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How to save money so that you always have enough, don’t have to go into debt, but at the same time feel comfortable and start saving for vacation and old age? Unfortunately, there are no lessons on budget planning at school, so you have to learn this science immediately in practice in real life. We conducted several surveys, found out the opinions of successful and wealthy people, and compiled the results into 10 simple lessons. They will help you get rid of unnecessary expenses forever and start living in abundance.

How to learn to save money

It’s worth immediately distinguishing between two concepts – “saving” and “saving”. Saving means not spending too much. Save - save for future use. You can start saving only if you have the funds for this, all expenses are successfully covered and something is left over, so first of all you need to learn how to save.

You shouldn’t immediately grimace and sigh: it’s not the poor and boring who save, but all those who value their work and look to the future. Smart and rationally thinking people who know how to live more than one day at a time are usually successful and wealthy, and it is unlikely that any of the readers of this article will refuse to become one of them! And this is possible even if until recently a person was a spendthrift and a spendthrift. The main thing is discipline and motivation.

So, lesson #1: It's never too late to learn how to save money. And when this science is mastered, you will be able to buy whatever you want, no matter how paradoxical it may sound.

More than 80% of the world's population are debtors to banking institutions and live in debt. More than half of people whose annual income is above average believe that they live in poverty: wages are too low and taxes are too high. And only 12% believe that they have enough - and these are far from the millionaires on the Forbes magazine list.

Any savings starts with planning. To understand the reasons for the constant lack of money, you should clearly calculate your income and make a list of expenses. And then set priorities and plan what you need to buy and pay for first, and what you can actually wait for. Or something to forget about altogether.

“Five envelopes” is one of the most popular ways to distribute finances

Regular control of income and expenses

Everyday life sometimes consumes all your free time and energy, so there is no time to deal with financial calculations. However, you need to do this to start saving money. For convenience, it is recommended to create a table on paper, on a smartphone or on a computer and regularly enter all income and expenses into it. To avoid confusion, you need to do this step by step:

1. Throughout the day, write down all expenses: for travel on public transport, for purchases in the supermarket, for takeaway coffee, for paying off a loan, for a new blouse, for topping up your phone.
2. Separately record all your income, including bonuses, lottery winnings, help from parents or birthday gifts.
3. After a week, add up your income and expenses and make a balance sheet.

As a rule, the results of this mini-research turn out to be disappointing and even shocking: a person spends more money than he thinks. Based on the data from the table, it is easier to determine where you can save money and when money was wasted.

Knowing the types of expenses, you can easily identify priority and secondary ones.

Balance between income and expenses

The balance between income and expenses is somewhat reminiscent of weight control. It is not the one who eats a lot who gets fat, but the one who expends less energy than he receives. The wallet will also get fatter if more comes into it than goes out. Some “how to become rich” manuals recommend abandoning the poor person’s mentality and thinking big.

To avoid getting into debt, you can find a part-time job on the Internet. We have collected today's information in one big article.

This does not mean that with a small salary you need to take a taxi instead of the subway, and eat in restaurants instead of at home, imitating the rich. Such ostentation is unwise and will inevitably lead to financial ruin, debt and starvation in peacetime. At the same time, to improve your financial situation and avoid getting into debt, you don’t have to give up absolutely everything.

It is enough to eliminate the most expensive and not the most necessary expense items one by one - one per week, for example. It could be cigarettes, coffee from the machine, a snack at the buffet instead of food from home in a container, a third robe in a new color, the twenty-fifth lipstick in a month. By gradually cutting back on non-essential expenses, you can save a lot.

Lesson No. 2: it is important to learn not to spend more than you can afford, and to be able to correctly assess the size of your wallet and the limit on your bank card - this is where saving begins.

How to effectively save money on food

Food is one of the largest and most obligatory expenses of every family. A person needs food, but for some, a weekly check from the supermarket amounts to 2,500 rubles, and what they bought is really enough for a week, while for others, even 4,000 rubles are not enough, and on Thursday they need to go shopping again.

