Is saving money difficult for you? Well, not everybody can easily save money, whether it’s for a pension or an emergency fund.
You can start saving money by cutting back on your expenditures. However, if you’re looking for ways to save a little extra money, these 5 tips could be the answer to your saving problems!
1. Use Cash for Day-to-Day Expenses
Ever had the empty feeling when your wallet feels lighter than usual? Spending physical cash actually helps us to be more aware of the money that we’re spending. Set aside money for groceries on a monthly basis and take out that money in cash at the beginning of each month. To avoid the temptation of accumulating potential debt, leave your credit cards at home when you go shopping unless it’s for expensive and necessary purchases. Just remember not to impose the interest and keep track of your spending!
You can use this strategy for any other budgeted item in addition to cash. It’s important to make an effort to stick to your budget.
2. Impose a Waiting Period
How many times did you have buyer’s remorse after you bought anything? Keeping yourself away from impulse purchases is one of the easiest ways you can save money. Give yourself at least a few days before making a large purchase. Also, do some research about the products to help protect yourself from this common tendency.
This waiting time will help you get rid from “wants” to “needs” of spending your money.
3. Automate your Savings
Setting up an automated savings plan is perhaps the simplest way to save without even thinking about it. Most banks allow you to set up automatic transfers from your checking account to a savings or investment account.
Automation is an excellent way to save because it is difficult for most people to remember to make a savings deposit, let alone find the motivation to do so. Transfers that are automated take that responsibility away from you. Consider transferring your funds to a high-interest savings account to save even more.
4. Increase Saving Incrementally
Once you’re on an automated savings plan, the best way to really build your savings is to increase them by 1% every six to twelve months. For example, if you’re putting aside 10% of your paycheck, set it to increase by 1% to 2% the following year and every year after.
It’s simple to adjust to a higher savings level in such small increments. And before you know it, you’ll be automatically saving a large portion of your paycheck.
5. Pay yourself first
Every payday, the first thing you do is set aside the amount into another account that you will not touch! This amount you pay yourself every month should be used for your emergency savings and investments (if you have any!).
The pay-yourself-first method switches your priorities around so you spend what’s left after saving, rather than saving what is left after spending. It’s a small change in habit that results in a huge shift in perspective and, over time, massive benefits.
Here is how you can use Versa as an alternative savings tool: SAVE or you can say HIDE your money out of sight. Yet you still gain the benefits of earning up to 4.3% p.a.* daily and withdrawing anytime when there is an emergency.
*Currently, all savings funds enjoy a promotional rate of 4.3% p.a. Net Returns on your first RM30,000 when you maintain a minimum of RM1,000 in your Versa Cash and/or Versa Cash-i account. Learn more here.
