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| Finance | 744 | 11/07/2016
Greetings to the readers of the Bizoomie portal! Pavel Sergeev is with you, and today we will talk about saving your money! Everyone knows that counting and saving money is the right thing to do, but not everyone has the habit of applying this very useful knowledge in their daily lives. Perhaps some people already consider themselves quite financially prudent people, and they can’t save any more money! Let's see if there are any other ways to save money?
Personal finance accounting today – secure tomorrow!
Many people who were at one time successful businessmen or entrepreneurs subsequently went bankrupt. They have no savings left! Everything that was acquired had to be sold, debts paid off and returned to their previous life. This is very reminiscent of the old woman at the broken trough from the fairy tale about the fisherman and the goldfish. The meaning is the same: everything was there - nothing remains. Only the old woman was ruined by greed, and the failed millionaires were ruined by their inability to properly manage money and save at least part of it.
Improving the quality of life inevitably introduces new and expensive attributes. Plus, their maintenance and maintenance of the existing situation disproportionately inflates the cost part of the budget. However, for the money you don't always get quality or satisfaction as high as the price. Also in question is the real value of what you are overpaying for.
So it doesn't really matter whether you earn a lot or not. If there is little money and it is spent ineptly, it will never be possible to save it and use it to improve the quality of life. If you have a lot of money and don’t save it, then when even temporary financial difficulties occur, it will be even more difficult to stay afloat. The takeoff may turn out to be short-lived... But instead of thinking about how to save money and take care of the future, funds are wasted on supposedly necessary current expenses. After all, you get used to good things quickly, demands grow on their own, and they need to be satisfied financially.
Financial literacy needs to be developed by anyone who intends to become a wealthy person and remain so. If you don't learn how to start saving money while you have little, it will be more difficult later. You just may not have time before everything is wasted! And about how to make money while doing business, read the article “How to start your own business from scratch: from A to Z, what a novice businessman needs to know!”
Don't wash too often
One of the expense items that “devours” a large part of the family budget of most Russian families is payment for consumed resources. The lion's share of the total payments falls on water supply and electricity. It is these resources that one of the assistants uses – a washing machine.
And with all this, daily washing not only spoils things, but also leads to excessive consumption of water and electricity, which, undoubtedly, affects the amount of payments. In addition, it is more advisable to wash most things by hand, because this is how they will look like new longer. And powders for hand washing are cheaper than detergents for automatic washing machines.
Poor millionaire - wasteful millionaire
A fifth of the average American millionaire complains about not having enough money. A lot is spent on maintaining a luxurious lifestyle. Not everyone is able to obtain membership in a prestigious golf club for three hundred thousand dollars a year, and are forced to deny themselves other expensive pleasures.
Those who earned their wealth independently, rather than inherited it, are predominantly from the middle class and are accustomed to living frugally. Such people retain their wonderful habit of not throwing money away regardless of their income level. They live like ordinary people. And this is what the vast majority of American millionaires do! Some, however, reach almost the point of insanity when it comes to saving money. Others are quite the opposite, they don’t deny themselves anything.
However, the statistics are inexorable - half of the rich save on everything they can! They dress at sales; they don’t buy expensive cars and jewelry, but rent them. They take care of their millions. This is, if not the main, then a significant part of their financial well-being! And Vlad Novikov will talk about other important qualities that a potential millionaire should have in his article on the topic: How to make a million: 6 strategies that, when applied, can earn fabulous wealth!
How not to eat your entire salary
Since up to 60% of income is traditionally spent on food, I would like to focus on this first.
Rules for purchasing products
When purchasing products I use the following rules:
- Have a list of products that we usually use.
- Have a list of groceries and household goods that need to be purchased in the near future.
- Look through the catalogs of the nearest stores (you can also look at electronic copies) and write down (linked to the name of the store and the promotion period) a list of products and household goods that can be purchased there that are actually needed. At the same time, I can take an expensive product at a fair price for me, or I can take a product with the hypermarket’s own brand if I liked it in the past.
- Agree with your husband who can go to which stores, when and so as not to buy the same thing. The main thing here is not to go to extremes: you need to spend less on travel in both directions than you will save on groceries in that store!
- Use discount or savings cards, coupons, if available.
- Pay only by bank transfer so that cashback or bonuses are returned.
- For the holidays, use accumulated store bonuses or Thank you from Sberbank.
For comparison, if I simply bought all the products at the nearest store, we would spend 7-10 thousand rubles per month more.
