10 steps into saving money whilst on a tight budget guide

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Do you find yourself struggling on finding ways how to save money because you are on a tight budget but still want to have one nice vacation? Or send your kids to summer school? Or simply feel safe while having some money aside? We spoke to Karen, the owner of JustFreeStuff which is a free stuff website, and we came up with ways to save when you are on a budget.

First read this guide of 12 steps to help you get into a money-saving mindset, and then immediately open a savings account where monthly funds are transferred (even in small amounts).

1.  Decide on a monthly spending budget and stick to it

You have a vague idea of what you spend more on, but deciding on monthly expenses for each and every one of your needs might help you understand better your behavior. Also, it will help you avoid unplanned expenses related to not essential needs. There are different tools out there that can come in handy. Try these out:

2.  Keep track of your balance

You may have overheard it and probably feel like it’s no news, but actually, it is the first step into realizing how much you spend, for what and when. Balancing your bank on a monthly basis might sound a little boring or difficult, especially if you already get mentally tired at work. The truth is that using simple spreadsheets you can track down your expenses to be able to see space for adjustments later.

3.  Have automated money transfers for savings

This is one of the basic activities towards saving money. Based on your monthly earnings, you can decide on a separate amount to be transferred into your savings account so you don’t even see it, thus, never include it in your monthly budget. You should also make sure to keep your savings accessible in times of emergencies without having to go to endless paperwork to get them.

4.  Get to know better every fee you are charged of

If you try to go in details when checking up your bank account’s activities, you may find some not-so-clear expanses for which you have no clue why you are being charged. There are all sorts of fees like annual credit card fees or ATM fees to branch fees. If you find something that you don’t understand do not hesitate to call the service provider and ask for explanations. You might want to cancel some services just to cut these fees off or you might want to compare them with competitors. If you find cheaper providers, switch to them. You might be avoiding useless expanses

5.  Avoid late fees on your bills

We all know that life may become messy sometimes and very dynamic. When you have a thousands things to do at a time, it is hard for you to prioritize. That is why you end up paying overdue fees for almost any bill, from credit card payments, to gas and electricity. Have you ever thought how much money you’d add up to your monthly budget, if you cut off those overdue fees?  Keep your bills in the same place when you receive them and sit down once a week to check them up. Making online payments helps a lot to ease the process as well as setting up automatic ones from your bank account.

6.  Go for second hand

There are many consignment shops available and you can choose the one closest to your home to purchase clothes or even sell items you no longer need. There are outfits that don’t need to be fancy like clothes for work or exercise or hiking and finding them in thrift stores will help you to cut off some expenses. You can also decorate your home or buy other similar items online at Freecycle.org or Craigslist.org.

7.  Always compare prices on web

Living in the digital era means that we can all get all kinds of information that we want. So why not using this opportunity when it comes to buying decision-making. You can try PriceGrabber.com to make a quick comparison of different prices offered from different producers of the product you want and go for the non-so expansive ones. If you get used to doing so, you will be able to purchase on good deals only.

8.  Plan your cooking ahead

Do not go to the supermarket if you’re hungry and without a shopping list. You need to plan ahead what you are going to cook for the week so you can build the list of needed ingredients and save money on groceries. This way, you never end up buying things you don’t need or that you are not going to use in the near future. On the other hand, you don’t end up having to cook macaroni and cheese without the cheese because you forgot to buy it.

9.  Learn to go without

Remember how our parents always told us that we couldn’t always have everything? In difficult times, you should try to learn to live without expenses that you cannot afford like cable TV or Netflix. They are not essentials so treat them as such.

10.  Double and Freeze

You will be surprised at how much you can spend on your weekly grocery bills if you try to cook twice as much as you need for each of your preferred recipes and keep the extras in the freezer. This way you will save not only by purchasing big quantities of products at a special price but also on your electricity bill from cooking the whole quantity at the same time.