5 Tips on How to Save Money From Salary Each Month

4 years ago | Posted in: Business | 344 Views

How to save Money from Salary Each Month

Set a Budget for Your Household and Always Be Sure to Stick to It  

If you want to know for sure whether you are actually saving any money, you need to know how much money is coming into your household every pay period, how much of it you are spending and what the money you spend is going toward when you spend it. Tabulating all your income and expenses will take some time, but it is a step in the process you cannot afford to skip.

Think long and hard about all your daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly expenses, then categorize them and take a look at which categories account for the largest portions of your unnecessary spending. Your rent or mortgage, vehicle payments, tuition for childcare and other high fixed costs will be tough to adjust, but curtailing your spending on non-necessities like restaurant meals, expensive clothing and shoes, expensive coffee drinks and new electronic devices is an easy way to increase your saving.

Live Below Your Means, Not Just Within Your Means 

Knowing your limitations is one of the keys to success in any field, and personal finance is no different. Living within your means is great, but it is not the answer if you want to save money. Instead, it will merely help you break even. If you want to save some money each month, you need to learn how to live below your means. This will require your household to spend less–and maybe even quite a bit less–than what you get paid. Although it may be difficult, you should decrease or even eliminate your discretionary spending for a while.

This does not mean you will have to go without entertainment or meals out, it just means you will have to be more selective about which non-necessities you purchase. You will also have the opportunity to exercise your creative muscles when you are trying to come up with meals to cook at home and free or inexpensive activities to occupy your time.

Keep a Spending Journal to Hold Yourself Accountable for All of Your Expenditures  

Force yourself to write down every single item or service you buy and how much you spend for a day. Once you can do it for a day, try doing it for a week. Then try a month. Eventually, it will have made a habit out of keeping close tabs on how much you spend and where your money is really going when it leaves your wallet or your checking account.

Getting into this habit will make you think twice about each purchase you make, and you will probably be surprised how often you decide you do not really need what you had planned to buy. Scrutinizing each individual purchase you make will help you determine what is really important and what you are used to buying out of habit or convenience.

Plan Ahead and Do Some Comparison Shopping Before You Make a Purchase  

You do not have to stop shopping altogether, you just need to be more deliberate when you do shop. If, say, you need a glass break sensor, you should be proactive and give yourself plenty of time to find one you really want that fits within your budget. If you are reactive and do not plan ahead, you could find yourself overpaying for a model you do not particularly like simply because you need the item quickly and you do not have time to do any looking around or comparison shopping. Investing time on the front end of the process will save you money and headaches on the back end.

Find Ways to Increase Your Household’s Income   

No matter how frugal and disciplined you are, you can only save so much. At a certain point, you have to start making more money if you want to be able to save more money. This might mean finding a side hustle, turning one of your hobbies into a moneymaking venture or leaving your job and finding a new primary source of income. If you do not want to leave your current primary job, take some time think about what you enjoy and what you are good at doing. Once you come up with some ideas, brainstorm some potential ways to monetize your interests and talents.

 

by: Ashley Hicks 

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