There are stores where promotions are held regularly.
Hypermarket, wholesale warehouse or online store
When purchasing office supplies, I also look through seasonal catalogs. When I was still in school, my mother and I went to the stationery base in June and purchased according to the list in advance. But now, at seasonal fairs, there is more choice, and prices are almost the same as in June at the small wholesale market. You just don’t have to travel far, and you don’t have to carry heavy loads on minibuses either.
In general, the ideal option is to order with a friend via the Internet and have it delivered to your home. For a certain amount, delivery will be free, and you can leisurely choose only what you need in a relaxed atmosphere over a cup of tea.
This is much more pleasant than maneuvering between other customers with a cart in one hand, a shopping list in the other hand, and looking for the right product, and, most importantly, the price tag for it.
The most difficult situation
But the hardest thing is being in a store with a baby.
When he gets tired of sitting still (maximum 15 minutes), he begins to run around the entire store, hide with undisguised delight behind the next racks of clothes, pull balls out of the basket, or simply whine near his mother that he wants something for himself right now !
Maintaining a household budget is the key to saving money
Maintaining a home budget will help you accustom yourself to saving in everyday life. Few people do this and as a result, money is spent uncontrollably while it is available. If you know how much was spent and on what over a period of time, you can easily analyze expenses and draw conclusions. And subsequently - plan costs for the future, taking into account your real needs.
For convenience, install on your smartphone one of the many applications that are designed to keep track of your personal finances. This function is available in almost all mobile banking applications if you use cards. Then you won’t even need to enter anything manually; the entry occurs automatically after payment and purchases are even sorted by category.
After analyzing the data, it will become clear that small daily expenses that you don’t even notice, against the background of your monthly income, can amount to quite an impressive amount. If possible, by cutting back or eliminating them completely, you will receive additional money as if you had earned it. And feel from your own experience the correctness of folk wisdom that a penny saves the ruble.
To simplify the process of deciding whether something is worth spending money on, you can weigh it against your labor costs. You need to estimate what specific efforts at work it will cost you to earn the required amount. Intuition will accurately tell you when the value of an investment item clearly does not correspond to several hours of your working time. This habit will protect you from available temptations that most people spend money on automatically, without thinking.
After all, your salary adds up just as imperceptibly - by a penny, by a ruble during the month. It would be easier to control yourself if you were paid once a day. Realizing that you haven’t earned that much today, it’s harder to spend the extra... And over the course of a month, a decent amount of money accumulates, which tends to run out imperceptibly long before the next payment. Lack of funds can also be combated by generating additional income. One such method is presented in the following article: Binary Options Trading! What is it and how to succeed?
Don't buy food to spare
If you think that by filling your pantry and freezer with food in reserve, you will be able to save money, then you are deeply mistaken. The thing is that after purchasing a bag of sugar, flour, buckwheat or pasta, a box of canned goods or other non-perishable products, you will be forced to save money all month, choking on monotonous food.
When you buy a lot of perishable products at the store, you also overpay. And all because as a result, a considerable part of the food will be thrown away due to spoilage.
Ideally, purchase once a week. Before going to the store, be sure to carefully consider what products you need for the week, calculating their quantities so that you don’t have to throw away spoiled ones later.
Ways to save money at home!
In everyday life, which we deal with every day, there is also a place for saving money. At home we use electricity, heating, hot and cold water, for which we regularly receive bills from management companies. Rarely does anyone seriously think about how to more carefully use the benefits of civilization for their own benefit. Especially if the amounts are acceptable, no one even checks the meter readings.
You can’t even imagine what easy and effective ways to save money you ignore every day in your own apartment! For example, did you know that in one dishwashing cycle, a dishwasher uses half as much water as if you washed the same amount by hand? And then, even when the electrical appliance is turned off, it sucks electricity if the plug is plugged into the network?! Are there meters that count electricity at daytime and nighttime rates - a more favorable tariff?
As a result, if you add up the lost savings, you might even get upset... After thoroughly studying the question of how to save money on utilities, you can leave tens of thousands of rubles in your pocket every year! Without doing anything and without compromising your comfort! Not a bad reward for attentiveness and thrift, because according to statistics, we pay for 20-30 percent of electricity in vain! Let's move on to specific methods!
Method number 1: do not waste electricity!
