Most people try to save money regularly, some of them save for certain purchases or investments, while others simply want to have a decent amount in reserve, without having specific goals on what to spend it on. When you have everything you need in stock, it becomes interesting where you can spend the collected money. Free money can lie idle for a long time. But you can use them to gain impressions, emotions, or make new money. Even psychologists advise spending money, but doing it usefully.
Taking care of your health
In the hustle and bustle of everyday work, people do not always find time to take care of their own health. It is better to identify the disease in advance and prevent its development or occurrence than to deal with advanced cases. Even if there are no serious health problems, which is a very good indicator, you can purchase and drink a course of vitamins, useful minerals and trace elements, especially in the cold seasons, when the body needs them so much. You should definitely consult your doctor in advance.
You can also invest money in a beautiful smile, visit the dentist, identify all problems or carry out preventative measures.
But investing in health is not just about visiting medical facilities and clinics. This also includes sports activities - purchasing a subscription to a sports club, fitness center or dance school.
You can play sports in the fresh air or at home, but the effectiveness of exercise is increased by high-quality exercise equipment, good equipment, and comfortable and beautiful sportswear.
Savings on housing and communal services
To intelligently save money on utilities with a small salary or pension, the following tips will help:
- Compare service rates. For example, for Muscovites, electricity is cheaper at night than during the day, so invest money once in multi-tariff meters and then save constantly.
- Identify unnecessary services. For example, a connected radio that no one listens to, or multi-channel television that no one watches. In some cases, it makes sense to abandon the home telephone or in-house antenna.
- Pay for housing and communal services where they do not charge additional fees . Most often, this can be done in online banking, an ATM or a payment terminal. But at bank cash desks they charge an additional percentage for this.
- Pay on time or a little in advance . This will help avoid disconnections and any costs that will arise when reconnecting communications.
- Install meters on everything you can: electricity, gas, water, heating.
- Conduct a communications audit . Lever taps save 25% of water. Leak-free plumbing will save another 15%. Working batteries and heat regulators will save up to 40% on heating bills. Modern household appliances with energy-saving modes save up to 30-40% on electricity and 50% of total water consumption.
Find out how to save on electricity consumption and fuel for your car.
Self-improvement and self-development
What else you can spend your own money on is self-development. This choice becomes another equally successful investment. After all, the knowledge that people receive in schools, secondary and higher educational institutions may not be enough to build a successful career or ensure a good income. Therefore, people tend to get them from other sources:
- attending additional courses;
- registration for trainings;
- banal purchases of books of a certain profile or specialty;
- even ordinary fiction is also a good contribution to self-development.
In the age of modern technology, you can find any publication on the Internet, but still, some people find it much more pleasant to feel a paper book in their hands and feel the smell of new pages.
There are large firms and companies that have a separate expense item for training, professional growth and improvement of employees. But in other organizations, employees sometimes have to invest in this themselves. You should not save on this, since such investments can always justify themselves 100% if the person himself has the desire and aspirations.
How to start saving money for your dream
In order to start saving money, you need to determine the goals for what exactly you need it for, for example, buying a car, housing, home renovation, vacation. Then start saving a certain amount of money every month, and you can use additional sources of income, for example, putting the accumulated money on deposit in a bank and receiving interest.
Contribution to travel
Everyone has their own priorities in life. Someone would prefer to buy an expensive phone from a popular brand or take out a loan for a car instead of a luxury trip that could literally change their outlook on life, charge them with positive emotions, and give them new impressions. Memories from traveling to new, unexplored places will remain with a person throughout his life. In difficult moments, such memories can warm, cheer, lift your spirits, and charge you with optimism.
It’s just that sometimes it’s worth trying at least once to refuse to buy something that is not the most urgent or necessary in favor of traveling in order to understand how valuable this contribution will be. Those people who have long dreamed of seeing some attraction, visiting certain cities, countries, islands, can without hesitation invest their accumulated funds in making such dreams come true. Moreover, traveling allows you not only to gain new impressions, but also to broaden a person’s horizons and introduce him to new customs, traditions, and foundations.
