‘A penny saved is a penny earned’. I am sure that all of you are well familiar with this adage. But saving money is turning out to be quite an uphill task in the current economic times. Majority of us have a huge portion of our monthly earnings deducted to pay for loan EMIs, credit card bill payments, utility bill payments etc, even before we can touch any of it.
But you might have read another popular quote that says ‘Where there is a will, there is a way’, right? So here it is- the common sense guide to monthly savings to help all of us ‘save for a rainy day’
Let’s start at the beginning
Irrespective of whether we belong to the category of people who ‘eat to live’, or ‘live to eat’, one thing is certain. Our lives are intricately related to eating. So why not find out some common sense ways to save money on our food expenses each month?
Most of the people who work usually depend on takeaways, especially for their lunch and quite often for their dinners as well. But maybe it’s time to change this habit because a certain report published in The Telegraph (UK) says that ditching the takeaway just once in a week can save up to $1,300 per year. Not bad, especially when you need to sacrifice just 1 takeaway per week or 4 for the month.
Beware! Shopping can be addictive
A huge part of the necessities in our lives needs to be paid for and obviously you gotta shop for things you need to buy. But have you taken a close look at your shopping bills lately? Okay, I suggest that you do this fun exercise today.
Check your credit card statements for the past 3 months and see if you can separate the dire necessities from the extravagances. I am sure that you would be surprised at what you see at the end of your fun exercise. Don’t the extravagances seem to dominate a little over the necessities? Well, there’s nothing to panic yet.
Next time you go out shopping, make sure you have a list with you. Once you are done with creating the list, mark the urgent necessities, necessities that can wait and extravagances in different colors. When you finally start shopping, ignore the last 2 categories and just shop for the urgent necessities. Do this every time you shop and you will see at least a 30 % savings on your monthly credit card bill.
Carpooling can be cool
Yeah, I know how that sounds at first impression, but believe me when I say that you could save a whole lot of dollars each month if you decide to carpool. It goes without saying that if your whole family (working spouse and children) decides to carpool, then you will surely return back next month to thank me profusely via the comment section. Oh! You’re welcome (in advance).
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