs is another way to get money back when you have to spend, you can get cashback from credit cards, websites, store loyalty cards etc
Nowadays, when I come across something I want, I explore the possibilities of buying it used
I have saved thousands of pounds doing this especially when we were furnishing our home.
Another advantage of buying used is its impact on the environment. Irrespective of its advantages test the products before buying
This shares all the advantages of buying used, I’m sure if you look around your home now, you will find more than one thing you are not using, why not sell it and make some cash.
Online platforms like eBay, Facebook marketplace, Depop, vinted etc helps to sell our stuff.
The money made from the sales should be transferred to your savings account.
Every year millions of pounds of government benefits and allowances are unclaimed. Find out what you are entitled to and claim it
It’s also important to check your workplace and ensure you are taking advantage of all the benefits available.
All these savings hacks should be used together as it applies to your situation. Saving money can feel like such an impossible task, but using these hacks will grow your savings.
For more creative ideas on saving money on a tight budget, check out savingadvice post here
