We all know that feeling- the one where you look at your bank account and your stomach hits the floor after seeing that dreaded RED line. You’ve gone after budget and spent more than you planned. Maybe you’ve even hit your overdraft.
I, for one, know that feeling all too well and knew that something needed to give. After reading blogpost after blogpost about cutting back, saving money and NOT hitting that red line, here is what I have learnt about what actually works when trying to save a bit of dollar.
Separate Your Accounts
Something that took me FAR TOO LONG to do was to separate my current and my savings account. I always just thought to myself ‘oh I’ll just leave it one account and not touch it.’ Ahahahah how wrong I was.
Separating your accounts really helps you to separate your money… DUH… but I find that mentally it helps me to separate the money into what I can and can’t spend- what my budget consists of and what my savings consists of.
If you are still struggling even after separating your accounts, I would recommend separating your bank. If you have two separate bank accounts- one for the money you can touch and one for the money you can’t. That way you wont even be tempted to touch your savings!
Dead Subscriptions
One thing that really did help me was to add up the cost of all the subscriptions that I am currently subscribed too. Seeing that big fat number on paper- the number that inevitably comes out of your account every month, was a big shock to the system. It really helped me to think about what I really wanted to be subscribed to and what maybe didn’t need to be eating into my bank balance.
Budget your food
Something that I never used to think about adding into my budgeting was my food spend. Sure I gave myself a limit on my weekly food shop but those odd Deliveroos I was buying throughout the week added up. I’ve now set myself a budget for what I can spend on food a week and make sure I stick to it.
Look for deals
Something that I was always so lazy with was actively searching for deals, but that extra 10, 20 or even 30% off really does add up and end up in big savings! Put out a tweet asking if you could borrow a friend’s student discount code, sign up to email newsletters and keep an eye out for big holiday sales to do your spending.
