Most of the time your wishes and your pocket are not in a compatible relationship. Despite good goals, and intensions, it becomes hard to follow through with them. Your brain often undercuts your efforts to save more.
To save money one needs to develop motivation and control their impulses which is not easy but The following steps can help trick your mind into spending less and saving more
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- Pay Yourself First
The best way to save money is prioritizing paying yourself. You need to entitle a certain amount of your pay cheque as your pay. This amount can be anything you want depending upon your expenses and bill. It can be $30, $150 or even 5% to 10% of your income. It is essential that you pay yourself first rather than last. Most people pay their bills, and everyday expenses and don’t put anything in savings as nothing is left after words.
If you pay yourself first, then money will get saved because paying yourself is now your first priority. The nice thing about paying yourself first is if your budget is constricted, it forces you to make adjustments elsewhere and your savings continue to grow.
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- Have a Spending Plan
The very easy way to keep more money in your pocket is to create and maintain a Spending Plan or a Budget. first figure out your income and expenses. Once that’s done, you can look for ways to reduce your expenses or increase your income so that you can save some amount every month. This technique is used by the world’s successful business owners.
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- Set resolutions for life milestones
You can start doing this from young age. Plan ahead what you need to achieve at what age. Do not think of this as set in stones and as long as you are able to come closer to your goal that should be enough for example If you’ll soon turn, say, 35, 40 or 55, you can set financial tasks to achieve by that age. Review and create insurance plan, long term financial protection plans etc. This is known as pre-commitment. Most people are able to make significant behavior changes as they approach a new decade.
In the months before a significant birthday, make a short list of specific financial tasks you want to accomplish by that age. Then, put the action plan on your phone, calendar and set alarm for the week or so before your birthday as a reminder. This way you will have an action plan ready when you finally hit the milestone birthday.
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- Invest your tax refund
Save your tax refund and create a small investment plan before you get the check. Study shows that Promising to save and invest your refund before you get your check increases the chances that you’ll follow through.
When people make plans when they are filing taxes they are likely to save more than the people who make plans once they get the refunds.as found by the study Common Cents did. People who were asked to plan how much they wanted to save at the time of filing taxes saved up to 10% more than the people who were asked to plan when they received the check.
Plan to put the planned amount directly in the savings account or make an small investment plan. No matter how small investment it is you. For this you can get help from _______
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- Create a spending budget for every week
Most people regret spending on luxurious items that they cannot afford in the long run. Eating out is one of them. Though it doesn’t feel like that in the moment but when the amount compiled it becomes obvious how much we normally loose in terms of going to restaurants, cafes and bars.
To cut back on this set a weekly budget for eating out. Make sure it’s not zero as you still need to socialize, it’s good for mental health to treat yourself once in a while but limit the number of times you eat out in a week. Make sure that the amount you have set is separated from the checking account and saved under the mattress. By doing so you will see how much is left every time you use it. This will also help from going over the set amount.
- Round up the debts
The most important thing when it comes to saving money it to pay all your debts. This way once your debts are paid you can easily start saving the money that were going into your debt payments. The easy and simple way to do that is round up your debt. For example, if you are paying 267$ round it up to 300$.