Do you want to save money? Of course you do!
With everything going on right now, we are all looking for ways to save money!
But none of us wants it to be painful, read on for 5 super easy ways to save money fast, starting right now.
However much money you want to save, there are quick and easy ways to cut your weekly and monthly costs.
Whether you are saving for Christmas, a special occasion or holiday, or just want to cut back on household expenses, it can be easier than you think!
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If you're looking for ways to save money on your utilities, household expenses and grocery shopping, read on...
1. Check Your Direct Debits
However on top of your finances you think you are, almost all of us have direct debits we don't need any more.
Go through your online banking, or your monthly bank statement if you're old school, and look carefully at every automated payment.
What are all the direct debits, standing orders and automatic card payments?
Look for insurances you don't need, memberships you don't use, subscriptions you've forgotten about.
Cancel anything you no longer need, don't use enough, or plain don't care about.
Remember to do this at least twice a year so you keep on top of every payment.
2. Renew Wisely
Never, ever just let your insurance policies or utility contracts auto-renew.
When you get notice that an insurance policy or utility contract is up for renewal, it's time to start doign some research.
Insurance companies, phone contracts and utility companies will all give you great rates for the first year to entice new customers.
Then, a year in, they bump prices up at renewal time.
Quite literally because they hope you will be lazy enough to let everything auto-renew.
Don't give in to their wily ways!
Hit those comparison sites with a vengeance and get yourself a better deal.
3. Cook at Home
Cooking your meals at home is a lot cheaper than buying take-aways or pre-prepared food.
Plus you know exactly what went into your meal so you can eat healthier, too.
Save money on your everyday meals by choosing inexpensive recipes that use store cupboard ingredients and cooking in bulk.
Double up on recipes and freeze the extra for future meals, great for busy days, when money is tight, or to take to work for lunch.
4. Track Your Spending
Keep track of every penny you spend and question everything.
When you go shopping and see something you want to buy, always ask yourself if you needed it yesterday.
If not, why do you think you want it today? It's a want not a need so you can save your money!
With banking information at our fingertips, it's easy to keep track of exactly where your money goes so you can cut back on all the discretionary spending.
When you can see where your money is going in an instant, tracking all those spur of the moment buys is easy.
Once you know where your spending weaknesses are, you can start working on them and ultimately stopping them to save money.
5. Set a Budget
This one is best done thee old-fashioned way with pen and paper, so grab a pad and write down everything you have coming in: income, any benefits, other sources of income.
Then write down all your non-negotiable expenses: mortgage or rent, council tax, utilities, childcare, loans, and whatever else you have to pay out each month.
Divide any annual costs like car tax, insurances, TV licence etc into 12 and take those off your monthly budget too.
Check what you have left.
Now start taking off the 'nice to haves': phone and Internet costs, TV subscriptions etc.
If you don't like how much your remaining budget is going down, maybe think about whether you need all the TV subscriptions, or if everyone needs their own phone contract.
Take some time to check through all of these expenses to see if you can reduce them at all. Use a comparison site to get cheaper phone or broadband deals.
When all these costs are taken off, the remainder is what you have available to spend each month.
Divide it by 4.5 to get a weekly spend, or allocate a certain amount to different categories (food, clothing, entertainment etc) then stop spending when the budget runs out.
If possible, try to allocate some of your remaining amount to savings too!
If you want to stop being a spender and save some cash, follow these 5 super easy steps and you'll start saving some pennies in no time!
No more being a money magician - the minute you get any money, poof! It disappears.
You might even be able to turn your spending around so much that you become a saver!
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