Hello fellow investors and finance enthusiasts. Today I’m going to talk about different ways you can save money. All these tips are things I do myself. I understand that not every situation is the same. But in my opinion, these should be applicable to most, maybe even all of them!
Budget, Budget, Budget!
This is one you have probably heard a lot… But have you actually tried it?! I do the following: Every month I know roughly how much money will show up in my bank account. The moment at which that precious paycheck reaches my account is also the moment most of the money is already gone. Don’t get me wrong! In this case, ‘gone’ means that I immediately put my predefined budgets in my savings account and investment vehicles. This way, only the amount I need to get through the month stays in my checking account.
Most people will do the opposite and just save the amount of money that is left at the end of the month. In my opinion, this causes you to spend more than you should just because the money is there!
Cut down on grocery costs
I believe a very large percentage of people can bring down their monthly grocery bill by a very decent amount! Don’t get me wrong on this one. You shouldn’t make cuts if that means you will eat less healthy. But, do you really need that brand name pasta, cheese, water, …?
Maybe you have to throw out food occasionally because it has gone bad? I always look at which ingredients I need for the meals I want to eat in the coming week. I just buy these instead of going to the supermarket and buying random stuff! I sometimes try and calculate the cost of my meals per person. A lot of the time, a balanced (hot) meal costs me around €2 or less!
You can also try to cut down the snacks or alcoholic beverages! Don’t forget to enjoy yourself once in a while but these can bring down your bill by a decent amount while you live a healthier life at the same time!
Cancel automatic subscriptions
Maybe you are paying for stuff on a monthly bases without you even knowing it. I know it is not always possible, but I try to stay away from stuff that gets charged automatically every month. I just like to be in charge of my finances as most as I can. I’d rather pay for something manually every month just so I know about every penny that comes and goes.
Chances are, you are paying for multiple subscriptions. Think about Netflix, Spotify, gym membership, maybe even some stuff like the trendy monthly boxes. Do you need all of them? Maybe you can share some of these subscriptions with family members or friends to cut the costs.
Eat at home or pack your lunch
It is obvious that eating out at restaurants could possibly cost you a lot of money. But you eating a (cheap) lunch at work a couple of days a weak could also add up to a decent amount over time. Pack your lunch the day before. Even if the meal at work only costs a couple of euros, you can probably do it for less when you do it yourself!
Electricity, cell phone, water, ...
Try to reduce your electricity and water bill. This can be done in several ways. The easiest one is just by reducing your usage! You can take shorter showers, don’t leave the lights on when you leave the room, or even wash your clothes with rainwater if you have that possibility!
You can also look to replace stuff like light bulbs or even an old freezer with more efficient ones. This can be a short term cost but you can possibly save some money in the long run!
Occasionally check your providers and their prices to see if it can be cheaper elsewhere. If this is the case, you could switch or possibly negotiate a cheaper price with your current provider in return for you to stay their customer.
Overview
I hope these tips can help you along! It is possible that you heard (some) of these before. Just take two minutes and be honest with yourself. Are you doing all of the things I talked about? There is almost no instance where money is free. But if you follow these tips you will for sure save more of that paycheck with only a minimum amount of your effort required! More money saved is more money left to grow that portfolio!
If you would have any questions, feel free to contact me! I am always glad to help you out further!
1. I have done this up until I got married with children. Now I save wat is left by the end of the month. With a family, the unexpected costs are always there. I always had to take back money from the savings account by the end of the month.
2. Don’t buy water, it comes out of the tap for a fraction of the cost. But don’t save on fresh/healthy food, you’ll need to be alive to enjoy your investments. You can buy healthy food like nuts, seeds, oats… in bulk on the internet (I buy from pit&pit) and save 50% on what you pay in the supermarket (broken nuts, like half walnuts, are a lot cheaper than whole ones and taste just the same).
3. Exactly, share!
4. When you eat out, go to the Sleepstraat ?
5. Install solar panels and a cistern. When you still use gas, change supplier every year (especially during a pandemic when prices drop steeply.
Hi Vincent,
I can’t really speak for family situations yet. Indeed the budgeting part could be a little harder! Water is something I still buy though. The reason is that I like sparkling water a lot more. Even using devices like ‘soda stream’ will not really cut down costs. Doing the math sparkling water costs me around €100 a year…
I’ll try out the sleepstraat! Never been to a restaurant over there I think. 😀
Kind regards,
Michiel
Never been to https://restaurantozgem.be? Boy are you in for a treat. I always go for the pide ozgem 3 ? Getting hungry when thinking about it. I go there 2-3 times a year with colleagues or my family.
I’ll definitely take a look! 😀