Unfortunately, the world’s experiencing an unprecedented economic downturn. Many countries’ economies were already plummeting because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and now because of the ongoing war in Ukraine and rising gas prices, things are starting to get out of control. A lot of European and U.S. households are having to make the decision to choose between heating their houses and buying food, because of the cost of living crisis. There’s never been a better time than now to start saving money, and that’s exactly what this post will help you with.
Here are six habits that you should take on that can save you a lot of money:
Hairdressing
Professional hair cutting can cost a lot of money. This is an unfortunate expense, that can’t be remedied unless you make a concerted effort to learn to cut your own hair. Fortunately cutting one’s own hair is not as difficult as it might think. An alternative to cutting your own hair is to learn how to cut hair, and then teach your partner or anybody that you live with. That way, you can cut each other’s hair. If you are going to start cutting your own hair (or a loved one’s hair), then it’s a very good idea to invest in a quality pair of scissors. Most experts agree that scissors made in Germany are some of the best, in terms of hairdressing equipment. You can’t compromise on quality when it comes to equipment if you are going to cut your own hair or somebody else’s.
Frugality
If you want to save money, then you need to begin acting more frugally. Frugality can save you an absolute fortune, but it can be hard to implement. Behaving more frugally means spending as little as possible, cutting back on things that you usually do (like hairdressing), and generally tightening up the proverbial purse strings. In order to achieve total frugality, you will have to work out what excess purchases and things you can cut out of your life. Behaving frugally also means reducing the amount of money that you give to other people, so if you frequently lend to loved ones, it’s time to stop.
Expenses
In order to save money, you need to start tracking your expenses. Tracking your regular expenses will help you to determine where your money is going, and what it’s being wasted on. A lot of people have totally unnecessary expenses, like several streaming services, as well as subscriptions to music apps, and other things. As far as music is concerned, YouTube has a huge library and it’s completely free, so you don’t need to pay for music subscriptions. For films and media, you only really need to subscribe to one service.
Debt
Paying off all of your debts at once might seem counterintuitive if you are trying to save money, but it’s a really good idea. The reason for this is that by paying all of your debts off, you are able to free up money each month and save it. Essentially you will be able to save what would usually go out on monthly debt repayments. Debt repayments often have interest added to them, so the longer it takes to pay them back, the more money you have to pay. It is because of this that it is a good idea to pay all of your debts back at once.
Plan
In order to effectively budget, you need to plan ahead. The best way to do this is to write down all of your monthly expenses, and then work out which ones can be removed, and which can’t. Once you have eliminated excess expenditure and have factored in your monthly food budget, you can create a budget plan. You need to make this plan as realistic as possible. A lot of people, when working out budgets, are extremely strict on themselves. When you are too strict in creating a budget, it can become unrealistic and hard to adhere to.
Magazines
One last thing to consider is subscribing to and reading financial management magazines, journals, and blogs. These publications tend to include a lot of useful information. Many of them have sections dedicated to saving money, which is added to each week. You can also write in and ‘ask the editor’ in many of these publications. A financial magazine won’t cost you a lot and you can derive a lot of benefits from subscribing to one. Some might even be free online.
There’s never been a better time to save money. If you are concerned with the amount of money that you have been spending, then now’s the time to act. Formulating a financial plan and saving money could keep you safe during the current economic downturn.
Tamila McDonald has worked as a Financial Advisor for the military for past 13 years. She has taught Personal Financial classes on every subject from credit, to life insurance, as well as all other aspects of financial management. Mrs. McDonald is an AFCPE Accredited Financial Counselor and has helped her clients to meet their short-term and long-term financial goals.
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