8 saving tips you shouldn't give to people with small paychecks

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

Explains how to customize general guidelines to suit your own needs.

Depending on the earnings, the approach to saving will be different. If the salary, in principle, is enough for everything, but you want to spend a little less, that's one thing. There is always room for maneuver. And in the event of a miscalculation, nothing criminal will happen - there is money. Therefore, saving turns partly into a game, a fight with oneself: will it be possible to postpone more, to show willpower and discipline, to understand that I am doing well.

The savings with low income are very different. There is almost no margin for error here. An embarrassing waste can leave a family without food. And saving money is not entertainment at all, but a harsh necessity that significantly affects the quality of life.

That is why comments often appear under articles on savings: “What should I do? My salary is 15 thousand rubles. Indeed, not all recommendations are created equal. For example, the following tips need to be adjusted.

1. Save 10% of your salary

By default, it is assumed that a person's income is sufficient to satisfy basic needs, with a little more left for entertainment and pleasant, but optional purchases. It is on the latter that they propose to save by saving 10% of the salary.

But if it is just enough for food, travel and communal flat, you will not be able to pinch off 10% of the amount: this will greatly affect the quality of life. When the choice is between the options "save" or "do not starve", the second option is obviously preferable.

What to do instead

An airbag is still needed. And the lower the income, the more, because in difficult times, even modest savings can really save. You can create a stock using unplanned cash receipts. For example, gifts, bonuses and part-time jobs.

2. Buy more and more in large packages

Indeed, large sets of whatever are usually cheaper. And it is profitable to buy them, because washing powder or chicken legs are always in place. So this advice in itself is not bad. But with a low income, everything depends on the fact that there is physically no money for large packs. A person would be glad to buy 20 kilograms of chicken at once, but then only this bird will be in the refrigerator. Therefore, you have to take packages of a smaller volume in order to eventually acquire everything you need.

What to do instead

Cooperate with like-minded people. A kilogram of goods from a huge pack will cost less than from a small one. This means that you can buy a large package for two or three people, divide it and save a lot on it.

And with some goods, you should pay attention to joint purchases. In fact, this is the same scheme, only looking for like-minded people and coordinating the purchase by a special person.

3. Use bank cards or cash less often

Both tips tend to be about losing control of your finances. Some people find it easier to part with money by paying with a card, because in this case they perceive funds as some kind of virtual banknotes, not seriously. For others, withdrawing cash means saying goodbye to it. The bank sends messages about the account balance, which is alarming. But bills do not shake nerves - I took it off and forgot.

Be that as it may, both of these tips are unlikely to be relevant for low income. A person gets used to saving, so he is hardly able to throw money down the drain solely because of the way it is stored.

What to do instead

Nevertheless, money, as they say, loves the bill. Therefore, it is better to store them so that it is well understood how much money is left and where they are. If one part is crammed into the pockets in banknotes, the other lies on the map, the third rattles under the lining of the jacket, then what is there may be missing. And this is an impermissible luxury. Financial discipline does not fail at any income.

4. Do not buy unnecessary

With a low salary, it is easy to take such advice with hostility: where to get the money in order, in principle, to buy unnecessary? Obviously, a person spends only on what he cannot do without.

What to do instead

In fact, in almost any basket you can find products without which it would not get worse. It is very difficult to simply evaluate them from the point of view of “necessary - unnecessary”. For example, alcohol and cigarettes are perceived by many as something absolutely impossible to do without. Meanwhile, spending on bad habits can reach several thousand a month, which hurts the budget.

If you look at the cost structure from different angles, there are likely to be products that you can buy to save money.

5. Unsubscribe from mailings, ignore promotions

Marketing tools are designed to benefit sellers, not buyers. Promotions stimulate interest, make people make unplanned purchases. However, this kind of marketing works for those who have free cash. A person with a low income will not be able to buy a lot of unnecessary goods with all the desire.

But it is stocks that can help you buy quality items at a reduced price. For example, the brand's warm jacket, which was not available at full cost.

What to do instead

Use stocks for your own benefit by analyzing them with a cool head. For example, the sale of "six things for the price of three" is obviously dubious: the risk is too great that you will take some of the goods just to get into the conditions. But the seasonal discounts that shops arrange to free up shelves for a new collection are just what you need.

6. Do everything you can on your own

People with low incomes are often advised to do any work themselves - fix taps, glue wallpaper, and so on. It is assumed that if your hour is cheaper than a specialist's, it will be more profitable to spend time rather than money.

But there is a nuance. What will take an hour for a professional will easily stretch out for an amateur for several days. Sometimes additional hardware is required. And the result is unpredictable. So this tactic is not always a good option to save money.

What to do instead

Take a sober approach to assessing your abilities and the result you want to get in the end. For example, slowly putting together a wardrobe on the weekend - why not. Installing the kitchen for a week and a half may not be worth it. Without furniture and appliances, the family will have to eat anything, and this is usually more expensive than food prepared at home.

7. Save on medicines

It is often advised to pay attention only to the active ingredient in the preparation. They say, pharmaceutical companies and doctors are making money on you, because there are tablets for 30 rubles and for 300 - why overpay. And this is, in general, bad advice for people of any income. In medicines, not only the active substance is important, but also the composition in the complex. Sometimes even the specific plant where the drug was produced is important. As a result, the remedy may not work as expected, and it will take a lot of money to bring health back to normal.

What to do instead

It is better to do without amateur performance and check with your doctor about possible replacements. Usually doctors meet halfway and suggest how to save money without harm to health.

8. Do not skimp on education

Total economy significantly spoils life. To change the situation, you need to think about increasing income - everything is correct here. And therefore, it is often advised not to spare money for education, take courses and receive certificates.

But the problem, as always, is in the little things. From time to time, situations arise when people take loans for all sorts of courses, and then remain with a certificate without a number and with very mediocre knowledge.

What to do instead

Good paid courses help you get organized information in a short time, ask questions directly to the teacher, make useful contacts and get a certificate that will not turn out to be a useless piece of paper. Bad courses simply drain money from students. It is sometimes difficult to distinguish one from the other.

But one more thing is important: knowledge, unlike certificates, can be obtained in different ways, including free of charge. If you don't have enough money, you should not think that some courses will miraculously lead to high salaries. But the systematic acquisition of new skills and their application in practice can. So don't leave your family without food for lectures and webinars.