These 7 Easy Steps Will Turn You Into a Money Saver

According to the US government, Americans that are able to save just one month of income are in a vastly better financial state than peers who cannot.

By saving that couple thousand, you’ll be prepared for hundreds of contingencies. Maybe you are not a money saver today. That is perfectly okay; you can start slowly and put away what you can afford to.

Car break down? No problem. Emergency medical bill? Covered. Eviction notice? Good thing you have a month’s rent saved up.

Read on to learn some tips from the financially savvy on how to save for the future.

Make Being a Money Saver Automatic

This is an easy way to save money. What we mean by this is you can set up an auto-deposit into your savings directly from your paycheque each round.

By putting away money to be saved at the very beginning, you make it so that you’re less likely to spend it all. Even if it’s just $50 a month that you manage to save, it all counts.

Have a Goal

What are you saving for? A couple of months’ rent in case of an eviction notice?

Are you wary of your health, wary that you won’t be unable to afford the next dose of colchicine?

Are you saving for retirement? Saving so that you can have total financial freedom and never have to work again?

Determine How Aggressive You Should Be

The goals you have will inform how aggressive you need to be with the amount you save. If you’re just looking to buy a new bike or a new gas range, you probably don’t need to be putting away that much.

If you’re aggressively saving to retire early, however, you might need to put away half or more of your paycheck each time. Don’t be saving for no reason – you want to be able to spend that money one day when you need it most.

Keep and Stick to a Budget

Budgeting can be intimidating, especially if you are not the savviest with those Excel spreadsheets.

Thankfully, there are tons of apps out there that want to manage these things for you. Hop on to one of those, and get a rough idea of your income and expenses for one month, and how much money is leftover.

Could you shave a bit off your makeup expenses? That’s money that could go into saving. If you never seem to have money to save, perhaps consider cutting back on something else.

Use Those Grocery Coupons

Have you heard of the controversial post on Reddit where a man took a picture of 95 CAD worth of groceries?

Many blamed inflation for the rising cost of what used to be cheap foods. Many simply thought the man had no idea how to shop for himself.

The bottom line is that you should keep track of grocery deals; if you have a car, that’s even better, because you can spend some time visiting the places with the best deals.

Browse Different Accounts

If you’re not going to touch your money, you might want to open a high-yield savings account. These often have aggressive interest rates; if you’re saving for the long term, then definitely take advantage of that compound interest.

Try A Freeze

Are you unable to save up money no matter what? It might be time to try an all-or-nothing approach.

You can try a spending freeze on all your expenses for the month. Of course, you’ll need to pay the bills. But all the other little, unnecessary things you buy yourself?

You can decide what needs to stay and what needs to go. If coffee adds immeasurable value and happiness to your life, it’s absolutely worth it. But maybe you could switch to a more affordable brand once you see how much it’s costing you!