Shopping is a pleasant pastime. Heavy products consumption is happiness to companies and disaster to people. But you are perfectly able to set limits to consumption and money spending. If the end of the month meets you with unpaid bills or debts consider introducing some easy money saving rules to your life.
- Plan your purchases. Make a list before going to the supermarket. Stick rigorously to your list and don’t let yourself buy things you don’t really need. Advertising is a hard pressure on consumers’ minds and will. You have to learn to differentiate your needs and wishes. You can definitely manage without Pepsi, chips and beer. Have some occasionally but don’t make it a pleasant tradition of visiting a supermarket. Allow acceptations to the previous rule J If you come across a good discount go for it. It is not a tragedy if you violate the previous rule and buy 2 kilos of rice at a price of one. BUT you can act this way only under condition if there aren’t 5 kilos of rice stored in your house already. Allow unplanned discount purchases only if you know you’ll need these things soon.
- Plan your purchases accurately. If you really need something go and buy it. Don’t wait until it becomes an emergency and you will buy whatever price is.
- Try not to spend money at all. Make this experiment and you will find it is pretty difficult. You remember you have run out of milk and the other day you don’t have bread… and what do you do? You go and buy and spend more and more money. Solution? Plan exactly what you need and when you buy it. Apart from these shopping days try not to spend money at all. That will require a great deal of discipline but eventually you will save money and time since you won’t be doing shopping so often.
- Do the job yourself. You can do some simple things at home yourself. Cooking, washing, ironing, home repairs. Yes, it takes time but if you can save money and do it yourself you might consider using this opportunity as well. Think of the things you enjoy doing and develop this skill to save little money. If you like cooking why not make breakfast at home instead of having it in a café.
- Use free services. It is true that good services are not for free but you still can find some opportunities. Most salons or physicians offer free samples of goods and services. Just ask and maybe they can provide you a sample service for free. If you buy a cell phone check if the shop provides free cover or device applications. There are lots of programs online that allow first month for testing for free. You can also listen to music and watch videos online without having to buy CDs.
These rules are easy and you will definitely cope with the task. It will require self-discipline so check that you follow these rules constantly. Analyze your life and try to find some other ways where you could make small savings. Remember money saving behavior will help get out of debts and make your life easier.