15 ways to save up for anything

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Tips for those who don't know where to start.

1. Defer a fixed percentage of your salary

You can transfer to a separate account 10-15% of salary and other financial receipts, or even more - depending on income and mandatory spending. It is worth doing this as soon as the funds are credited to your account. This way, you will avoid internal negotiations in the spirit of "What if nothing is postponed this month?" It should become a habit.

Let's say you get the average Russian salary - after taxes, that's 42,932 rubles. If you save 10% or 15% monthly, then in a year you will have 51.5 thousand or 77.2 thousand. Both amounts exceed monthly wages.

2. Connect the "piggy bank" to the bank account

Transferring money to a special account on a monthly basis is a good idea, but here the human factor intervenes. It's too easy to rush to forget about it (or pretend to have forgotten). Savings automation is a great helper.

Many banks provide this opportunity. For example, Sberbank has a Piggy bank service, Alfa-Bank has a Piggy bank account. Thanks to them, you can:

• Defer a fixed percentage of your salary automatically. The service will respond to the receipt of money or transfer funds on the date you specified.
• Transfer a specified percentage of each spend. Let's say you bought a business lunch for 250 rubles, 25 rubles went to a special account. As a result, office lunches alone will bring you more than 500 rubles a month. Don't want the money to go out of your account? Spend less. This system is useful both ways.

3. Set up a challenge

You can turn the accumulation process into a quest with your own conditions. For example, saving each month more than the previous one, or collecting a certain amount by a specific date. If you are a gambling person, the way of saving is no longer so important: you will make every effort to fulfill your plan.

If your intrinsic motivation is not enough to save more actively, bring in an external arbiter. For example, argue with a friend - and it is better not for money, otherwise you risk not only not saving, but also losing.

4. Make a plan

If you know exactly what you are saving for and want to buy it on a specific date, planning will work. The simplest thing is to divide the entire amount by the remaining number of months. The resulting figure will show how much you need to save every 30 days.

A challenge with an asterisk for those who are not afraid of difficulties. You have a check number that you cannot go below. But you can postpone more. So if you connect additional sources of income, you will get every chance of overfulfilling the plan.

5. Convert one item of expenditure into savings

If you're looking for the easy way, find 1–2 big but optional items and cut them out. Save the money you used to spend.

Let's say you are used to buying take-away coffee - 100 rubles per glass. If within a month you courageously walk past the coffee shop, then save and set aside up to 3 thousand rubles. Or a little less, if you carry a drink with you in a thermos from home - this is normal, no one expects victims from you.

Alcohol and cigarettes should be the first on the list of things that you will give up. A lot of money is spent on bad habits, but there is no benefit from them.

6. Saving money from unfulfilled purchases

The method is similar to the previous one, but it fights not with constant spending, but with impulsive ones. We spend money not only because we want to buy something. This is often a way to please yourself. But the funds received in the savings account are also a reason for a good mood.

So, if you tend to buy impulsively (it doesn't matter if it's a pack of cookies or new jeans), think every time you shop if you really need this item. And if not, set aside the amount you were going to spend.

7. Issue a card with cashback and interest on the balance

Since you still keep money on the card and spend it, it would be strange not to use it. Many banks return some of the money spent. Some also charge interest on the card balance. Depending on how much you keep in your account and spend, the amounts can be quite substantial.

But it is important to carefully read the terms of the bank so that they are suitable specifically for your financial situation.

8. Transfer the balance to the savings account daily

In the age of electronic technology, the chances of your pockets stuffed with cash are slim. But you can transfer to the "piggy bank" a kind of trifle from the account every day - so as to round up the balance.

Let's say at the end of the day you have 5,247 rubles left on your card. You can set aside 47 rubles to have 5,200 left, or 247 rubles to have exactly 5 thousand left. How many zeros you should get after these manipulations depends on your well-being.

9. Save money on what you don't use

Everyone knows that in order to save money, you need to save. But this is not so easy to do. Although there is an elementary way to save money - to cut costs on what you don’t use. For example, why do you buy a gym membership year after year if you go there once a month? Terminate the contract and withdraw the balance.

Go through subscriptions and services, get rid of what draws money out of you, but practically does not bring any benefit. None of this will come in handy. And if so, well, subscribe again.

10. Start a piggy bank

As a child, you probably waited for your dad to shake his jeans or trousers so that coins would pour out of them. If you thoroughly explore the carpet and the space under the couch, you could get rich!

Coins are now not the same in terms of purchasing power as they used to be. But, if you use cash, you should not neglect it. Start a piggy bank and load change from your pockets into it every night. If you're ready to go further, set aside some of the money from each change you make. By the way, this is one of the principles of the Japanese Kakebo economy system, and the Japanese know a lot about this.

11. Find an additional source of income

This advice is not striking in its freshness, but many ignore it: if you want money, earn more. You can do it systematically: find a part-time job by profession, monetize a hobby, discover new talents in yourself. Or look for opportunities to make money with minimal investment: sell old equipment, unnecessary furniture, and so on.

This life hack has another hidden advantage: the more you work, the less time you have to spend money.

12. Arrange fasting days

Pick a couple of days a week when you don't spend anything except what you need to pay for travel. No trips to the store, unscheduled gatherings with friends, entertainment on this day is not provided - a complete asceticism.

The most difficult thing here is not to give up expenses, but to keep the savings. So at the end of the fasting day, set aside the amount that you managed to save.

13. Get rid of debt

If you have outstanding loans, pay off as soon as possible. This will free up the monthly payment and will be able to save it without any difficulties, because you are already accustomed to not taking this money into account in the budget.

14. Share your dreams with loved ones

If everything is okay with your environment, people will put in a lot of effort to support you and make it easier to achieve your goal. For example, they will start inviting you to visit, not to a restaurant, and they will give you money for your birthday.

15. Do not hesitate to save and save

One of the main obstacles to saving is the idea that it's embarrassing when it shouldn't be. Trying to avoid unnecessary spending is logical and rational, what's wrong with that? On the contrary, the thought "Why should I save at all, am I a beggar, or what?" betrays the trauma of poverty. Usually, this approach ends up spending wasted trying to prove that there is money, although in reality there is not much of it.

But saving shouldn't turn into a mania. If you go to a cheaper store two blocks further away to buy the same groceries but cheaper, that's smart. If you are buying a cheap product made of water and chewed paper instead of an expensive quality one, it is worth spending the money saved on a psychoanalyst.