In other cities and countries, people can experience the taste of traditional food and non-standard dishes, see unusual entertainment, leisure, make new acquaintances and see first-hand the life of other people, as well as see many beautiful places.
Such knowledge develops aesthetic perception, taste and sense of beauty, and introduces the history of various places and cities.
How to protect yourself from the temptation to buy unnecessary things in the supermarket
To stop buying unnecessary products and things in supermarkets, follow these recommendations:
• make a list of the products you need and calculate approximately how much money you will need for these purchases;
• always take an amount that does not exceed your limit;
• before you go to the store, be sure to eat, as the food on the shelves will make you feel hungry. And most likely, you will want to remove it by purchasing an unnecessary and harmful product;
Try not to buy a lot of products that have a limited shelf life. According to UN representatives, people around the world throw away a third of food every day.
• if you plan to buy only bread and milk , do not take a large cart. Otherwise, in addition to these products, you will grab several more. The best option for small purchases is a basket;
• while standing in line at the checkout, do not look at the small goods that lie along it. This is a cunning ploy by marketers that is specifically designed to encourage people to buy several more items while waiting for their turn to pay for their purchases. To occupy your time while standing in line, better calculate your expenses.
Contribution rest
You also need to be able to rest. Unfortunately, most people get used to working constantly, and instead of relaxing they are busy with household chores or other worries, everyday life, grocery shopping and other tiring things. There is absolutely no time left for a normal, full-fledged, pleasant rest. And this is completely wrong.
Vacations don’t necessarily mean long trips; you can even arrange them at home. It is enough to take a few days off from work or even a week and spend an active weekend.
You can consider the following options:
- Go to the cinema in the evening.
- Visit the pool, skating rink, amusement park.
- You can try spending the evening in a restaurant in pleasant company or going to a cafe for breakfast.
- It will be useful to visit the theater, opera, philharmonic, go to a concert of your favorite singer or group, or to an exhibition.
- For some, on the contrary, it will be useful to spend fasting days at home with a loved one watching their favorite films.
But sometimes it is much more useful to radically change your lifestyle in order to feel a second wind, a new surge of strength. This will be much more effective than going on vacation to a sanatorium. It doesn't matter how much money this weekend costs. What's the point of earning money without the opportunity to spend it usefully on yourself?
Extra little things
It is seemingly insignificant expenses that make a big hole in the budget. Therefore, you just need to think about how not to spend money on coffee, lunches in cafes, water and juices, snacks, etc. Amounts of 50-200 rubles, which are spent regularly, do not seem to have much effect on the overall state of affairs, but this is not so.
Let's give an example - you spend 250 rubles a day on coffee on the way to work or a business lunch. With a five-day working week, that comes out to 750 rubles a week, 3000 rubles a month. If you simply install a coffee maker in your office (you can chip in on it with your colleagues), it will pay for itself very quickly. And if you take a ready-made lunch from home, you will spend at least 2 times less money on food.
Install a budgeting application on your smartphone, for example, CoinKeeper, and enter data on all expenses into it. And you will see how much money is spent on such minor expenses. There is no need to give up all your favorite habits and small purchases. It is enough to exclude 1-2 positions that you can easily do without.
Investing in a home
Home improvement, creating comfort and coziness is the goal and aspiration of many people. Often there are simply not enough funds to purchase all those things that bring moral satisfaction, aesthetic pleasure and physical comfort, making life easier and simpler.
The decoration of a house or apartment can also become outdated. I want to maintain my home in decent condition, so savings can be spent on repairs, updating decoration, plumbing, and furniture.
Perhaps the home requires a more global update, such as replacing windows, doors, sealing cracks, or laying floors.
