My friend’s eleven-year-old brother asked me how I was able to manage my expenses and quickly cut your spendings on a small budget. For those of you who don’t know me, I prefer my weekdays jam-packed with work only so that I can enjoy the rest of the weekend roaming around town or catching up with friends. I told my little friend there are ways to how to cut your spending in half and he was all ears to the idea.
If you are a student and have managed to get a part-time or even a full-time job and are looking for ideas to save money in 2021, this article will reveal the ways to cut spending.
But before we dive into the ways to cut spending in half, you must know why it is important to save money. Here are some reasons why saving money is a good idea:
- A penny saved today becomes a dollar that pays your tuition fees 2 years later.
- You can save money to become a millionaire by the age of 30.
- According to the Harvard Business Review, those who save money are likely to lead happier lives than those who don’t.
- Save money for big-ticket purchases such as your own apartment, car or even for a world tour.
- For making career transitions and to stress reduction among students.
Now that you have understood why it is important to save money, let us look at some of the ways on how to cut spending in half.
6 Ways To Quickly Cut Your Spending In Half
Save Money On Meals
This is a life hack that most of us have missed out on as a student. If you are a mid-career professional or a fresh graduate, you may rely on pre-packaged food for breakfast or lunch. You may not have the time to cook food before leaving for the office or your lecture. Meal deals offered by stores such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s are 2 times cheaper than the regular meals offered by the same stores. Moreover, if you are able to provide a bill from your previous purchases, you can also wobble your receipts to save money on food and fashion.
If You Travel A Lot, Get A Railcard
Regular college going students or even working professionals who use public transport like trains and buses to go around and explore the city should definitely get a railcard or a travel credit card. When it comes to train travel, rail passes are one of the best ways to get cheap travel money. Individual trips cost much more than travelling via a pass. If you’re going for a short trip, then you may find a rail pass unnecessary. In that case, book your individual trip a little ahead of time.
Learn To Make Budgets And Stick To Them
When you have a proper income stream but do not follow a proper channel for spending, you might lose track of where all your money goes. This is a common problem among many who earn fairly well but do not know the techniques of budgeting. If you want to check for leakages in your expenditure you should definitely make a budget. A budget or the process of budgeting plays a pivotal role when it comes to tracking your incoming and outgoing streams of money. Budgeting includes a process of organising your income and channelling them into specific categories of spending or costs such as rent, expenses, fees, contingent etc. You can find easy ways on how to cut spending habits within a budget. The process involves removing any bottlenecks from your money network such as unproductive debts and determining where you can curb your spendings.
Re-evaluate Expenses And Channelise Your Income
It’s never too late to get a hold of your financial situation and change the way you deal with things. One of the most effective ways to quickly cut your spendings in half is by re-evaluating all your subscriptions and making some changes to your spending habits. Most people looking for methods to cut their spendings usually start off their money-saving journey by reassessing their expenditures and other areas where they may be unnecessarily wasting money. If you are finding it difficult to assess your expenditure, ask yourself the following questions while considering the expenses for certain things:
- Do I really need this at the moment or can it wait?
- Is there a cheaper alternative available for the same thing?
- If I buy this, am I ready to sacrifice not buying something else?
- How to cut spending habits?
These three questions will help you evaluate your expenses and also channelise your income streams to areas that do not demand much out of your pocket.
Consider Only Cash-In-Hand Transactions
The best way to cut your spending is by switching to dealing in cash only. Most people who use mobile banking or net banking find themselves spending more than what they have decided for themselves. Carrying cash in your wallet can be dangerous as it is subject to theft or you may lose it. To combat this hindrance, most of us prefer making digital payments through apps like PayPal and GPay. Studies have shown that people tend to spend less when they use cash because they get the experience of actually seeing and feeling their money being spent.
Savings + Investments = Source of Earning
Instead of working for money, make your money work for you. This means going beyond your daily routine and making arrangements to save money. Investing money while you save it is one of the wisest ways of not only saving money but also increasing your streams of income. It’s only when you invest your saved money, it starts to earn interest. This interest eventually becomes your additional source of income. Saving and investing money from an early age will help you reach the 7 digit figure sooner than you had planned.
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