Our Customer Service Advisor, Sarah, shares her easy-to-follow budgeting and savings tips. With small changes to the way you shop, budget and save, you could quickly start seeing your savings and wealth grow.
Follow Sarah’s simple tips to start making the most of your money:
Make small changes that add up
There are many ways to make small changes to the way you manage your budget. Making lunch at home is a great way to start. Doing the shopping and errands in one trip can help save on fuel costs. Saving loose change, restricting household appliance use, or even learning basic home or car maintenance can all add up.
Small changes ultimately add up to big savings.
Do your grocery shopping with a list and budget
Money can be wasted when spent impulsively. Using limited income wisely is an essential money saving strategy. Start with your regular grocery shopping: make a shopping list and a budget for it.
A budgeted shopping list will help you resist temptation and, ultimately, save you money. Try and avoid packaged junk food, which can be expensive, and keep your eye peeled for value offers and deals.
Being frugal with your grocery shopping will help you save money, especially if you are shopping for a larger family.
Set achievable savings goals
When financial circumstances change, your instinct may be to stop saving and focus only on immediate needs. While this is understandable – immediate needs should always come first -, in most cases, savings don’t necessarily need to be sacrificed entirely to accommodate a tightened budget.
Rather than immediately cutting off all savings efforts, do a budget refresh. Take into account your new circumstances and your current expenses, and use this to determine where to cut back and focus your resources.
After doing this work, you will likely find that there is room in your budget to keep up with some savings. Whether this is $10 per month or $100, use this new number to calculate an achievable savings goal for the rest of the year.
Understand where your money goes by tracking your spending
Taking the time to make a note of every dollar you spend can give you a clear view of where your money goes. You may be surprised by how much all those small things add up. You might also discover hidden costs, such as account fees or subscriptions you don’t use.
Just knowing where your money goes may be all you need to start spending less. You may even start saving more!
Start small by recording your spending every day for a period of time (at least a week). This way you will start getting a better understanding of where your money goes.
Bonus tip!
Have you completed a No Interest Loan (NILs) recently? Why not put the funds you have been paying to the loan repayments into a savings account?
You are already used to keeping this money aside for your loan repayment, so why not put the same amount on your savings account after you have finished repaying your loan. Becoming debt free and financially solvent is a long-term plan, but as your savings grow, so will your wealth and ability to reach goals that had previously seemed unattainable.