When you are on a tight budget and it seems every dime you make seem to be channelled towards one need or the other, it becomes almost impossible to save some money.
Although this is hard, it is important to save a little out of your salary regardless of how much it is you’re earning.
You will see ways you can save money while on a tight budget.
Your determination to cut down costs on your expenses will make the not-so-big changes reflect on your savings.
Ways to Save Money on a Tight Budget
#1. Pay Yourself
Irrespective of how much additional salary you are ready to save, you need to make that significant stride of adhering to your saving goals.
How to go about this is to keep your savings in a different bank account so you don’t have to swipe your debit card to tamper with the savings.
Develop the habit of moving the stipulated amount you’ve set aside to pay yourself with to an entirely different account just so you don’t use the money for something else.
If you have the tendency of forgetting, make an automatic programming to always remind you when it is time to pay yourself.
Read: How Much Of Your Paycheck Should You Save Immediately?
#2. Evaluate your Budget
If you plan to save on a tight budget and you don’t have a budget, now is the right time to get it done.
It is not enough to just prepare a budget without constant review. Ensure it suits your person and taste.
When your budget for every month is filled with irrelevant things, you will need to re-adjust. If you have difficulty doing this manually, you can do all of this on the app and be sure to stick to it.
#3. Save your Extra Paychecks
Rather than spend your extra income on things you can’t account for, save this extra income and see how far you can go with the minor efforts you make.
#4. Track every dime you Spend
It is normal to ask what you used your money for as there are no significant things you can lay your hands on.
You may not realize how much you spend till it leaves you cashless at the end of the month.
You can either do the tracking manually or on an excel spreadsheet. Better still there is an application that automatically connects to your bank accounts and extracts all of your transactions.
See the link to know more about the app.
Related: How to Stop Living Paycheck to Paycheck | You’ll be happy to see this
#5. Distinguish between Wants and Needs
A major challenge bot being able to save is the habit of attending to both needs at once.
To get honest with your savings, earmark what counts as want and what counts as need.
#6. Experiment a 50-30-20 Budget
The 50/30/20 budget works very well for those on a tight budget. What this kind of budget does is that it places your focus on spending about 50% of your income on things like rent, utilities, transportation, and maybe, groceries.
While the 30% of your budget is channeled towards things you may not have a need for at the moment and then, the final 20% goes to your savings and paying off debts.
Peradventure you spend more on your housing, you’ll need no seer to tell you it is time to change your housing situation.
#7. Cut down your Utility Use
Did you know you can’t totally get rid of your utility bill? But, you can reduce your bill by using energy-saving utilities and using less electricity.
When you don’t pay attention to this, it eats deep into your salary and leaves you broke before the month is far gone.
#8. Avoid Impulsive Shopping
If you are not careful, you will end up shopping out for what you should save. Try your best to operate within a budget.
Steer clear of buying on impulse. It would save you a lot in the long run.
#9. Avoid Unnecessary Fees
Fees such as overdraft, account, paper statement fees are monies your bank charge you which you rarely notice.
Therefore, devote time to go through your bank account and pay attention to every fee you have been charged for.
If you find any, you can either switch banks or make a resolution to do better in order not to attract such charges.
Check out: Become an Extra in a Movie and Makeup to $100 Daily
#10. Start a Side Hustle
There’s only a little that you can do applying the tips above. Instead of finding solace in cutting down expenses, it will be more honorable if you increase your channels of income through side hustles.
There are a thousand and one side hustles you can engage yourself in and make an extra income.
Final Thoughts
Sparing even the littlest sum at the time when you’re on a tight budget is daunting. Be that as it may, there are valid ways you can save cash at the end of every month.
If you are on a tight budget, give these tips a try to see how much you are able to save that you didn’t think was possible.
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