Many people always have intentions to save money. We all know saving is a good financial venture and know the benefits of it but yet we don’t save.
When we plan to save, something always comes up. The day you start saving is the day your mother will need a loan, your car will need new tires. Something always comes up.
So you put it off. You tell yourself you’ll find ways to save money once you reach a certain milestone, like when you hit a specific age or get that raise you’re after.
However, what we don’t know is that we can only start saving once we learn healthy money habits that encourage saving. Knowing the difference between wants and needs and focusing on the latter.
Here we discuss some of the healthy money habits that will spur you to embrace saving.
Say Goodbye to Debt
A big percentage of or incomes go to monthly debt payments. Every payday you are forced to remit money to pay student loans, car loans, mortgages among other big income-suckers.
It is always advisable to pay off your loans from the smallest to the largest. It is an approach that helps with behaviour change and not just fixing numbers.
Once your income is freed up, you can finally use it to make progress toward your savings goals.
Cancel automatic subscriptions and memberships
You probably are paying for Netflix, Pay-TV, Spotify. What do you need all these for? It might be time for you to cancel subscriptions that you don’t use on a regular.
You probably have a gym subscription too. If you can barely remember the last time you went to the gym, it’ll be better if you just cancel the subscription. Only have subscriptions and memberships that you use regularly.
Pack lunch (and eat at home)
The laziness that most people have are bringing huge profits to food vendors and restaurants. Most people just keep eating out without knowing that they could spend way less eating at home and carrying packed lunch.
In Kenyan offices, most people spend at least Ksh 100 – Ksh 300 everyday on just lunch. They come back home tired and resolve to just ordering or eating at a restaurant on the way home.
Packing your lunch and eating home cooked meals will help you save a lot.
Ask about discounts (and pay in cash)
Bargain when you can. Sometimes we think that we should only bargain if you can’t afford the item.
Truth is, bargaining saves money. You never know until you ask, and you should always ask.
Stop collecting, and start selling
There was a time when people thought their collections would bring them riches. If you want to avoid that situation, don’t collect items of questionable value. And if you want to recoup some of the money you’ve already spent on collectible items, you can start selling them now and use those funds for any number of worthy financial goals.