There is an explanation for everything: smart and not lazy housewives can feed the whole family on 5,000 rubles a month. Not oysters with pineapples, of course, but not just pasta either. Practice and many years of experience of successful housewives show that this is real.

home kitchen

If you cook your own food, you can save a lot. For comparison: the cost of a standard lunch of a cutlet, side dish and salad in an inexpensive cafe will be at least 60–80 rubles, and the total amount of products used when preparing the same dishes at home will not exceed 30 rubles. If you are not lazy and prepare a full-fledged first course, second course and salad yourself every 2-3 days, then you can save at least 1,000 rubles per person per month.

If it’s difficult to decide on a diet, you can use the proper nutrition table

To motivate yourself to cook at home, and at the same time eat healthy and tasty, psychologists recommend setting any specific and realistically achievable goal in the near future. For example, not “buy an apartment and go on a trip around the world” (although this is also possible if a person is confident of success), but start with something small – “lose 3 kg by the next holiday.” It works. Over time, achieving your goals will become a habit.

Proper food storage

Thrift and the desire to stock up are not always justified measures. Sometimes it is better to dispose of a suspicious product so that later you do not have to spend money on medical examination and treatment of food poisoning.

According to research by American scientists, about 25% of purchased products end up in the trash because their expiration date has expired.

Often people buy more than they can eat: either they cannot correctly determine the amount of food they need, or they purchase unnecessary goods due to discounts. At the same time, storage recommendations are not always followed, which shortens the shelf life of products. The most often neglected nuances are:

• milk and yoghurts spoil within an hour in the summer if left on the table;
• any vegetables will begin to rot and mold if stored in the same compartment as tomatoes;
• the oil will absorb the smell of the cutlets if you place them on one shelf in the refrigerator;
• It is better to store bananas separately from each other, and not in one bunch - this way they stay fresh longer.

When purchasing a food product, it is very important to know exactly how to store it and how long it will stay fresh.

Lesson No. 3. You need to buy food in the quantity that is required for the family within a specified period of time. You can prepare cereals, sugar, flour, canned food for future use, and freeze several kilograms of meat or fish. But it is worth considering that these products also have an expiration date, and you also need to make sure that there are appropriate conditions and space for their storage. If there is no such place, then there is no need to worry: the shortage of the 90s is long behind us, supermarkets always have enough different products in their assortment - if only there was money, which we are just learning to save.

Changing eating habits

“The body itself senses what it needs and lets you know about it,” nutritionists say. This is true: every person feels certain signals from his body, although he does not always recognize them correctly. For example, if you want something sweet, you most likely need to make up for the lack of glucose. To do this, it is enough to eat a spoonful of honey, one caramel, a piece of white bread or a couple of spoons of oatmeal with milk and dried fruits, and not three chocolate bars and wash it all down with cola. By understanding the body's signals, you can learn to replenish missing vitamins with healthy and less expensive foods.

“I don’t have time to visit supermarkets often and cook food at home!” – a copywriter friend said confidently. She liked her job, she wrote articles continuously, really earning good money every hour. I wasn’t distracted by a full meal, but snacked on whatever I could get my hands on right in front of the monitor. This way of eating leads to not the most favorable consequences:

• Sandwiches, buns, chocolates and snacks that can be grabbed with one hand and immediately swallowed cost many times more money than chicken, from which you can prepare a stew for the whole family for two days;
• Snacking is bad for your stomach, promotes weight gain, and may result in you having to spend even more money on doctors and medications.

Lesson No. 4. You need to reconsider your eating habits: first of all, you should clearly think through your diet and start devoting enough time to preparing food. By the way, a trip to the supermarket can be considered as a healthy walk that helps generate fresh ideas for work - why not replace the usual snack for inspiration?

Discounts in supermarkets, promotions on grocery purchases

Most useful tips for saving money when shopping at the supermarket have been known for a long time, but practice shows that people forget them at the most inopportune times. It's time to remember valuable recommendations, print them out, laminate them and, if necessary, take them with you instead of a shopping list (although you also need one - remember the rule of planning expenses). So, five life hacks on how not to buy too much:

1. Think in advance about the menu for the family, taking into account the needs of everyone at home: who needs yoghurt, and who needs milk, who eats sausage, and who is a vegetarian. Decide which products can be replaced with cheaper analogues and which ones to discard.
2. Make a shopping list. Knowing at least a sample menu, it will be much easier to rationally compile a list of necessary products. If your current diet does not include fried fish and pilaf, then you do not need to buy fish, lamb and rice. If you are planning a busy week, the priority should be instant foods - minced meatballs, pasta, sausages, cheese and eggs. Life hack: just in case, you need to keep a pack of any semi-finished and canned foods in the refrigerator if you don’t have time to cook or go shopping.
3. Go to the store well-fed. A hungry person usually buys at least twice as much food as it should.
4. Choose the right retail outlets. Each supermarket has its own characteristics: somewhere bulk products are cheaper, somewhere meat, and somewhere – vegetables and fruits. It is better to purchase something at a wholesale base or on the market.
5. Consider shopping times. It's better to go to the store on Monday or Tuesday, when new promotions have started and the shelves are filled with fresh goods after the weekend. This approach saves both money and time.

Lesson No. 5. No need to take a bank card to the supermarket. It is better to withdraw the amount corresponding to the compiled list of products through an ATM in advance and go to the store with cash. Even if something extra is added to the cart, you will have to refuse it at the checkout if there is not enough money in your wallet.

Budget cafes and canteens

Even bachelors who have no idea where the pots are in the kitchen or what is included in an omelet can save on food. This does not mean that you have to eat only hot dogs and pizza delivered by courier. It is enough to find an inexpensive cafe with home cooking: set meals in such establishments are inexpensive, regular customers are given discounts and they allow you to make personal orders. It’s also worth taking advantage of the “Happy Auss” and “Business Lunch” offers, and using the money saved during your leisure time you can sign up for culinary courses. Complete benefit!

How to learn to save on utilities

Tariffs for gas, electricity and water are not set by the consumer, otherwise he would prefer not to pay at all. Some utilities have a fixed cost, but water, gas and electricity are metered, which means the consumer only pays for the amount of resources he uses.

Correct operation of electrical and gas appliances

You can significantly reduce gas and electricity consumption in a completely legal way, without dubious “bugs”. It is worth remembering these tricks and life hacks:

1. Turn off all electrical appliances, including chargers for gadgets, immediately after use. It may seem like a small thing, but next month's receipt will make you happy.
2. Do not use the gas stove for purposes other than its intended purpose, for example, for heating a room, drying hair or washing clothes.
3. Instead of a bath, take a shower during the week, which is faster and healthier, and uses much less water. Karl Lagerfeld believed that water procedures are harmful to physical and mental health: frequent washing washes away the protective layer on the skin and aura, and, as a result, a person becomes vulnerable. Whether to listen to the opinion of the master of Haute Couture or not is a personal matter for everyone. But still, the man lived an active life until he was 86 years old, and that says something.
4. Don’t be lazy to replace regular light bulbs with economical ones.
5. Buy devices that initially consume electricity in an economical mode. Now there are a lot of them, you just need to pay attention to the labeling.
6. Follow the rules for using electrical appliances. For example, an electric kettle coated with scale on the inside takes longer to heat water, which means it consumes more energy. Costs can be reduced if it is cleaned in a timely manner.

You can use electricity without compromising your comfort and at the same time save money

Lesson #6: You need to take a broader view of saving money. Saving on electricity, water and gas is not boring or stingy, but also respectful of the environment. The most progressive ones completely switch to a healthy lifestyle and a raw food diet - then a gas stove will not be needed at all, candles will replace light, and the Internet will be replaced by meditation. But this, of course, is an extreme. And a joke.

How to save money on purchases

Impulse purchases really take a toll on your pocket. Therefore, before you succumb to flashy advertising, a tempting promotion or an impassioned speech from a promoter, you need to consider whether the advertised item is really necessary. Usually in the course of such reasoning it turns out that it is not needed at all.

According to research by psychologists and marketers, more than 25% of purchases are made spontaneously and thoughtlessly, under the influence of momentary emotions. And more than 70% of things bought impulsively turn out to be forgotten and unclaimed after a few days, and sometimes even hours.

Sales, promotions, discounts

It will be easier to save and accumulate money if you regularly take advantage of special offers and participate in promotions and store loyalty programs. Psychologists have proven that it is easier to accumulate bonuses and points on a discount card than real money. They are not considered by the consumer as funds that can be spent on occasion in a store if suddenly there is not enough cash, so they remain safe and sound until a decent amount has accumulated.