When choosing and purchasing equipment, pay attention to the energy consumption class of the device. Now this is a generally accepted standard for all household appliances, and the manufacturer must indicate it in the specifications. The most energy efficient are classes A++, A+, A and B. Maximum current consumption is G. Models similar in purpose and function may differ significantly in terms of power requirements.
Even a smartphone charger left in the socket shakes the meter. Not to mention other household and home appliances that are constantly in standby mode and consume an order of magnitude more energy. If you are too lazy or inconvenient to constantly plug and unplug sockets, use a switch and turn off the power to the sockets, at least when leaving home. Except, perhaps, for the refrigerator.
In total, all equipment that is idle and connected to the network wastes hundreds of kilowatt-hours of energy per year! For example: TV - 25, computer - 50, microwave - 30, phone charger - 10. A great way to start saving money right now by simply pulling the plug from the socket!
Method number 2: night tariff for electricity!
Many homes have long been equipped with two- or even three-phase electricity meters, which count electricity at different rates depending on the time of day. If you don’t have one, you should think about installing one - it’s a profitable investment and will quickly pay for itself. The night rate is valid from 23-00 to 7-00 and is four times cheaper than the day rate!
At night you can turn on the washing machine and dishwasher, which work for hours during the day. According to average data, a washing machine consumes about 200 kilowatt-hours per year. A refrigerator is a real way to save money simply by having a two-tariff meter! Without turning off, around the clock, in summer and winter, it consumes up to 300 kW-hours per year! Separate freezer - the same amount.
Method No. 3: maximum light savings!
From childhood, everyone was taught to save light in the house. If the habit of lighting an empty room still remains, the principle of maximizing money savings will help you say goodbye to it faster. Even if you have energy-saving lamps installed, the energy consumption per year for one is 18 kW-hours (with six hours of burning per day). A similar 40-watt incandescent lamp has 80 kW-hours!
Everyone has heard about energy-saving lamps and their efficiency, but few use them because of the astronomical cost, about 10 times higher than usual. However, they will pay for themselves many times over over a much longer service life. According to rough estimates, each such lamp will save 170 kW-hours per year. But changing everything at once is expensive.
Fortunately, LED lighting technologies have recently appeared and proliferated en masse. LED lamps also consume a minimum of electricity, are just as durable, but at the same time much cheaper than energy-saving ones! The price of the most budget options is only three to four times higher than a similar incandescent light bulb. Available in all types of bases, brightness options, cold and warm light to choose from! Therefore, if you are still using traditional “Ilyich light bulbs”, which also often burn out, it’s time to start saving on them. The LED lamp will pay for itself in a matter of months!
Method number 4 – how to save money using household appliances!
To get the most out of your home appliances and other electrical appliances, and to reduce your energy consumption, you need to use it as efficiently as possible. Not everyone does this, so let’s go over the most popular omissions that lead to unnecessary waste of electricity and money.
Create conditions for efficient operation and maximum efficiency of equipment, save energy at every opportunity:
- place the refrigerator away from the stove, oven, radiators and other heat sources;
- do not keep the refrigerator door open longer than necessary - the chamber instantly loses cold;
- When using the air conditioner in the heat, close all the windows - do not waste electricity on cooling the street;
- Empty the dust collector of the vacuum cleaner in time - the traction will be better, and the load and energy costs will be less;
- regularly clean the electric kettle spiral from scale;
- Boil in the kettle only the amount of water you need now;
- Fully load your washing machine and dishwasher;
- in the dark, reduce the brightness/contrast of the TV and computer monitor - you can see it clearly;
- When cooking, cover the pots tightly with a lid, so the water will boil faster;
- When cooking, if possible, turn off the electric burner a little earlier - it remains hot for a long time and the dish will be cooked through the residual heat;
- In a similar way, you can save on electricity by using an iron.
Train yourself to use technology and electrical appliances rationally and carefully. This will not only extend their life and save you money, but will come in handy in other areas of your life! And taking into account personal finances will help you become more far-sighted and prudent in all respects.
Method #5: Be a man and fix the faucet yourself!
Refusal of the services of electricians and plumbers is important for those who are able to solve most minor household issues. Applies to all men who can do more than just hammer a nail into a wall. Changing the faucet, repairing the socket and eliminating a leaking toilet cistern are simple and not very skilled jobs that anyone who is not too lazy can do.
How to save money if you constantly overpay for what you can do yourself? Even if you haven't done anything like this on your own before, it's never too late to learn. The Internet can help, where even videos with step-by-step instructions for solving any household problem can be found easily and completely free of charge.
