Simple Ways to Save on Your Monthly Expenses
The cost of living keeps rising yet the wages remain stagnant. This leads to living expenses taking up a huge portion of your income but you must find ways to keep the expenses from eating into your savings allocation if you still want to stay on track to achieving your financial goals.
With a little financial prudence, you can cut your monthly expenses without compromising on your lifestyle. You don’t have to forego the things you love to have some extra cash at the end of every month to boost your savings so you reach your financial goals even faster.
Here are the simple ways to save money on your monthly expenses.
photo/Steve Buissinne via pixabay
Make a budget
You can never hope to keep track of your expenses if you lack a budget. Lacking a budget is a recipe for financial indiscipline where you make impulse purchases and live beyond your means. This means you are either living pay check to pay check or borrowing to fund your lifestyle; neither are good for financial security.
Having a budget is essential in being accountable for your earnings and knowing how much you spend on every expense so you can then identify areas you can save money on.
Conserve energy
By using energy more efficiently you save the planet and make some savings on your end as well. You can save on utility bills by identifying and addressing the ways you waste water and electricity.
This starts by having more energy-efficient electrical appliances. Replace your incandescent bulbs with LED energy-saving ones which consume 80% less power and doesn’t produce any heat thereby also saving you on cooling costs.
Switch off the lights when you are not using them and turn off the taps even for a few minutes instead of leaving the water running.
Become techno-savvy
Keeping up with the latest technology can save you loads of money. For instance, taxi-hailing apps charge significantly less than the traditional city taxis.
Paperback books and newspapers are more expensive than getting a Kindle or subscribing to online media like Trinitynewsdaily.Com. You will also save a fortune and have a variety of entertainment options by abandoning your cable TV for any of the streaming sites in the market.
More importantly, if you are using old appliances then chances are they are less energy-efficient and run on outdated technology and you should plan to replace them as soon as possible.
Spend wisely
Your frequent trips to the ATM come at a great cost since every transaction has a fee. The small transaction fees accumulate to a significant sum over a period of time.
You will save on this unseen costs by withdrawing money in bulk to carter for your expenses for a period of time. You are also less tempted to use your credit cards when you have cash at hand and this helps you control your expenses.
Also, whenever you can, do your shopping in bulk to earn discounts and save money.
Author: Carol Trehearn