Announcements about discounts and promotions are published in the public domain

Hence the next, seventh lesson: it is better to save and store money in a bank account. In this case, they do not encourage unexpected expenses, as happens with a cash stash that is always at hand. And if the account is a deposit account, then interest will also be added to the total amount at the end of the year.

Registration of services that provide bonuses and privileges

Before adding the selected product to a virtual or real cart, it makes sense to once again clarify the terms of payment, as well as possible discounts and benefits. You definitely need to find out when and under what conditions a club or discount card is issued, if available. The following promotions and loyalty systems are especially popular now:

1. Bonuses for newbies. For example, many online platforms immediately credit each new registered customer with a certain amount of points to their account as a welcome. Some online stores offer amounts up to $50 – isn’t it profitable?
2. Bonuses when paying by card online. It is important to clarify whether the cashback service works - returning part of the funds spent on a purchase. Its principle is that the buyer in a certain store pays for the goods with a card from a partner bank, part of the funds can be returned to his account in a set amount, which often reaches 30% of the payment amount. No hidden fees, no catch. The bank simply compensates for part of the money spent in the form of gratitude for the fact that the client uses its services and makes purchases from its partner.
3. Discounts during the holidays. People who want to save as much as possible are sure to subscribe to the newsletters of their favorite stores. Almost all retail outlets, restaurants, spas, hotels, tour operators and banks distribute hot offers with favorable discounts for the holidays. Also, many establishments give gifts and make special offers to birthday clients.

There are online services that collect and publish information about discounts

Lesson No. 8. Monitor promotions and sales. On the websites of large companies, a special section always sets out in detail the conditions for participation in bonus programs, loyalty programs, competitions and sweepstakes. You can subscribe to notifications and stay up to date with the latest offers.

Purchase of the main product and components in the set

Yes, this marketing trick works approximately as described in the old joke: “buy this food processor, and for half the price, a freezer for storing prepared semi-finished products and a dishwasher.” But sometimes such offers are really profitable and worthwhile.

For example, when buying a bicycle, a pump or a set of wrenches will definitely not hurt. A curling iron would come in handy when paired with a hairdryer. One girl I know bought a set of gels and bath salts just to get a free bamboo washcloth. This is also a saving if all the components from the promotional set are actually used.

Focus not only on famous brand products

A brand is prestige and recognition. Prestige and recognition are good advertising. Good advertising entails enormous costs that must be covered somehow. In Australia, marketing researchers conducted an analysis and came to the conclusion that the cost of a tunic from a famous Italian brand made from natural silk is $8.5, taking into account the cost of the fabric, the work of the seamstress and the consumables spent. In the boutique, a ready-made item costs $748.

Three main factors influence price formation, and in the case of a well-known product, an additional markup for the name is added

When buying a branded item, a person pays not only for the purchase itself, but also for prestige. Indeed, well-known brands guarantee quality, but often a product of this level can be obtained at a lower cost without overpaying for the name.

Luxury British brand Burberry once burned more than $39 million worth of unsold merchandise after the end of the season because the brand's internal store policy did not allow for sales. It would seem that the company could easily go bankrupt after such losses, but marketers calculated that based on the cost of the burned items, the losses amounted to no more than $800. This is how many people are deceived by brands.

Lesson No. 9. Don’t think that behind a loud label and a five-zero price tag there is always exceptional quality. An item whose cost is several times lower may be no worse than a branded one.

What you shouldn't save on

Saving should not reach the point of fanaticism, injure others, or harm both physical and mental health. There is a good life example. One woman, at a young age, arrived in a large city in a light summer dress and flip-flops. She did not have a brilliant career, since she was not endowed with great intelligence or talents. All her life she worked tirelessly in a restaurant, where she started as a dishwasher and eventually became the chief administrator. Then she retired, but continued to work hard at two summer cottages.

The woman managed to buy an apartment for herself and her children, a car for her son-in-law, and a dacha for her grandchildren. Such acquisitions were the result of her habit of saving on everything: she ate the cheapest bread with the cheapest sausage, replaced sweets with surrogate condensed milk, did not buy clothes at all, and took from her friends what they wanted to throw away.

At the age of 75, the woman began to go crazy and become lost in reality due to blockage of blood vessels with cholesterol due to progressive atherosclerosis. The brain stopped receiving oxygen and shut down. The relatives sent the deranged woman to a nursing home, since she could not be left unattended for even a minute, and there she died quietly a few months later, forgotten by everyone and of no use to anyone. She ate almost waste all her life, never went to the doctor or rested by the sea, and at the same time was an exemplary example of frugality, but this did not bring her happiness.

