A big part of saving up for those big future purchases or building your emergency fund is cutting back on your spending habits. While it isn’t the most fun idea, cutting down on impulse spending, large purchases, and extra little spends throughout the month can truly make a huge difference to your bank balance. We want to make your journey to saving as easy as possible, so as to lenders of short-term unsecured loans, we have a few tips to help make cutting down on your spending habits a lot simpler.
1. Figure Out What Something Costs In Work Time
If you really want to shock yourself into better spending habits, think about how long you would need to work to pay for an impulse purchase. For example, if you get paid £5 per hour and you want to buy something that costs £150, you would need to work around 36 hours, taking tax into account.
2. Plan Your Food Shopping
When grocery shopping, it’s too easy to throw things into your basket. These little extra spends can build up and cost a lot more than you may think. Instead of shopping blindly, you should set a budget, write a food plan, and even take a calculator with you. You should aim to do a large grocery shop once a month with small top-ups in between, which will help you to reduce impulse buying. You can even try online grocery shopping. This can be both convenient and effective for saving as you can see a running total.
3. Avoid Paying Interest On Your Credit Card
If you use a credit card, you should aim to pay off any of your spendings as soon as you possibly can. There are many credit cards available that offer a 0% interest period, which means that you won’t pay any interest on spending within that timeframe. However, beyond that period, you will need to pay off spending quickly to avoid interest. Don’t panic if you haven’t got a lump sum on hand, you can achieve the same end result by transferring the debt to a 0% balance transfer card.
4. Don’t Splurge On Payday
A survey by Nationwide showed that 1 in 5 people spend half of their spare monthly wages within 48 hours of getting paid. While it is tempting to splurge after seeing money hit your account, you should always aim to prioritize your most important outgoings and moving money into your savings. That way, you will know how much disposable income you really have to last for the rest of the month.
5. Have No-Spend Days
Try working a little bit of self-discipline into your routine and have at least one no-spend day a week. This can be as simple as having last night’s leftovers rather than buying lunch, carrying coffee or tea in a reusable cup, snacks from your weekly shop, and avoid large impulse purchases. You can even get paid to walk with certain apps, such as Sweatcoin or BetterPoints, which reward you for walking instead of driving or traveling with public transport.
If you need any more help with cutting down on spending and boosting your savings, please seek impartial support from the Money Advice Service.
