Smart Savings – 3 Steps to Smart Money Savings

You need to be respectful of your finances and, in addition to knowing how to spend them, you need to know how to save them. After all, a person very often finds himself in a situation where he does not have enough salary, and the reason for this is unreasonable savings and excessive squandering.

Thanks to the Master Card Treat Index study, it was found that almost half of Russians (48%) regularly indulge in purchases of clothes, shoes and bags. Also, our compatriots, on average, spend from 1,000 to 2,500 rubles on “little things.” It is interesting that, contrary to popular belief, men are also subject to shopping, like women, making unnecessary purchases no less often and at the same time easier to part with larger amounts (for recreation, entertainment and gadgets).

That is why we asked the experts what is reasonable saving and what are the ways to save wisely..

Choice: Savings Wisely or Total Savings

Yuri Mosh, the founder of Russian America and Second Passport, says: “Oddly enough, I always thought that in case of a lack of finances, it’s more important to understand how to make more money and not how to save money. But from time to time I think about how much money I spend irrationally. Most often, different platitudes come to mind, such as “if I didn’t buy takeaway coffee, how much I would save”, “if I didn’t use the services of delivering ready-made food” and so on. Of course, such trifles take a lot of money, but at the same time it saves time, raises my spirits, helps me to be in good shape before the start of the working day. And yet, of course, everyone has and must have ways to save. ”.
In this regard, it is necessary to understand the line between stinginess and what a reasonable economy is. If a young couple saves all their joint income into a piggy bank, while refusing to spend, for example, on healthy food – this is stinginess. If a family spends all their monthly income in an online casino, this is a squander. If young people save money for a car or an apartment, while allowing themselves to have cultural fun and lead an active lifestyle, this is a reasonable saving. To summarize the above, we move on to the first point on how to save money wisely.

1. Know what you spend money on

The most effective way to save money is to understand where you spend it. Starting from the new month, get a notebook, set desired application, open Excel or something else, but just take the time to calculate how much and what you spend money on. After, take stock. Analyze what you could exclude and how much this could return to your piggy bank..

Most of the money usually goes to food, utilities, entertainment, transportation, Internet and communications. These costs do not need to be abandoned, but you need to try to reduce them.

• To reduce the cost of a communal apartment, accustom yourself to the fact that you must constantly turn off the lights in the room if you are not in it. Turn off the TV if you are currently on the Internet. If your faucet starts to leak, call the plumber. Better to pay him once than to fall victim to the flood. Find out about favorable tariffs for communication from your operator and provider.

• Snacks at work – a waste of money. It’s not a bad thing to take home food from time to time.

• Prefer outdoor activities and entertainment, rather than a weekly trip to the bar. A walk on a bike will cost you significantly less than the breadth of your generous soul on one of the Friday nights at the club. After all, only in the morning do you realize how much “squandered” funds. Of course, you can say that a bicycle is mortal boredom and many will probably agree with you. But, if you want to have some capital in the future, then you need to try to reduce the number of trips to such places or behave a little more modestly at the time of the “fun hour”. Be that as it may, calculate the cost of nightlife.

• Saving on a vehicle is one way of saving. Check your rate. A monthly subscription is much more profitable than buying a trip one-time. If the work is close to home, you can walk to it (subject to good weather). By abandoning a taxi in favor of public transport, you will halve the cost of transportation. Better inexpensive cars with low fuel consumption than a luxury car with a large tax and a few salary repairs.

• Refuse from monthly purchases of new clothes. Accumulate some amount, buy a good thing. This will be true if, for example, one more expensive pair of shoes lasts longer than several cheap ones. When you buy a thing, try to keep it for all occasions, and not just fashionable this season..

Yuri Mosha says this: “I don’t fundamentally buy cheap clothes, shoes, a car, household appliances – I have repeatedly been convinced that two cheap things and their endless repairs cost more than one expensive and reliable one”.

But there is a nuance that brings us to the second point.

2. Balance between brands and practicality

There is a difference between a regular quality item and a branded one. This is usually a price difference. Reasonable savings are to find a balance between brand overpayments, consumer goods and what is really practical in terms of cost and durability.

Alexander Balakhnin, a traveler, says this: “Do not be fooled by brands. For example, Faberge eggs, do not buy them nine pieces Axelberg, would save 100 million. Cars, watches, clothes. Any product must have branded ones. They cost 3 to 5 times more expensive, or even tens or hundreds of times. At least a watch: 35 thousand on Peskov’s hand and mine for 10, which regularly show the same time for the fifth year in a row. The second destroyer is fashion. Advertising dictates to us that things need to be changed often. And this applies not only to clothing, but also to iPhones, cars, and in general to everything. Third – there should be many things. This wrong principle has been adhered to for a very long time and very many people “. 

The desire to look fashionable, wear brands, not for oneself, but in order to show off to friends on Instagram, encourage people to borrow money from banks. And this is the third point on how to save money wisely.

3. Never take consumer loans or microloans

Do not take any goods on credit. The desire to receive the long-awaited gadget is above reason, but try to calculate what kind of overpayment you will pay to the bank. Having abandoned a beautiful toy now, having saved up some money, in a few months you will not only be able to purchase the desired device, but also buy something else. Debts, loans and reasonable savings have nothing to do.

Irina Zhigina, financial consultant, advises: “I have long since replaced the word“ saving ”with the word“ optimization ”. We do not save with customers, but optimize costs. Agree, it sounds immediately different! During optimization, our internal creative is included, and we begin to think up: how would we spend money and return some of the funds back? And immediately insights appear:

• Take advantage of all the benefits of income cards – interest on the balance, cashback and special offers.
• Change houses with friends on vacation, children’s toys and books.
• Create a shopping calendar to not discard expired products.
• Buy vacation packages in advance.
• Buy seasonal items out of season.
• Rent equipment that is needed only once.

There are a huge number of ways in which you always remain in the black: you optimize expenses and do not deny yourself your planned purchases ”.

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