8 Money-Saving Habits You Should Start Building Now
The world has turned us into spend-happy consumers that millennials find it extremely hard to build money-saving habits and set their finances in order.
The hardest part of doing anything only comes at the beginning. However, once you’ve established the foundations and the right habit, it won’t be long until you start breathing and living savings.
But, where exactly do you start? Below are some very practical tips that you can do right now to make sure you won’t drown in your debts again.
1Pack your baon instead of eating out.
It may not seem much but constantly eating out at a minimum budget of 50 pesos per meal (if that is even enough for you) can quickly add up in a month.
We all have a lot of excuses from not having the time to not having the skills in the kitchen, but once you get past that, you will soon see the huge advantages. Packing your baon gives you more control over what type of food—and nutrients—get inside your body. Avoiding fast food will eventually help you avoid paying huge hospital bills due to an unhealthy lifestyle.
2Ride the jeepney instead of the taxi.
Who doesn’t want to ride a taxi anyway? There’s always the sweltering heat of the sun to avoid, the pollution, the annoying people.
But the thing is that these are only little sacrifices you can make to build up on your savings. Hate the crowd? Go out after rush hour. Hate the heat? Make your way to the office when it’s still early out—and leave early, too. It’s just a matter of organizing and prioritizing your time right.
3Opt out of the lattes and check out your office pantry.
What is it with those overpriced coffees, really? Is it for maintaining one’s social status and reputation? There’s no point in keeping up with a “well-off” facade when your bank account tells otherwise.
Anyway, your office pantry offers free brewed coffee for everyone until you start getting palpitations. Kidding. But really, why not take advantage of what’s free and set aside the money for the rainy days? You’ll soon thank yourself when emergencies arise, and you have some cash set aside.
4Wait until your gadget breaks down before upgrading.
A lot of millennials these days seemed to have become addicted to technology and keep up with the trends at the expense of their paychecks. Unless these gadgets make money on your behalf, they are just expenses that you can do without.
Buying and selling gadgets, you say? These devices lose a chunk of their value the moment you get your hands on them, so there’s no point. Unless, of course, you buy them at a much cheaper price than the retail price and avoid opening it.
5Automate your bills.
It’s extremely tempting to spend money when it gets into our hands so why not prevent that from happening instead?
Set up your bank accounts so that it automatically pays for all your bills the moment it comes in. It is also wise to consider your emergency, investment, and retirement funds as bills and set up an automatic transfer, so you won’t have time to think about skipping them for a month.
6Pay with cash and eliminate unnecessary expenses.
Unless you know how to control yourself, credit cards can be a source of evil. Many times, it will encourage you to spend more than you make, pay less than your due and accept the penalty fees.
Avoid having to pay for unnecessary expenses such as late fees and interests by purchasing items with cash. Check out your current memberships and subscriptions and see which expenses you can eliminate, too.
7Stay away from spend-happy people.
No matter how much we try to stay as frugal as possible, there will always be people who will try to oppose our money-saving habits—and end up successfully doing so.
If you want to set out your finances right, it may be a wise decision to avoid spending time with people who will just encourage you to spend more. Most of the time, these people won’t be around to help you in times of crises, so it’s fruitless to nurture relationships with them.
8Invest in your mind.
Money-saving habits are not just about finding ways to save money. It’s also about finding good places to spend money on, so you can get more in return.
If you have extra money to spend, why not enroll yourself in a finance class and teach yourself how to manage your money and how to invest? It will cost a lot upfront but its benefits can last you a lifetime and will be a hundredfold more than you spent for it.
Building these money-saving habits won’t be fun and won’t make you popular at the start but, trust me, it will all be worth it. Once you’ve gotten out of the rat race and embraced financial freedom, you’ll thank yourself for it.