Sometimes, in order to breathe new life into your own home, lift your spirits and take a different look at your home, it is enough to replace the curtains on the windows, lamps, bedspreads, and buy new decorative elements. Someone has long dreamed of a certain interior design for an entire apartment or a separate room, and keeps the ideal of their dreams in a photo. When you have extra money, why not make it happen? After all, when a person lives in comfortable conditions and enjoys his surroundings, then he also begins to look at life differently.
Buying smart technology
Technical innovations not only improve life, but also allow you to stay up to date with the latest news. For example, you can purchase:
- a new washing machine that will work quietly and silently, allowing you to use new updated functions;
- a modern laptop will also save the user’s time thanks to fast operation and advanced features;
- Modern robotic vacuum cleaners will allow you to keep your home clean without any extra effort.
You can afford not only the necessary electronics, but also interesting ones.
The game console will create a fun, relaxing, favorable environment in the home for people of any age. A huge flat-screen TV with a speaker system will turn an ordinary living room or hall into a real home theater.
Contribution to food
Saving on food is wrong and unwise. Health suffers primarily from low-quality cheap products and semi-finished products. Preference should be given not necessarily to expensive, but to high-quality and natural food.
If you have certain dreams or desires in cooking, then you can try some exotic fruit, an extraordinary dish, a delicacy. The time has come to invest money in food and get gastronomic satisfaction.
Where can you save money?
So, how to spend money wisely or where can you cut your expenses? Let's figure it out. You can reduce costs by:
- utility bills if you install gas and water meters;
- household appliances, that is, do not buy a product with a huge number of additional functions, this significantly increases its cost;
- clothes, buying them at sales or at the end of the season;
- nutrition, reduce meat consumption, reduce the number of desserts, buy food in bulk or at competitive prices; but you should not skimp on vegetables and fruits, as they are needed for proper nutrition and are rich in all the vitamins and microelements necessary for the body.
Buying clothes
There is no such thing as too much clothing - any woman will agree with this. So what if it doesn’t fit in the closet, there’s nowhere to store it—there’s always nothing to wear. A banal wardrobe update can have a magical effect on a person. If you have accumulated a certain amount, you can check the presence of basic things in your wardrobe, such as jeans, white shirts, a pencil skirt, a sheath dress, several T-shirts, T-shirts, a jacket with a jumper. You can always invest in fur, buy a new fur coat, update your boots, buy branded shoes and an expensive dress for going out.
Sometimes it's better to spend money on one quality item than on 10 cheap ones. Good quality items will last a long time, complement a stylish and elegant look, and give you self-confidence.
Gifts for loved ones
Many people will agree that they enjoy giving gifts more than receiving them. Therefore, you don’t have to think for a long time about where you can spend your accumulated money. If you have some amount at your disposal, you can use this money to buy gifts for your loved ones. You don’t have to wait for some occasion or special occasion; you can please people just like that, giving pleasure with surprises.
Contributing to a gift will help make two people happy at once: a loved one and yourself.
Gifts to loved ones can be both small and large. Perhaps the young guy’s parents have long wanted to update their refrigerator, and he will help them with this. Or your beloved daughter dreams of a beautiful dress from a popular brand, but cannot afford it. You can take care not only of people, but also of your pets. It’s worth buying a new, improved and spacious cage for a rodent, giving your cat a new house or toy, or updating your beloved dog’s wardrobe.
Why not everyone knows how to save and save
The ability to save is a skill that a person either cultivates in himself, or is taught to do so from childhood in his family. In addition, this ability is influenced by character and temperament. Those who like to get quick results cannot plan and live for the future. They cope much worse with accumulation than those who are leisurely and prudent.
All this also applies to saving. Some squander money and constantly live in debt, others spend every ruble wisely. The second situation is no better than the first, because sometimes a person turns into a miser who deprives himself of many joys and pleasures. It is difficult to communicate with them, live in a family or make friends. They are so stingy that they gradually isolate themselves from society.
The most attractive option is when you understand why you are saving and what you are saving money for. If the process has a purpose, it becomes more understandable and directed. The brain is given a task that gives a clear idea of what awaits at the end of the process, and it looks for options to follow the chosen path, rather than giving in to any temptations. Although for some people, breakdowns are inevitable, so it is better to plan them in advance so that they are not spontaneous and too ruinous.
