5 Ways To Make Sure Saving Money Becomes a Habit.

Welcome to this article 5 Ways To Make Sure Saving Money Becomes a Habit.

This is a guest post from Laura over at thriftylondoner.com

Thrifty Londoner offers tips about how you can live a thriftier life in London, and beyond!

With advice on making the most of your money, making money online, and free things to do in the capital.

I'm sure you will find this very helpful and full of great tips.

So take it away Laura….

I’m Laura and I will freely admit that I used to really struggle to keep the money I had set aside for savings, firmly in my savings account.

Something that became particularly difficult when I moved to London on a salary more than £10k less than the London average.

After months of transferring money back and forth between my accounts each month, I realized I had to sharpen up on my savings strategies to make sure my cash remained untouched in my savings account.

They say it takes 60 days to form a new habit, and getting into good savings habits sooner rather than later is a sure-fire way to improve your future financial outlook.

If you are finding yourself struggling to meet your savings target, or even struggling to save at all, these are some habits which I have personally found to be very effective when I’ve needed that extra bit of discipline to meet my goals.

Direct Debits To Save Money.

Setting up a direct debit to your savings account as soon as you are paid each month means that you never forget to add to your savings.

It forces you to put money aside each and every month and means that you know exactly what you have to work with for the rest of the month once your bills and savings are covered.

The idea of setting up a direct debit to your savings account can sometimes be considered as ‘paying yourself first,’ in other words, investing in your savings and your future before paying money out to clothes shops, restaurants and wherever else that money would go to if you didn’t earmark it for savings.

Once everything is accounted for in this way, it is easy to see what is left over for the rest of the month- making it easier to budget and have better visibility and control over your finances.

If you waited until the end of the month to add whatever is left in your current account into savings- chances are that it would be a lot less than you transfer at the start of the month.

Having your savings go straight to your savings account via direct debit is the perfect habit to start forming- since it is automatic anyway, it’s not a habit you are likely to break!

Money Saving Tips – The 3 Day Rule.

The best way to save money is to simply not buy so much stuff.

Which is easier said than done! If I see something that I would like to purchase, I have a rule that I wait 3 days to decide if I really want it, or if it would have just been an impulse purchase.

If it doesn’t occupy my thoughts throughout those 3 days, I don’t need to buy it. You can really save so much money by avoiding these impulse purchases.

This is especially true when buying gifts for people for Christmas- make sure you are armed with a list of what you actually need to buy to avoid panic shopping and overspending at the last minute.

Although something I have never warmed up to myself, ‘no spend days’ are another habit which you could get into to help you to save money and avoid impulse purchases.

The idea behind ‘no spend days’ is when on a specific number of days per week, you don’t spend a single penny.

Instead, you calculate with a precise budget what you need to buy in a given week, and when you need to buy it.

When the pre-determined ‘no spend days’ crop up, ideally you shouldn’t need to buy anything else as it is all accounted for already.

Frugal Money Saving Tips – Voucher Codes.

 

Learning to love bargain hunting will certainly help you to save money, and there are plenty of habits that you could get into to improve your bargain hunting abilities.

When you are shopping online, whether, for groceries or clothing, you could get into the habit of searching for voucher codes before you pay at the checkout page.

I have saved so much money by doing this, from free delivery to 15% off my first order- it is well worth the 2 minute Google search before hitting ‘Pay Now.’

Using cashback websites on anything you purchase online is another fantastic money saving habit to get into.

Every time you go online to purchase something- whether it is hiring a car or buying an insurance policy- get into the habit of logging into the cashback website first.

If you make purchases online regularly, you could save yourself hundreds of pounds over the course of a year.

Save Money Using Cash.

If you have a specific savings goal in mind, you could try getting into the habit of saving in cash to reach this goal.

Whether you want to save £500 for a holiday or £200 for Christmas, withdrawing £10 (or another suitable amount) each week in cash and putting it into an envelope is a fantastic way to save money for a specific goal.

Using the envelope system to save money means that once it has been withdrawn from your account and into the envelope, the money should be forgotten about- the hard part is making sure you don’t delve into the envelope when you are short on cash!

So there you have it- my tried and tested ways to make money saving a habit!

Hopefully this post has given you some ideas to put into work yourself to see your savings pot grow and grow.

Whether your end goal is a house deposit or a holiday abroad, making money saving a habit will definitely help you get there.

Thank you Laura for such a great article.

You can find more from Laura on the social profiles below:

Instagram: @thriftylondoner Twitter: @thrifty_london

Other articles you may find useful include:

15 Of The Best Money Saving Apps.

5 Perfect Jobs For Stay At Home Parents.

Simple Ways To Get Free Amazon Gift Cards.

How To Make Money Drop Shipping Products.

Make Money With Online Surveys.

How To Make Money With Steemit.

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Thank you again for reading today’s article – 5 Ways To Make Sure Saving Money Becomes a Habit.

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