10 Breakthrough Money Saving Tips You Will Love -

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Pay off debts and grow your savings with these breakthrough money saving tips. You are going to love how easy and practical it is to save. There are three major aspects to saving money. First, you will want to assess your budget with some simple money saving tips to help you out. Next, I will give you tips on how to increase your margins. Finally, we will look at a few easy tips on saving up money to reach your financial goals.

Table of Contents

Budget

Write Down Your Goals

The first thing you need to do is write down your goal. This can be really hard to do because writing it down somehow makes it more real. Once it's on paper, the pressure is on. You have something to be accountable to and that can be scary, but force yourself to really think about your financial goals, because you want those things to become real. When you work toward a crystallized idea that you can look at every day it becomes more tangible and therefore achievable.

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Know Your Numbers

Get really good at knowing your numbers without looking for the answer. The numbers in question are what goes in and what goes out. Gather your info and add up three months of financial information. What you made in the last 90 days versus what you have spent will give you the balance. You should know these numbers at the drop of a hat if you are serious about saving. If the balance is negative you need to identify problems in order to work toward your goal.

Prioritize Monthly Accounts

While you assess your budget you will be looking at all of your expenses, including monthly subscriptions and other service accounts like your wireless plan and your insurance. List every company that takes out monthly payments along with the payment amount. Order them from greatest to least importance. This helps in 2 ways:

Identify immediate cuts you can make by canceling a plan or service
Know what to shop for so you can get better pricing on important services

Increase Margins

Downsize

You can make money that is just lying around your house. This is instant savings or can help close the gap if you have a negative balance. Sell whatever you have in storage and things you don't use. Plan a couple of garage sales and set a goal for how much you would like to make from the sale. You can also sell on eBay or go through Facebook. If you decide to move to a lower cost home, you can really sell. Plus, you'll increase your margins with the new housing cost.

Negotiate a Raise

Part of financial success is knowing your worth and not settling. It's easy to get wrapped up in cutting costs and we forget sometimes to look at how we can increase our incomes. Every six months you should negotiate higher pay. Knowing your numbers plays a big part in this because it may be a matter of necessity and you will have a firm number in mind when you negotiate.

Follow Opportunities

Focusing on increasing your income, you shift your ability to process opportunities. Look for ways to make more money, the same way you look for ways to save money. You can take a side job as a driver/shopper, or use Facebook and Craigslist to respond to a need for your particular skill.

Grow Savings

Pay Yourself

When money comes in, you distribute it. Many times it all goes out just as fast as it comes in. If you don't hold on to some of the money you make, you will never get where you need to be. You need to divide up what you make and part of that has to go to you. The 50/30/20 plan gives you 20% of your after-tax income to go toward saving money and paying off debt. This is as important as the 50% that goes toward monthly needs. If you need more than 50% to cover your needs, you need to increase your margins.

Diversify

When you put money aside, start different funds. You should first have an emergency fund. Start with a goal of $1,000.00 and build from there. If you have a specific goal you are saving money for, such as travel, a car, education or retirement, make that a focus and create separate accounts for each goal, so you don't take from one goal to pay for another.

Plan Spending

When you buy things online, be very careful. You should always plan what you want to buy beforehand. Impulse purchases are more likely to happen from online browsing than from in-store browsing. In either case, only shop off of your list. Don't add to it. If you want to buy an impulse item, put it off until your next shopping trip. If you still want it, add it to your list before you go.

Apps

There are so many apps that help you save money. Some apps bank money for you and monitor goals. There are coupon apps that give cash back incentives. Some apps even find discount codes for you when you are shopping online. Stores have apps that usually come with savings, too. Here are just some of the best apps right now:

Qapital

This is an amazing goal setting tool that rounds up dollars you spend according to parameters set by you and puts it into savings.

Acorns

This app is for simple investing starting with spare change. Saved up money is invested in a portfolio based on your goals.

Ibotta

This shopping app combines coupons with money-back offers that accrue in your account. It works by selecting the coupons you want and then scanning your receipt later to claim savings.

Honey

When installed on your browser, Honey works silently behind the scenes while you shop. Before you make a purchase, Honey alerts you when it has found savings and automatically applies a discount code.

Scoutmob

This is a growing local deals app that serves a similar function to Groupon or LivingSocial. It's user-friendly and it's gaining in popularity around the US and it features restaurants, stores, and local events.

I hope these not only inspire you to save but to actively work to make a better life for you and your family. I do know what it's like to struggle and I want to help you overcome this burden. If you have comments or questions, let me know! I am here to help!