Spending Habits and Saving Money This Year!

It is easy to give in to temptation when you don’t have a game plan when shopping, this can make saving money difficult. You are more prone to buying things you don’t need when you don’t have a list to follow or a budget to stick to. You can’t be a savings guru overnight, it takes time for anybody to form good spending habits and drop the undesirable ones. You can start your journey to better financial management by considering your spending habits and working on healthy goals. So, how do you do this?

Healthy Spending Habits to Help You Start Saving Money

Forming healthy spending habits can go a long way in helping you to achieve your savings goals so you can work toward covering these expenses and having cash set aside for emergencies. Saving money is difficult enough with all the temptation, let alone when we’re faced with the pressures of unexpected bills or major upfront costs to repair or replace appliances or visit the vet or dentist.  An easy and fast cash loan or easy personal loan online from Fundo can help you to cover the upfront cost of an unexpected expense, or even a well deserved treat like a holiday or tickets to an event like the World Cup! If you’re looking to make some changes in your budget this financial year, read on for some of our favourite savvy-spending tips!

Work on your budget

Not sure where to start? That’s ok! When designing a budget many people start out unsure of how to get started. There are many free resources online that can help guide you through making your own budget, or even free tools and templates where most of the work is all done for you! When choosing a method to budget your income, do your research and visualise how the budget looks for you and your lifestyle. You might be surprised to learn that it’s easier to stick to something if you keep it consistent and reasonable. By using the available tools you can find online, you’ll get an idea of what to include in your budget, how to categorise your expenses, what to allocate for an emergency, how to prioritise, how much to allocate for your savings goals, how to pay your bills down and much much more.

Tip! A great way to contribute to your goal of saving money is to be mindful of your expenses. Think before you buy, ask yourself ‘Do I really need it?’, research alternatives, and track your expenses as you go, keeping an eye on how much you’ve spent and what you have left.

Create a weekly meal plan.

Include planning your meals in advance as part of your budget planning and maintenance. The grocery bill can blow out of proportion if we’re not savvy shoppers these days! By planning your meals for the same period as your budget, you’ll have an idea of how to manage your grocery expenditure and maximise on any savings! Creating a meal plan can give you an idea of what you need to include on your grocery list. Before you hit the shops, check out what you have at home – do you have some food stored in the freezer that could be used in a meal this week? Take advantage of your pantry ingredients when preparing your grocery list so you can keep the bill low, make sure not to double up on goods that will expire, and avoid running out of commonly used pantry staples like salt, sugar or tomato sauce all while saving money!

Shop the specials and take advantage of discounts

Shopping the specials is a great way to increase your skills at saving money by purchasing something you need at a discounted price. If it’s not an item you need – don’t let a special price tempt you away from your budget! When it comes to your weekly shop, the big grocery retailers usually release their catalogue before the specials begin – this can be a great place to compare retailers, and start spotting specials that will work with what you have left on hand. Consider your fridge, freezer and pantry stocks and what you need to use up to avoid waste. You can customise your meal plan on the go if you come across a special that’s too good to pass up, or you can make use of your freezer to shuffle your upcoming meals around. Shopping online can help you to keep an eye on the total, stick to your list, avoid adding in extras and access online only specials – it can also be great if you’re time poor and not able to get to the grocery store. A downfall might be that you might not receive an item you needed, or receive a substitution that doesn’t work for you – there can also be delivery fees but you can often find free delivery windows available for certain time frames.

Don’t buy more than you need

When shopping the specials, don’t be tempted to stray from your budget for something that you won’t or don’t need. When you have the opportunity, it can be smart to purchase items of higher quality that will last longer and be cheaper in the end, and specials are a good way to access these items, if you need them. Consider what you have at home. If you have enough that buying more would mean you won’t wear, use or eat what you have, don’t waste the money you have already spent, and more on a new item. It can be important to note that sometimes, the specials aren’t really all that special, and other branded products are the same as the special price or cheaper, all the time! By finding the sales and specials in advance, you can plan your meals around the best deals. You are not only saving money, but you are also saving time by planning your meals for the week.

Conclusion

Start creating a game plan for your weekly expenses. A budget plan and a grocery list will help you to achieve your goals faster if you can avoid buying more than you need and avoid falling back into old habits. Keep consistent and set yourself reasonable goals you can stick to. Keep in mind that you can never be too ready for emergencies.   The opinions expressed in the Blog are for general informational and entertainment purposes only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual or on any specific investment product.  It is only intended to provide education about the financial industry.  The views reflected in the commentary are subject to change at any time without notice.