12 Simple Steps To Budget And Save Money Every Month

Knowing how to budget and save money is critical for succeeding in life. You have to ensure that you are putting money aside every month for emergencies and any uncertainty. But then, saving money is a big hurdle, especially if you love to spend what you earn! You may even be continuously battling between spending or saving your money.

At the same time, you can’t help but dream of a life where you are financially free and have enough money for a stress-free and comfortable life. So how can you save money every month? Fortunately, here are 12 simple ways which, if you follow religiously, may help you be more careful with money. Keep reading to find about these tips!

12 Simple Steps To Budget And Save Money Every Month

1. Know Your Why

Before knowing how to save money, it is essential to understand why you need to save. If you are saving money to achieve materialistic things, you will soon return to facing financial challenges again. The reason being that such goals are short-lived and die the moment you fulfill your materialistic desires. Therefore, your paramount goal should be to attain financial freedom.

2. The 50-30-20 Rule

The day your bank account is credited with your salary, have a certain proportion of it transferred into your savings account. You can follow the 50-30-20 rule of budgeting popularized by Senator Elizabeth Warren in her famous book All your Worth: Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan. Break your in-hand income into three parts: 50% of the income goes to needs, 30% for wants, and 20% to savings and investment. This rule will instill a sense of discipline while ensuring that you don’t compromise on the quality of life.

3. Track Your Expenses

Keep a record of every transaction that takes place in the next 30 days to have a comprehensive understanding of your expenses. Categorize your record into fixed and variable expenses. Fixed expenses are those that are quite the same every month, such as your rent, utilities, loan installments, or any monthly subscription. Whereas variable expenses are those that vary every month, such as clothing, food, entertainment, etc. Keeping a record will enable you to analyze how you spend your money, and you can deduct in those areas that aren’t necessary.

4. The Art Of Delaying

It’s usually thrilling to buy something that you have been eying. However, when you delay the urge to splurge, the excitement eventually fades away over time. For instance, when you purchase a new gadget, the excitement is at its peak for the first few days, but then it becomes merely routine. So, it is always better to wait and let the excitement subside than splurging unnecessarily.

5. Choose Cash

Although it’s a cashless world we live in where we make most of our payments through apps and cards, it is sensible to carry cash instead. You will realize that paying cash feels a lot heavier than swiping your card. Try and limit yourself to a specific cash budget and not exceed that budget whenever you step out of your home. 

6. Save Energy

Make an effort to conserve and reduce the use of energy at home, such as electricity and water. Try to be more efficient and use only as much as you need. You can start by turning off unnecessary lights and other appliances when you leave a room. There is also the option to buy devices that have energy-saving features. When you are wary of saving energy, you are not only saving money but contributing to the environment as well.

7. Reduce To Cheaper Service Providers

Do your bit of research and compare various service providers and their prices. Switch to more affordable services for your insurance, phone, internet, and television, to name a few. It is unlikely that you will lose out on the quality with less expensive providers. There isn’t much difference in their quality due to the competition between various service providers.

8. Cancel Unused Subscriptions And Memberships

Many of your subscriptions may be automatic which you don’t even use regularly. Remember not to subscribe to anything on auto-renew. You always have the liberty to subscribe again if you can’t go without it after cancellation. You can share subscriptions with family members if you still want to keep them around, such as Netflix.

9. Bring Your Own Food

Buying lunch or coffee may seem the easy way out but imagine your lunch money accumulated in a month. Now, think about how much you could have saved if you packed your lunch instead. You can almost buy a week’s worth of groceries for the same price as two or three lunch meals. Preparing your food is also healthier because you know what you are putting in the meal.

10. Always Ask About Offers And Discounts

There is always room for negotiation. Remember to check for discounts before buying your tickets to a movie or an event. There are also discounts available at restaurants and clothing stores. You won’t know unless you ask. If there aren’t any, you can always negotiate.

11. Declutter

Sell your old belongings or anything that you don’t use anymore. Have a garage sale in the neighborhood. This process will help eliminate clutter and fetch you that extra cash that could buy you groceries or pay your bills for a month or two. 

12. Reuse And DIY

Ask yourself if you can make it yourself before you shell out cash to buy something new. There are hundreds of tutorials available on YouTube that will bring out your creative side. You will realize that the cost of a DIY will save you a lot of money. And if you can’t do it yourself, you can always ask that creative friend of yours to help you while you catch up!

There are various ways of saving money, but all methods fail with a lack of discipline and consistency. Remember, it doesn’t matter how much money you make. What matters eventually is how much you spend and save!