Find Out About Weekly Saving Tips

Times are tough, but no matter where you are financially, it’s never too late to start making smart financial decisions. You can turn your life around with a few steps in the right direction, but you must first find the determination to take that first step.

When people think of savings, many think they have to kiss large chunks from their paychecks goodbye. In reality, saving just a few dollars each week can make a big difference in the long run.

While it’s good to make long-term plans and save money for the future, there are times when you need to start seeing the payoff a little sooner. Revising your spending habits and seeing how you could cut down certain types of spending is the best way to start saving money fast.

There are ways to cut back on spending. Some will take you minutes, while others may require a bit more effort. Nonetheless, there is something for everyone to learn to help set themselves on a stable financial course. Use these tips to cut back on unnecessary spending and start saving money each week.

Start Meal Planning

Eating out is one of the quickest ways to drain a paycheck. Going out to restaurants and fast-food chains may seem like the best option if you have a busy schedule, but it can take a heavy toll on your wallet.

To cut back on eating out, try meal planning. Cooking your own meals may seem like a challenge to anyone unaccustomed to doing so, but meal planning makes it easy.

Start by trying out basic recipes and see what works for you. Keep a list of your favorite dishes and refer to them when making your meals for the week. Meal-planning makes it easy to make a grocery list and stick to it, which will help you cut back on grocery shopping.

Many working people find themselves eating out up to 5 days a week. Once you get meal planning down, you’ll find it easier to start taking your own lunch to work, saving yourself $50 to $100 each week.

Conserve Water and Electricity

This next one may sound obvious, but you’d be surprised how often people forget to turn off the lights and the faucet. Leaving lights on overnight or while you are at work can increase your light bill by $5 each week. That’s $20 a month! Your water and electricity bills may be eating up your income if you aren’t careful. Here are some good habits to get into:

• Turn off the lights every time you leave a room.
• Conduct a routine light check before walking out the door or going to bed.
• Be mindful of how long your showers are.
• Don’t leave the tap running when washing the dishes or brushing your teeth.
• Fight the urge to put the A/C too low or the heat too high unless it is really necessary.

Lastly, don’t forget to unplug! Even if they are turned off, many appliances and devices – chargers, lamps, coffee makers – draw power if they are plugged in. All of these tips will help you lower your power and water bills. Your wallet and the environment will thank you later.

Use the 48-Hour Rule

When it comes to saving money, impulse buying is your worst enemy. It seems inevitable at times. You go to the store with the sole intention of buying new socks, but as you make your way to the right aisle, you come across a pair of shoes.

You know you don’t really need the shoes, but you don’t want to put them back because it’s hard to say no. However, the 48-hour rule makes it easier to put an item back because you’re not saying no, you’re just saying no for now.

Now, take two days to think about whether you really want or need the item. If after the two days, you still have the desire to make the purchase, you can go back and buy them. But it is likely that after two days of contemplating, you’ll find the idea of owning the item a lot less exciting.

Implementing the 48-hour rule will help you curb impulse buying and keep you from spending money on things you don’t really need.

Calculate Purchases by Hours Worked

A great way to consider whether a purchase is worth it, is to think about things in terms of how many hours you have to work to pay for them.

Rather than thinking of a pair of sunglasses costing $50, think of how many hours you would have to work to make $50. If you make $10 an hour, ask yourself if the sunglasses are worth five hours of work.

You are much more likely to put back the pair of sunglasses after thinking about the long hours you worked to make that money. Using this tip will help you prioritize your spending and keep you from making unnecessary purchases.

Switch to a Video Streaming Service

Who uses cable nowadays? With the popularity of streaming services, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, many people have a costly cable package and barely use it.

There are many alternatives to traditional cable that cost less and offer a better user experience. For a fraction of the price, streaming services give you the option to watch what you want when you want.

Traditional cable can cost hundreds of dollars each month, while streaming services typically cost a few dollars. Save yourself a good amount of money each month by opting out of cable and switching to a streaming service like Netflix or Hulu, which can start as low as $6.99 or $9.99 per month. To further lower the cost, you can share accounts with others and split the bill.

Workout at Home

With the current fitness trend, everyone seems to have a fancy gym membership, even when they can’t afford it. People are paying upwards of $100 a month to do something they could be doing at home.

Don’t fall into the trap! Stream workout session videos and workout from home rather than spend hundreds of dollars on a monthly gym membership.

Your living room may not have any elliptical and weight machines, but this doesn’t mean that you can’t get a good workout in without breaking the bank. An endless amount of guided workout videos can be found online, with plenty of at-home workout routines available to stream on YouTube.

You may be able to save a great amount of money by skipping out on the gym. By making use of your space, you might find that working out at home can be more economically efficient, convenient, and comfortable.