Clever Ways to Save Money

In a world where inflation is the main problem in almost every country, saving money cleverly is the best way to deal with it.

Usually, there are hundreds of thousands of ways to save money, and most people are saving money with the methods they like, but here are my 10 best clever ways to save money.

1. Monthly spending plan.
2. Saving on food.
3. Managing subscription.
4. Check coupons.
5. Reduce costs on various expenses.
6. Plan to eliminate costly habits.
7. Invest.
8. Saving coins.
9. Don't show off.
10. Do it yourself
11. Save 5 to 7% of your salary each month.

1. Set goals for spending

Making a goal for spending can help you a lot. If you set your goal that this month, quarter, or year you will spend that much money on those XYZ products, it can help you save some money.

But what we usually do is that we never really plan our expenses from the start, and when an individual gets his salary, he will buy things that aren’t even important. That’s why having a plan can be very helpful.

2. Saving on food

If we notice how much money we have spent the whole month only on purchasing food and drinks from outside, the numbers will be massive. It doesn’t matter if you purchase it during your college break or your office break. Purchasing from outside is an expensive habit.

The best thing one can do is pack their lunch at home and not eat lunch from outside, like at KFC, McDonald’s, Starbucks, etc. Only this small step can save hundreds of dollars each month.

3. Managing Subscriptions

As we all know, the time has gone by since everything was available on TV. In the modern world, subscription-based entertainment platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Spotify, Disney+, etc are leading the charts.

If we look closely, we will see that we are paying hundreds of dollars just for these platforms to get entertained. If managed properly, we can save lots of money as only 1 or a maximum of 2 platforms are more than enough to get entertained, as nowadays many podcasts, songs, and entertainment stuff are available on YouTube as well, which is free of charge.

4. Check coupons

E-commerce platforms like Amazon make it easy for us to buy things online. And almost everyone is buying things online. There are a lot of sellers who promote their products via a third party and then give a coupon code.

With that coupon code, you can get a discount, and it is a healthy activity for your budget as well. On the other side, buying things on sale in local shops and buying online on special occasions sales like Black Friday can save you a lot of money. Try to become a coupon code king.

5. Reduce the costs of various expenses.

We didn’t notice sometimes, but our expenses like fuel, electricity bills, gas bills, etc are also a major problem that is stopping us from saving money.

You should keep a close eye on these expenses and try to reduce them. Like when you are leaving the room, you should turn off the bulb, AC, and TV.

If the market is close to your house, then don’t use your car, bike, etc to save fuel. With these tiny precautions, you can save hundreds of dollars each month.

6. Plan to eliminate costly habits

Here, costly doesn’t only mean expensive, but costly to your health and budget as well. One’s costly addiction to harmful habits like gambling, smoking, and drinking can be so expensive.

Only if we start saving money on these things it will be super beneficial. But I know this is not an easy task. Let me tell you a simple technique to stop these habits.

1. Count how many dollars you are spending on these costly habits each month.
2. Keep a close eye on this budget and then reduce the budget by 5% to 8% each month.

With this small technique, you will not only be able to quit these addictions in a year, but at the end of the year, you will see that your budget will increase and you will have lost the addiction as well.

7. Invest

Investing is something that one should be studying from his early 20s. Having early knowledge about investing can help you shape your career.

I am not going to suggest that you should invest in gold, stocks, crypto, real estate, etc. But instead, you should go on YouTube or search on Google about investing for free, which can help you safely invest your money. Because inflation will eat your savings if you don’t invest properly.

8. Saving coins

Coins are something we don’t value. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that if we get a coin of 25 cents, 10 cents, or even a 1-dollar coin, we will go to the market and buy candy from it, even if we don’t want that candy.

Not spending coins is a clever way to save money. If I give you my example, I started using that technique in early 2019, and till now I have filled almost a bottle of coins. It made me realize that I was spending this much money only on stuff like candy, gum, etc.

9. Stop buying stuff to show off

In this social media era, we get envious or motivated when we see others wearing expensive clothes, jewellery, etc. Most social media influencers make us believe that without wearing expensive things, we are worth nothing.

After watching or listening to them and buying things we could not afford, we ended up regretting that purchase. Not buying expensive things and only buying them at a reasonable price is also a clever way to save money.

10. Do it yourself (DIY)

Most middle-class people spend a lot of money on laundry, gardening, etc. Only if we started doing these things ourselves we can save a lot of money.

It is only possible by planning and arranging which day of the week you will clean your clothes and when you will do gardening. Things like these can be very beneficial not only in the short term but in the long term as well

11. Save 5 to 7% of your salary each month

Last but not least, saving your salary from day one is the ultimate way to save money. If we look closely, the average monthly salary in the USA (after tax) is $4643, and in Canada, it is $3038.

If planned and spent properly, trying to save approximately 5 to 7% of your salary each month can be a clever way to save money.

Conclusion

In the current world, everyone wants to save money for a better future or for anything an individual wishes to buy soon. Although it is not impossible to save money, it requires a clear and concise plan like the ones I gave above. Even if you start with a few ways, you will be motivated to use more ways to save money.