With your salary staying the same and cost of goods up, it’s not easy to save. Sometimes the hardest thing about saving money is just getting started. Here is some tips on how to save some penny’s.

 

Record what you spend.

Yes, this is dreadful. No one wants to go through the hassle of checking each purchase, but this is a crucial step. If you want to save money, you first need to find out where your money is going. Getting all your purchases on one sheet will make it easier for you to take stock of where you stand financially.

 

Make a budget.

After you recorded all your purchases, you will have a clearer picture of what is necessary and unnecessary. Create a budget with your income and deduct the necessary monthly expenses, the things you need just to survive. Go through your statements and identify non-essentials, such as entertainment and dining out. Make a savings column in your budget and add the non-essential items to your savings column.

 

 

30 Day Rule

Whenever you feel the urge to splurge. Force yourself to stop. If you are already holding the item, put it back and leave the store. Once you get home, take a piece of paper and write down the date, the name of the product, the price and the store you where you found it. Now post this note someplace obvious: a calendar or the fridge. For the next 30 days, think whether you really want the item, but don’t buy it. If, at the end of the month, the urge is still there, then consider purchasing it.

 

Negotiate Prices

You can negotiate in almost any kind of purchasing situation. Though you might have previously thought negotiation was only for the bigger purchases such as purchasing a home or car you can also negotiate with retail stores. You can even negotiate to lower your monthly bills. Call your credit card company and negotiate lower interest rates to help you save on monthly expenses.

 

Pay off debt

Use the snowball method to pay off your debt. This will eventually give you more income every month and financial freedom. This is how It works.

List your debts from smallest to largest. Make minimum payments on all your debts except the smallest. Pay as much as you can on the smallest debt, until it is paid off. Use the money you paid on the smallest debt and add it to the minimum payment of the next debt on your list. Repeat this until all your debt it paid off.