Are you the type of woman who
tend to love shopping, hanging out, splurging into massages and spa treatments,
traveling, -- in other words, spending money! Bet we all do. But are you the
type who spends most of her monthly earnings to these and do not even think
about saving up? When saving up money seems to be hard for you, then you might
as well read on for some of my personal ways on how to save money.
1. Jar it Up: I hate carrying coins, and
thank god I do, because it eventually been one of my ways of saving up money.
At the end of each day, all those coins I got in my wallet, (and sometimes
scattered inside my bag) goes into a tin jar. Sooner than you think, you
already have a thousand bucks inside that can, enough to get you a new handbag
or a new outfit or plainly just to get you through when you need emergency
funds. You can simply have it changed into bills, of course.
2. Slip it into Reading: If you love reading, slipping some 50 or 100
bucks into your favorite books is also one ways of saving money. Like placing
your coins in a jar, you will have something to spend on tight times, and who
knows, you'll be able to get yourself a new laptop at the end of the year or
earn more than enough for a summer getaway.
3. Divide and Collect: Being a freelance writer, one thing I do is
opt for different online payment options -- like Paypal and Moneybookers -- so that not all my
payouts get into my bank account. This way, you'll have your spending account
and your emergency account. It takes a lot of discipline though not to tap into
the other account especially if you tend to shop a lot.
4. Opt for Debit over
Credit: Another
technique that works for me is living through the principle, 'Do not spend
beyond your means.' which starts with how you spend. Though I have a credit
card, I still opt to bring with me my debit cards, as they tend to encourage
spending within your means. Also, this would at least hinder you to splurge on
things you don't really need. You don't want to panic where to get money
to pay for your debt in case you lose your job or a sudden emergency expense
comes along.
5. Jot it All Down: The most basic way to save money is to
develop your ability to manage your expenses. It is always important to make a
list of your weekly or monthly expenses and allot say 5%-10% of your weekly or
monthly pay to your savings. List everything you spend on, cross out those that
you don't really need, and try to think about ways to save money. Say, do you
really need to spend on bottled water each time or some take out meal or you
can really manage to get yourself a packed meal or bring some refill tumblers
for your water? Or maybe you can cut down your daily Starbucks and do it twice
a week. Calculate the amount of money you can save by simply rethinking over
the way you spend and you will see how much more important things you can buy
with that.
It pays saving up money, and with
the kind of situation our economy is going through, we never really know how
stable our jobs are. If rainy day comes, it's always good to have some savings
to draw from without going stressed out on where to get money to get you
through hard times.
