As I mentioned in my 2017 Goals post, I am really working on becoming a home owner this year.
Apart of that goal, I had to do a serious over haul of my finances last year and cut so much spending. Before revamping my budget, I was definitely the person who didn't think much about spending money on things I felt I could afford. The following easy to follow tips have really helped me cut my spending by at least 50% and I feel much closer to my goals. I have found by sacrificing a little, I have learned and gained a lot of extra coin.
1. Plan Expenses Ahead of time
The first step to staying on budget is to know all of your expenses and pay them before purchasing anything else. I like to pay my bills before I budget for anything else. I also try to account for and set spending limits for any events or things that I have going on too ahead of time. For example, a friend of mine is getting married soon and I know I will probably want to buy a new dress for her bridal shower, so I put that in my budget at the beginning of the month and make sure I don't over spend and by adding it into the budget, I still save the same amount of money.2. Create Shopping Lists Ahead of Time
This is soo helpful when going food shopping or even shopping in general. Before I head to the store, I make detailed list of the items I need and if there are any sales associated with them and only buy those items. That way, I do not end up with items I don't really need or something that I won't get to use. When I make list, I am much less wasteful.3. Set up a Savings Account and Pay Yourself First
Always make sure you are paying yourself first. If possible, set an amount of money to be taken out of your pay check and routed to a separate savings account that isn't readily available to withdraw from. I personally use online banking (Capital One) as a separate savings account. It takes about 2 business days to transfer any money to my checking account so I think twice before I touch any of that money. This not only helps me to save money, but I also think twice about what I spend on since I can't easily transfer money from my savings.4. Stop Frivolous Spending Habits
Impulse purchases are not your friend when trying to save money. Think about all of the random things that you buy just because they maybe on clearance or things that you buy on a whim. A lot of the time, you don't need that random shirt that's 75% off just because it's on sale.Before purchasing, try taking 15 or 20 minutes to think about if you really want it or not. Another approach to this is to not buy the item for 24 hours. If after 24 hours, you still can't get it off of you mind go ahead and make the purchase. I do this all of the time with online purchases especially. I add things to my cart that I like, but wait 24 hours before actually pulling the trigger. I end up with a lot less stuff this way and a lot more money.
