Make a list of your expenses
Make a list of everything you use your money on. Subscriptions, groceries, business responsibilities e.t.c. Looking at this list will help you notice the things you don’t need.
This list will also make all the following steps so much easier.
Try the ‘Kick a Bad Habit’ Challenge
There are different habits we make time for in our lives that might not be helpful to us in saving money.
It could be drinking sodas every day, being a shopaholic or consistently rewarding ourselves with expensive (and sometimes unearned) five-course meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I’m not here to judge either one of these, I know I love shopping. But if we want to save money there are areas we have to cut out of our lives or at least pull back.
The point here is to reduce unnecessary expenses. Take time out of your day to list the things you use money on every day. From that list, look at what you don’t need.
Keep the health care of course, but it may be time to stop buying that extra creamy cappuccino from that awesome cafe and consider making one for yourself at home (more on this later).
Pay Yourself When You Make A Mistake
I like this one actually.
So what happens is, every time you make a mistake, you set aside money to pay for that mistake. So for example, you can say.
“I won’t buy soda anymore”
And if you get tempted and buy the soda you said you wouldn’t buy, you pay a tax, to yourself. It can be $5 or $10 depending on what you set for yourself. I would advise setting an amount that’s not too high or not too low.
You want to feel the consequences of not following through with your plans but you don’t want to punish yourself without compassion.
By the end of the year, you should check out all the “tax money” you would have set aside and there should be quite a bit. Rinse and repeat every year and it’ll become an excellent little habit.
The reason I like this method is that it teaches accountability. The only person you’ll be betraying by not following through with your plans is yourself.
So, you know, please don’t betray yourself 🙂
Try Doing It Yourself (DIY)
Remember that cappuccino I talked about? Why not save money and make it yourself at home. You achieve two things by living life like this. You learn something new and you get to save money. Win-Win.
Sell Everything You Don’t Need
Do you have a lot of clutter in the basement? Try selling anything you don’t need. Maybe you have an old laptop laying around or a collection of movies you don’t need? Now is a good time to sell all of it.
You will clear more space in your house/apartment after this and you may notice (after the fact) that you had been sitting on a massive gold mine this entire time.
If you enjoyed this post consider reading my related posts:
How To Overcome Procrastination
Self-care Strategies For Your Professional Success
10 Tips For Effective Time Management
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