As we grow older, from youth to adult, your money may have moved from a porcelain piggy to a bank account, but the importance of saving it hasn’t changed. Whether saving for a new toy or bike, or for a new car or retirement, the discipline of saving money hasn’t changed.
While there may not be a single strategy for saving, one thing is true, every positive step counts toward the larger goal.
The first step to saving money requires you to be conscious of how much you spend. Thinking whether your purchasing whims are really worth it will force you to make better spending decisions.
One way to being a conscious spender is creating a budget. Your budget can be as simple as a list of your necessary expenses in a fully functional Excel document; it needs to make sense to you. Once you figure out what you spend the most on, you can work to cut back on those expenses.
One common expense that you might find dominates your spread sheet is grocery expenses. Spending money on food can’t be avoided, but buying food in bulk at stores like Sam’s Club or Costco is a way to cut costs. For example, most grocery stores charge $2 or more for two cups of shredded cheese. A large bag of shredded cheese purchased at Sam’s Club can be divided into two-cup bags for cents apiece.
Try to avoid spending money on unsatisfying and expensive junk food. It’s tempting, but it doesn’t take the place of a full meal, and, it doesn’t help the waistline either. But if you can’t avoid it, try to use a coupon. What you order when you’re out also matters. Soda and alcohol quickly add to the total bill.
Speaking of Sam’s and Costco, let’s talk about another savings strategy for the non-food items you purchase frequently as well as the larger items you purchase like automobiles, furniture and jewelry to name a few. It’s a savings membership, but unlike the Sam’s or Costco clubs, members receive a commission check just for purchasing from the over 300 participating retailers like Walmart, Target, Sears, K-Mart, Home Depot, and many more.
The membership value comes from the large volume of members which enables the company to negotiate these savings from major retailers based on the group’s high-volume buying power. Commissions as high as 30%, are paid in the form of a check payable to you.
You can trim expenses and save money by price comparing and shopping smart. Start saving money by changing just a few little things, and reap the rewards.