If you struggle to save money or don’t have a very big salary to play with then this is the blog post you need right now! I’m going to show you 10 super easy saving hacks to help you learn how to save money from your salary…instantly!
I’ll go into each of these in more detail further down and explain a little more about them, but first, take a look at my tips and count how many you already do….
How To Save Money From Your Salary…the easy way!
- Work out ALL of your ingoings and outgoings
- Set your saving goals
- Work out your priorities and non-negotiables.
- Re-evaluate your outgoings and cut things down
- Split your cash into separate accounts or use the envelope hack
- Set up a savings direct debit for start of the month
- Plan out your social calendar with set events and set a budget
- Establish your No Spend Days
- Cashback apps, voucher sites and instant savers
- Find your spending Achilles heel and tackle it
Let’s Break It Down….
1. Work out ALL of your Ingoings and Outgoings
Your first step is to work out your ingoings and outgoings…all of them! Start a spreadsheet or write a list of EVERYTHING that comes in (salary, benefits etc) and EVERYTHING that goes out (utilities, rent, petrol costs, fun spending, debt repayment etc).
You can use your bank statement from the month before to work out your exact bills and give you a rough idea of how much you spend on ‘the other stuff’. You can’t save anything unless you know where you stand in the first place. We should all roughly know our ingoings and outgoings each month along with our personal spending habits – start this now.
2. Set your Saving Goals
Next, it’s time to set some goals, because we won’t get anywhere if we don’t have something to focus on! Why do you want to save money? Do you want to take a fancy holiday, replace your car, save for a house deposit? Figure out your ‘why’ and then set a goal: eg ‘I want to save £1,500 by October to go on holiday!’.
3. Look at Your Priorities
Now we need to get down to the nitty gritty – how much do you want that goal of yours and what are you willing to sacrifice to get there?!
You’ll need to cut something down here in order to have spare money left over to save – but what are your non-negotiables? Can you downgrade your phone and live without a few features to save £30 a month on the contract? Can you swap out your £40 gym membership for some free youtube workout classes at home? Really have a think about the things you’re willing to sacrifice in order to hit your goal, and what you’re not.
4. Cut Down Your Outgoings
Now it’s time to cut down those outgoings. Can you get a better deal on your utility bills? Can you car share to save on petrol? How about those fancy meals out, can you cook at home instead? Shaving off some money from your outgoings is a great way to save cash and often it’s really easy to do. Just remember those non-negotiables and your end goal – be savvy and ruthless!
If you haven’t heard of them yet, Look After My Bills is an amazing free service that automatically finds you the best energy contracts and switches everything for you. Then, once that plan has ended, they’ll automatically find you a better deal and switch it all again. Once you’re set up, you never have to think about your bills again – genius!
5. Split Your Cash
Next we’re going to split our cash! Open up a couple of (free) bank accounts so you can split your utility money and your play money. If you’re in a couple, you can have a joint account where you pay in enough cash each month to cover all your bills, and then anything left in your personal account is free to spend!
If you want to go one further, you candraw out your pocket money (any money left over after bills) and split it into different spending envelopes for things like ‘food’ ‘clothes’ ‘drinks’ ‘petrol’ or ‘beauty’. Set yourself a budget for each of the things you spend your spare money on, draw out that amount and put it in your envelope. Once that envelope is empty, so is your budget for the month! This is a really great way to allow yourself luxuries but also stay within a budget that serves your end goal.
6. Set up a Savings Direct Debit
An instant hack is to set up a direct debit that goes out at the very start of the month (like the day after you get paid) and automatically transfers a set amount of savings to your savings account. The money goes without you having to think about it and you might even forget that its set up! Boom, an instant £50 saved before you even get started!
It’s easier to do this at the start of the month than rely on your willpower to save it and transfer it at the end. Trust me.
7. Plan Out The Social Stuff
Another way to plan ahead is to write out a social calendar for the month with estimated spending. For example, if you know you have a friend’s birthday on the 11th and you’re going out for a meal at pizza express – have a look on the menu and try to work out a rough cost for the night (taxis, drinks before/after, the meal, birthday present) and write it all down. This way you have a rough idea of any plans that are set in stone and how this effects the spare money you have left over for the month.
You can then make an informed decision about anything spontaneous that pops up and whether you can actually afford it within your budget because all the other stuff is accounted for ahead of time and you won’t be left short.
8. No Spend Days
Establish some no spend days at the start of every week – these are days where you’re banned from spending anything…unless an emergency pops up (and a coffee from costa on the way to work is NOT an emergency!). I use no spend days in my Money Diary posts all the time and they’re really effective. Having one or two no spend days a week drastically cuts down the time frame you have to spend money so you end up spending less!
9. Cashback, Vouchers and Saving Apps
Cashback sites, voucher popups and instant savings accounts are all great ways to save a bit of cash here and there. Sites like Quidco will help you gain money back on purchases you make online – you can also do your utility bills through them too (top tip!). New people to Quidco can grab £15 cashback from your first purchase from ANY retailer by signing up through this link – there’s £15 in your savings pot already! Voucher pop ups like Pouch will help automatically find voucher codes for you as you shop online to save a bit of dough too.
Apps and banks like Chip will automatically save tiny bits of money for you without you realising every couple of days. It won’t save only pennies, or huge chunks of money so that you notice your bank balance going down and you won’t miss any direct debits – it just gently saves you bits of money in the background without you having to do a thing! These little savings add up fast and are a great way to save without thinking about it and feeling like you’re always a budget. You can get a free £10 just by signing up here with the code xameliax10 – yay free money!
Do always read the ts&cs before signing up for things like this and make sure they’re right for you and your money.
10. Tackle Your Spending Achilles Heel
And last but not least – find your spending Achilles heel and tackle it! Go back to that bank statement and look at where the majority of your spare money is going.
Maybe you’re spending an extortionate amount on takeaways. As long as a daily KFC isn’t one of your non-negotiables, see if you can find a cheaper alternative for the majorty of the month and keep the takeaway for a special treat (check out my DIY Healthy KFC recipe here!). Often you won’t know what your spending Achilles heel is until you look for it. But once you know, you can tackle it and save a small fortune!
So there we have it, my 10 easy saving hacks to help you learn how to save money from your salary!
Give yourself an evening, pop that kettle on, set everything up for next month and watch those savings grow!
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How To Save Money From Salary – 10 Easy Money Saving Hacks by xameliax!
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