To determine important expenses, you need to compare them with the pyramid of needs

There is definitely no need to skimp on the following items:

• medicines;
• quality food products;
• medical examination and treatment;
• rest.

And the last, tenth, parting lesson: it’s not for nothing that they say that saving is a habit, and it takes 21 days to develop a habit. If you go through this stage correctly, in the future, control of income and expenses will be in order.

Personal experiences of people who have learned to manage money

There are many brochures on how to learn to be rich, self-sufficient and successful. The most impressive thing is the story of a teenager who started saving money for headphones for his phone, and in the end, six months later, he managed to buy a new iPhone and a powerful power bank to go with the headphones!

He didn’t do anything special: he simply began spending half the pocket money on cigarettes that his parents gave him for lunch at school. He didn’t spend it on lunches either, but began saving half of the amount for headphones, and lending the remaining half to friends if they asked. This teenager, at 14 years old, turned out to be more financially literate than his parents. He shrewdly kept cash in the wallets of friends and, if necessary, simply demanded to repay the debt, and therefore the amount in the deferred part grew.

Of course, these were pennies: the guy received the main amount for the new phone from his parents and friends for his birthday. But after purchasing the desired gadget, he did not return to smoking, but did the opposite: he began communicating on social networks with like-minded people, sharing his experiences and achievements. He believed in himself and learned to save on things that actually only ruin his life, taking away money, time and health. Small victories always inspire more and change a person’s consciousness.

Now the guy has a different goal: to save money to study in Prague. He has already made a plan on where to start, how to increase income and reduce expenses.

Learning to save money wisely does not mean learning not to eat, not drink and be content with second-hand clothes instead of decent clothes. It is really necessary to buy food, clothes, and spend money on entertainment, but wisely and without fanaticism.

• • Method number 1. We build a chain of financial priorities
  • Method number 2. We adhere to the rule: “Pay yourself first”
  • Method No. 3. Income and expenses accounted for
  • Method number 4. We go to the store with a pre-prepared grocery list.
  • Method No. 5. Learning to work with analogues of the same quality, but at a lower cost
  • Method number 6. How to save on food, groceries - healthy but cheap food
  • Method No. 7. We fight bad habits
  • Method No. 8. Optimization of loan payments
  • Method number 9. We fight against “money sinks”
  • Method No. 10. We install water and gas meters
• 5. Conclusion

Each of us on this planet wants to live well and not deny ourselves anything, but not everyone knows how to save money. And the paradox of our existence is this: if you want to raise your social level, learn to save! Finance loves order. Therefore, just earning them is not enough; you also need to be able to distribute them correctly. It's hard to argue with this fact.

In this article we will cover the following questions:

• How to save money with a small salary?
• How to learn to save money and save money with a small salary?
• How to save money correctly?

You can also get useful recommendations on what money-saving techniques you need to know. What should you take care of so that expenses are not an obstacle to a happy life? With a competent approach to finance, even a crisis will not become an obstacle to achieving your goals (read more about the crisis).

We learn to save and accumulate money according to the rules and recommendations of experts

1. Saving the family budget is a good habit

The first thing that should be deposited in your subconscious and become the key motto of life: saving is not a path to reducing the standard of living, but, on the contrary, competent distribution of your own budget. There is a high probability that by learning to manage your finances wisely, you will raise your social status by reducing expenses such as unhealthy foods and habits.

The costs are not small and completely unnecessary things; over time, they take away considerable amounts from the family budget, which are then not enough for more important expenses. As they say: a penny saves a ruble! Smart saving is an art, the basis of which is patience and perseverance. However, having learned to save with a small salary, you will no longer make unnecessary expenses, but on the contrary, you will benefit from financial investments.

Save- does not mean that you need to starve, give up everything you can. Such an interpretation of the concept will not bring anything useful to your life, it will only cause harm.

This article is intended to reveal the concept of economics in a different light. How to competently manage your own budget, which does not include unnecessary costs. Savings should allow you to accumulate money.

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10 secrets about money that rich people hide

It's a good idea to have some kind of goal in life that will motivate you to distribute your money wisely.