Help
Good deeds make the world a better place and help a person improve. If you don’t know how to spend your money profitably and wisely, be sure to choose charity. It doesn't have to be huge donations to hospitals or orphanages. You can help whenever possible. For example, a lonely old neighbor, a child from a low-income family, should visit animal shelters.
In charity, you must always remember that the more you give, the more will come back. This is one of the operating laws of the Universe.
We optimize housing and communal services costs
If you have not yet installed meters for water, gas or heating, be sure to install them so that you do not have to pay for the extravagance of your neighbors. When purchasing electrical equipment, pay attention to the energy saving class. Do not leave the lights on in the room you are leaving. Make sure that no taps are leaking anywhere and learn to use water sparingly.
We recommend reading more about saving on housing and communal services in a separate article.
Hobby
Nothing distracts a person from everyday affairs, hustle and bustle, routine and worries like a favorite hobby. It allows a person to relax mentally and physically, to escape from everyday life, and restores mental balance. If some business or activity really brings joy, you should not limit yourself or refuse to buy anything. Perhaps it's collecting certain things, so why not add new items to the list? Photographers need to finally make up their mind and buy high-quality professional equipment for themselves. Those who love to embroider or knit finally need to buy expensive and bright threads.
Hobbies can be different, but you can invest in any type of hobby.
Ways to save money
You can save money in your family using several simple ways:
- Separation method. It is necessary to divide the entire income into 5 equal parts, four of which are intended for four weeks of the month, that is, only one of the four parts is allowed to be used per week. The fifth part is for the last remaining days of the month and for accumulation.
- Analysis of costs for all purchases and payments for services. All expenses can be recorded in a notepad, notebook, or an Excel spreadsheet on your work or home computer. At the end of each month, analyze your spending. This method helps to identify unnecessary costs that can be reduced or completely eliminated.
- Complete waiver of loans. Loans for vacations, for the purchase of household appliances, a computer, a telephone - these are completely unreasonable decisions. It is much better to save up money and buy the thing you want than to overpay for it in the form of bank interest.
New impressions
Money can buy amazing emotions, adrenaline, unforgettable sensations. This category includes everything that you can never buy in everyday life. You don’t have to be on vacation to experience unusual or extreme entertainment. This could be diving, swimming in a cage with sharks, diving to great depths, rock climbing, snowboarding, skiing, skydiving and much more.
Investing in new experiences always pays off.
Contribution to appearance
This is also one of the few points that makes a person more confident and a little happier. When you have extra money, you can afford a little more than before. If before this, trips to the hairdresser ended with a regular haircut or coloring, now you can afford coloring, complex coloring, and a change of image. The cosmetologist's office also offers many services for any budget, which will also help improve your appearance, remove all existing flaws and highlight your advantages.
Men shouldn't shy away from investing in their appearance either. They will enjoy the results from the range of services received in modern barbershops for a long time.
This also includes relaxing services, such as visits to spas, massages, trips to the bathhouse and others. It is important for a person to understand that they need to invest in themselves. And it doesn’t matter whether it’s in health, education, rest or relaxation.
Why do we spend a lot?
Having barely entered adulthood and acquired a stable income, most of us get used to completely wasting our salary. And it doesn't matter how big it is. Even a promotion and salary increase usually does not change the situation. There is a well-known rule: as income increases, so do the requirements for quality of life. Even if there is several times more money, there is enough of it, since the needs also grow at the same time.
Most of us find it difficult to force ourselves to spend less than we earn. You will probably remember an example from your own life when your income increased (for example, a salary increase), but no extra money appeared. Unnoticed by yourself, you adjusted your needs in accordance with your new financial situation, began to buy more expensive clothes and visit more comfortable establishments. But by curbing your own desires, you can learn to spend less and save money for truly important purchases.