It is worth contacting specialists in exceptional cases, when you definitely cannot handle it yourself or it is so difficult that you would not mind paying for the services. For example, installing a new heated towel rail into the heating system. You will need to turn off the water in the entire entrance, have welding and plumbing equipment, a bunch of special tools and be able to use it all. This is a job for a master. In other situations, save money if possible and proudly feel like a thrifty man! With a head and arms growing wherever needed.
Method #6 – how to start saving money on tap water!
For most, saving water ends with the fact that we do not let water flow unnecessarily and promptly eliminate the leak from a faulty tap. In fact, water is used extremely irrationally in everyday life. The national average water consumption ranges from 200 to 300 liters per person per day. In fact, half of the amount consumed will be enough for us to meet our needs.
We all understand this, we are simply accustomed to frivolously spending the planet’s valuable but easily accessible biological resource. For example, when brushing teeth and shaving, few people turn off the tap, and for several minutes the water flows unnecessarily. Using a shower, while soaping and washing with a washcloth - the same thing, a waste of 10-15 liters per minute. A barely noticeable leak in a toilet cistern valve or faucet means the loss of several buckets of water per day. Over the course of a month, hundreds of liters of water flow aimlessly down the drain, imperceptibly turning into thousands of rubles in your losses over the course of a year.
Try throwing even a thousand dollar banknote down the toilet and flushing it away! Then you will really feel the volume of losses that need and can be avoided. There are a lot of available ways to save money on water without limiting your convenience. First of all, install water meters if you don’t have them. Prefer a shower to taking a bath, and spend five minutes under it instead of 10-15 minutes. Wash fruits, vegetables and herbs in a bowl, and use the water as a watering agent for indoor plants or for cleaning floors. In arid regions where water is expensive, it is reused for technical and other suitable needs. And this is correct in every way.
Buy economical faucets with motion sensors that supply water only when you raise your hands. Or special shower diffusers that slow down the pressure by almost half. Aerator attachments for faucets enrich the stream with air, reducing water consumption by three times without sacrificing volume. It usually takes 10-15 liters to rinse a toilet, while modern economical models use only 4-5. Regularly inspect your plumbing for hidden leaks and fix them promptly. Over time, all your investments in water conservation will pay off with interest.
Method No. 7 - how to save money on apartment renovations
Repairs in the apartment have to be done regularly, and you can throw a lot of money into it. With a competent and economical approach, through simple machinations, saving ten percent, or even more, is quite possible. Compared to the total amount invested, it will turn out to be decent.
Firstly, how to save money on work. You can do all the unprofessional work yourself. Peeling old wallpaper, pasting new ones or painting the walls, laying linoleum - this is elementary and will not cause any special difficulties. For complex work you will have to hire experts in their field. Companies guarantee quality, but you will overpay a lot for it. It’s cheaper, of course, to turn to trusted private traders. It is better if they have recommendations from your friends, or you can evaluate the completed work at another site. If you find normal craftsmen, they will do it on par. Do not hesitate to bargain for lower prices for large volumes or related work. Carefully monitor the process, make a minimum advance payment, and pay in full only after acceptance and quality control.
Secondly, on building materials. It is more profitable to make purchases in a specialized construction supermarket. There you will receive a discount card with a cumulative discount, which you will soon benefit from. If the volumes of materials are large enough, you can try to negotiate with the manager on wholesale prices. Also, in the fight for clients, serious companies provide additional bonuses and services, for example, free delivery with delivery to the apartment. If somewhere a product is offered a little cheaper but without delivery, saving money by overloading your car and carrying heavy and dusty finishing materials will be quite problematic. Especially if the apartment is on the fifth floor and there is no elevator.
Thirdly, on discounted products. In order to get rid of stale goods, many shopping centers regularly announce sales. You can save a lot of money even on expensive and high-quality imported goods! For example, buy a collection of amazing Italian ceramic tiles at a budget Russian price. Or a German Grohe faucet with a 50% discount. For the real cost, the purchase is very expensive for the budget. And for such benefits it’s worth spending a little time searching!
To begin, make a clear plan for the expected scope of work, estimate the amount of materials and take into account as many possible nuances as possible. This way you can better navigate and make adjustments during the process, making the repair as thoughtful and economical as possible for this reason alone. If you need professional advice, answers to all your questions can be found there – on the Internet!
