We have complied a list of common sense, every day ideas on how to keep your finances safe. The general idea is to save more and spend less as you will see.
- Plan to save: As easy as it is to spend on night outs, shopping, holidays and so on, we must also plan to save. A hundred dollars can be easily saved iif planned as it is to spend one hundred dollars.
- Track Your Spending: its always best to track your spending before you let spending get away from you. There are so many apps out there that can help with tracking every cent and every dollar spent. Record your expenses however is easiest for you—a pencil and paper, a simple spreadsheet or a free online spending tracker or app. Once you have your data, organize the numbers by categories, such as gas, groceries and mortgage, and total each amount. Use your credit card and bank statements to make sure you’ve included everything.
- Pay attention to the small things, they tend to add up over time. The $4.50 cup of tea a day adds up to $100 a month.
- The easiest way to save is to set up automatic savings. Surely, there is a way you can set up your finances such that automatic payments can be taken regularly.
- Find a way to spend less: With your children, look for free activities. Cancel memberships and subcriptions you dont use. Wait before you buy. The need to spend normally eases over time. You find that you can save money. Resist the urge to keep spending.
- Set saving goals: These could be short term and long term goals. A short term goal should be to have an emergency fund (3-6 months living expenses). The long term goal could be to save money to buy a house.