We offer you a simple plan that will allow you to achieve this goal. It consists of three stages, each of which is aimed at reducing spending, as well as acquiring useful financial habits.
Buying time
The best thing money can buy is time, the most valuable resource that cannot be overestimated. There is never enough time, especially for very busy people. So why not invest on time when a certain unclaimed amount appears in the budget? Namely, pay people to perform certain of your duties. For example, clean the apartment, cook food, wash clothes, answer calls, run small errands. This frees up a huge amount of time, which can be spent with pleasure on your favorite activities, self-improvement, your loved ones and any other concerns.
Try to buy time so you can enjoy life and slow down.
Expense calculations
Attempts to attract additional money to the family budget lead to a second job and part-time work, but an increase in the well-being indicator does not always help to lead the desired lifestyle.
The greater your material wealth, the more significant your expenses become. Increasing the number of monetary units does not solve the problem: a person still does not have enough of them for his goals.
The amount of spending directly depends on the chosen lifestyle. Attempts to stand out from the crowd lead to expensive purchases and 2-3 loans, after which there is no money left for a normal existence. Financial mistakes are not a priority for young people; older people also buy unnecessary or overly expensive things.
Advertising, fashion, the desire to become better than a neighbor or co-worker play a bad role and often end in court orders, by decision of which part of the salary is taken away. This point could have been forgotten, if not for one problem: the final withdrawn amount is twice the original debt.
Economists have identified three types of spending:
- Urgent type - implies mandatory payment without the possibility of deferment indefinitely. These include utility bills, groceries, payments for preschool institutions, medications, etc. This item also includes loans - late payments can result in serious fines.
- Non-urgent – replacement of household appliances, kitchen utensils, furniture, cosmetic repairs, calculations for future training, sanatorium holidays, etc.
- Conditionally unnecessary - visiting restaurants, festive events, concerts, purchasing fashionable clothes, certain things that are widely advertised on TV screens, on the Internet and in print. Everything that can be postponed indefinitely or not purchased at all.
The first point for the family should be a priority.
Everything else can wait - the right approach will allow you to realistically assess your capabilities, buy things cheaper or refuse to purchase them.
Love
No matter how strange it may sound, you can buy love with saved money. For example, get a purebred dog with an excellent pedigree. An animal literally turns a person’s life around, teaches him to be responsible, attentive, caring, makes him kinder and smarter. You can find such love for free by visiting a city animal shelter or saving a kitten or puppy on the street.
You will still have to contribute to the support of your new friend.
Saving on bad habits
How to spend money wisely? Oddly enough, this question is asked most of all by smokers, beer drinkers, and fast food lovers. If you analyze all the expenses of this population group, you will find that expenses for bad habits such as cigarettes, alcohol, chips, hamburgers cost them several thousand rubles a month. By eliminating these costs, you can easily save money and stay healthy.
Investment
The most rational option for investing finances is investing. This procedure will allow you to increase your existing capital, make the amount more impressive, in order to make more expensive purchases and investments in the future or spend them with real benefit. There are a huge number of opportunities around that allow capital to work for its owner and generate even greater income. You just need to look around, find, compare and analyze the options.
It is the correct spending of money wisely that can bring happiness. Charity helps make someone's day lighter and brighter, a gift to loved ones will warm their hearts with love, care and attention, a new tour package will charge them with energy, strength, optimism, new emotions, clothes will give them self-confidence, and food will make them feel the pleasure of life. Modern technologies, new things will make life easier, fresh interior items will give comfort and coziness.
Determine your budget
Expenses should not exceed income. So know how much you earn and spend. Keep track of your purchases and make daily entries in a spreadsheet. Excel or special mobile applications are suitable for this. Over time, you will see how your funds are spent every day, week, month and year.
A budget will help you analyze your personal financial situation and pinpoint the holes into which money is flowing.
Maintain discipline. Before every purchase, think about how necessary it is now and whether it will be relevant in a week. This technique will remove the most obvious financial “mistakes”.
