Investing In Yourself: How To Make Essential Savings For The Future

by Mike on September 29, 2016

Investing In Yourself: How To Make Essential Savings For The Future

When looking to save money, it can be really difficult to see where you are able to cut corners. With so many outgoings every month, you may not be able to see the wood for the trees. But there are ways in which you can make a saving.

Look In Your Attic
Giving your attic a clean may spring up some surprises for you. That old lamp in the corner that you don’t have a use for? You could get a surprising amount of money for it on auction sites!

Put That Old Skill To Use
Do you have a gift for gardening, sewing or anything involving arts and crafts? You could sell your skills online. Handmaking items for sale online, such as pictures, jewellery or toys, can give you a financial shot in the arm. Doing the gardening or window cleaning for those that aren’t able to do it themselves is handy on a local level. And if you’re really good at these, you could turn your skill into a lucrative business.

Look At Where You Live
Downscaling your property, especially as you get older, is one way to conserve on the finances when are at the age where the children have flown the coup and you don’t need so much room anymore. Thinking about moving to an apartment or a smaller property, such as One River luxury condos is a way to cut down on unnecessary spending.

Downgrade Your Shopping
You can be a shopping snob, or you can save yourself lots of money by purchasing items from stores that stock the same brands as the leading supermarkets. By doing this, you can save yourself more than a third off your shopping bill each week. So, for example, if you spent on average $50 a week on your shopping normally, you save $16.66 per week, totalling $866.66 over the course of a year! Don’t be afraid to look at what is on offer too! There is always a bargain if you know where to look.

Change Your Phone Contract
Looking at your contract, are you using your available credit based on what you pay for? Reducing your tariff can save you lots over a year if you have a fancy smartphone. Contact your supplier and get them to do you a deal as they will never want to lose a customer. The same applies to your utility bills, so give it a try.

Shopping Brands
We don’t want to ditch our brands at all, because it reinforces that we eat quality foodstuffs. A main reason we like our brands is simply because of the psychology in the marketing we are given. So if we were to go for a brand that is cheaper but doesn’t look appealing, we may not be excited by the product. So give a cheaper brand a go, and save approximately two thirds off your normal branded shop. If you have a partner or children who are stubborn enough to not switch, give them a blind taste test or cheat by swapping the labels.

Build Emergency Savings
This is a slow burner. Building up emergency savings over time is not the quickest way to get saving if you are getting on, but starting early will give you the buffer when you need it the most.

Ultimately it is an investment you can make in yourself. If you haven’t thought about making savings for the future, start thinking, and make that investment!

 

***Image thanks to Ken Teegardin***

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