The Money-Saving Mystique

After all, saving money is not always easy, more so when one has already sacrificed so many things—dining out, shopping, or enjoying expensive shoes. But for those who truly wish to grow their savings, there are advanced and unique saving strategies that are known purely in theory. Savers are people who have come across different, money saving measures, vague as they may sound to others. There are techniques she has learnt that few people would consider normal. Let's explore some money saving strategies that are not common knowledge and might just revolutionize your finances!

1. Dispute the “Big Three” Expenses

Every person who earns an income is familiar with three basic expenses which are invariably high and decrease the amount they earn: shelter, feeding, and movement. Bear in mind that within the super razors up against a specific expense, there lies a scope for enormous savings.

Housing:

Think of the house-hacking idea, which basically means renting out part of your home or dwelling to mitigate the mortgage costs. One way people do this is by renting out spare bedrooms through Airbnb, or if you are a loner consider renting out residents in coliving spaces.

Food:

Experiment with unnecessary ingredients by making meals that incorporate everything in the fridge or the kitchen cabinets with ‘zero-waste cooking’ instead. You can also utilize websites such as Super Cook to find recipes based on what you have at home already. Reduce grocery expenses by challenging yourself to prepare a week’s worth meals from food present in the house.

Transportation:

For instance, if you have a personal vehicle, you could share that car with friends ‘who need it’ or rent it out to strangers when you are not driving it by using a service like Turo. So on some days, the petrol and maintenance costs also can be lowered by for instance, riding a bicycle or sharing a conveyance with others.

By reconnecting these three big spending areas, a whole new level of savings can be unlocked without necessarily cutting the comforts that one enjoys.

2. ‘Cash Stuffing’ method for Specific Saving Goals

Cash stuffing popularly known as the cash envelope system is an archaic but effective method of controlling expenditure in certain categories by use of cash only. But the twist? Get even more specific with the envelopes. For instance:

Have an envelope for “no-spend weekends” where every week you put some amount. After a while when it becomes bulky, organize some weekends on a challenge basis with friends and/or family and do it for free/at a very low cost.

Make these envelopes for expense categories which are coming soon, like for vacation or holidays, but add some spice to it and try to make them different. For example, collect only nickels or collect only withdrawal leftovers from cash back.

It is this very aspect that helps to curb the urge to spend as saving is easier to understand and to do when one can visually appreciate that they are saving towards something.

3. Take a Day or Week off Spending Money

Challenge yourself to spend no money for a certain period of time. Such no-spend challenges are gaining traction as a useful means to reduce living expenses and push surplus cash into savings.

First, try a “no-spend day” once a week and then attempt to expand that day to a weekend or a week. Use the meals instead, enjoy activities that do not require payment and above all, use what you have instead of buying new items.

Delineate how the savings accrued during the challenge are to be utilized, for example, earmarking them for a significant expenditure or making a deposit in a particular bank’s account. This challenge can also be made more beneficial by being able to account for one’s achievements while engaging in it.

No-spend days are useful in developing a ‘make do’ attitude which often results in behavioral modification towards excessive spending in the long run.

4. Take Part In The Shared Economy

A super saver knows that there is a value to sharing. Be it a rented library book or a borrowed hammer from a neighbor, there is a lot that can be shared and borrowed instead of bought.

Clothing Swaps:

Community Tool Libraries

Streaming Services:

This means that you are likely to buy less and own less which usually leads to unnecessary disorder.

5. Take Advantage of the “Cash Back Stacking” Concept

Many people are aware of the cash-back credit cards. But savers take it a step further in cash back stacking. Cash back stacking is the practice of redeeming multiple cash back offers for a single purchase.

Use a cash back app like Rakuten or Honey which offers cash back for purchases made online.

Combine this with a cash back credit card which gives a certain percentage back on spending.

Some banks even provide an extra tier to your savings in terms of shopping through their portal where they provide an explanation to make available additional cash back when a purchase is made.

This strategy is simply put, involves the least effort possible yet ensures that the maximum amount in terms of cash back is obtained. Just do not forget to resist impulse buying and clear the credit card dues every month.

6. Create an ‘Impulse Buy’ Buffer Fund

Making unplanned purchases can greatly affect your budget. But what if there is a way to avoid spending too much and still satisfy such desires? It is possible to create an ‘Impulse Buy’ fund where every time you feel the urge to make an impulse purchase, you send that amount to a savings account instead.

This way, you can also appreciate how much you are saving by avoiding such expenditures and it also functions as a ‘cooling period’ between the feeling of wanting to make a purchase and actually making it, so that there are no regrets after the impulsive buying.

After some time, say two months or so, look at the total saved and spend it on something which can be a planned purchase or activity such as a treat that has also been long awaited.

This fund helps in control over expenditures without guilt and minimizes the need for impulse spends.

7. Utilize the “Batching of Budgets” for Bills

Super savers appreciate the fact that batching bills and planning out the use of time saves both costs and mental resources. Rather than planning every single week, there is an option of dealing with batch weeks once in a month or even once in three months.

Dedicate a few hours for one of the personal administrative tasks which involves reviewing all the regular expenses and combining bills where possible and practical. For example, many utility and insurance services tend to provide discounts if users pay quarterly or annually rather than paying on a monthly basis.

Schedule all the bill payments so that they fall due on a particular day every month to minimize such costs due to late payments.

With batch budgeting, it is also possible to monitor expenditure over an extended period and this gives better opportunities of identifying areas of possible cuts.

8. Bring In Micro Savings In An Automated Manner Through Round-Ups

Round-up savings applications such as Acorns enable users to save by rounding up their purchases to the closest dollar and investing the excess into a savings or investment account.

Many people tend to overlook the significance of these small but recurrent inputs in savings, but the truth is, they do snowball in the long run.

Round-up savings will be even more beneficial when coupled with a savings purpose, for instance, saving for a holiday or an emergent situation.

The growing trend of micro savings does not require any drastic modification of spending styles and is therefore a pleasant strategy.

9. Make Best Use of Your “Money-Free” Activities

Such activities as entertainment and hobbies can turn out to be rather costly, however, super savers always manage to enjoy them without spending too much money.

Always look for inexpensive or free substitutes that will help replace the costly and resource demanding hobbies. For instance, if you are an avid book reader, go for library loans and if they do not have the books you want, search for free e-books online on sites such as Project Gutenberg.

Moreover, many neighborhoods will have such things as groups who organize free hikes, outdoor concerts, festivals, or performance exhibitions.

In this way, keeping the activities that incur minimal or no additional purchases will help keep the mind and the pocket in pockets without overstretching.

10. Commemorate Your Achievements, and Maintain the Drive Forward

Finally, hyper savers appreciate the value of recognizing even the smallest of achievements. Every penny saved is a progress towards an achievement, so don’t forget to pamper yourself once you reach one of the targets.

Establish step-wise objectives, for instance saving one’s first five hundred dollars and reward oneself with a picture or a day of relaxed spending rules to appreciate the achievement.

With positive achievements comes reinforcement of good behavior which helps in maintaining the desire to adhere to the saving plan without many difficulties.