The most important- understand where to start in saving money. Over time, this financial strategy will become a habit for you.

Changing your lifestyle and learning to save money with a small salary should be done in stages:

• start by classifying your expenses into unnecessary and necessary;
• then pay attention to the feasibility of using paid resources (water, communications, electricity, etc.);
• after that, we set up the food system and food costs;
• the next step is to set aside a fixed percentage of the money saved. It is better that they do not lie at home under the mattress, but work and generate income. (We wrote an article about this -)

If you manage to tear away from the family budget in total every month 10 -20% funds, already through 6 -12 months on your own account there will be an impressive amount.

At the same time, we should not forget that saving is not self-sacrifice and an absolute limitation on expenses.

Proper distribution of finances is the path to good changes in your life.

2. Should you save on groceries, food and electricity?

Saving on such vital resources as food, electricity and communications does not consist of a diet of water and bread, evenings by candlelight and walking to work.

Reasonable distribution of funds means eliminating unnecessary expenses. All necessary expenses do not lose their importance.

As for a competent approach to nutrition, you will learn about it further in the section allocated for this.

5 tips from an expert on how to save energy in an apartment

1. Tip #1- Wise use of electrical appliances. Let's take, for example, the same chargers for tablets or phones. While connected to the power supply, they continue to draw electricity, and at the same time your money, even if the mobile device is not connected to them. The same picture emerges with other household equipment - music speakers, TV, DVD player.
2. Tip #2- Use of cookware with appropriate parameters for electric stoves. A significant reduction in the energy required for cooking can be achieved by using cookware with a bottom diameter identical to the diameter of the electric stove burner. In other words, the device will not waste heat in the kitchen, which affects the duration and efficiency of heating the dish.
3. Tip #3- The refrigerator must be installed in its place. The energy consumption required to operate the refrigerator is significantly reduced in direct proportion to its distance from the stove.
4. Tip #4- Correct loading of laundry into the washing machine. This type of household appliance consumes 10-15% more electricity if you overload it or, on the contrary, underload it. The load must correspond to the parameters of the washing machine.
5. Tip #5- Night shutdown of electrical appliances. It is recommended to turn off almost all electrical appliances while you are away and at night.

When becoming the owner of household appliances, it is very important to become familiar with the energy consumption class. Equipment with low energy consumption has an order of magnitude higher cost. However, this difference pays for itself very quickly through further energy savings.

It would be nice to have habit of turning off the light when leaving the room. As practice shows, not everyone has it. However, this problem also has a solution: invest in infrared sensors and save money without making unnecessary moves.

Perhaps it will not be news and obligatory replacing all lamps with energy-saving ones. Zonal lighting will significantly reduce electricity consumption, at least in the bedroom. Bedside lamps and sconces will bring you much more benefit than two- or three-lamp chandeliers.

Reducing energy costs can be achieved with a regular thermos, which will save you from the need to heat water with an electric kettle several times a day.

3. How to learn to save money - 10 ways to save money with a small salary

Ways to save and save your money

Method number 1. We build a chain of financial priorities

A rational approach to expenses is the foundation of smart savings. The ability to manage a family budget can easily be classified as management, the main task of which is to work for one’s own good. You need to understand that your well-being directly depends on the reasonable distribution of the finances that you manage.

Finances can diverge both with and without benefit. However, first you need to learn how to determine the level of usefulness of a particular expenditure. Let's talk about this in order.

IMPORTANT ADVICE!
Make a list of expenses that you consider necessary, but they are not vital. Try to rethink each point. Think about whether you could do without anything on this list.

Expenses for food, utilities and loans (if any) are classified as urgent expenses. The list of less urgent investments should include funds for entertainment and recreation, self-education and savings.

The list of the not at all urgent categories includes purchasing and replenishing your wardrobe with fashionable clothes, visiting restaurants, purchasing household goods, mobile devices, and a new computer. In general, everything that you can abstain from in the near future or should not be bought at all.

If clothing from the most popular brands and entertainment are the top rung of your ladder of desire to live better, then, unfortunately, it will not be possible to eliminate unnecessary expenses as much as possible. The same applies to everything that relates to non-urgent expenses.

The second equally important question is options for investing saved funds. The most reasonable solution - This is investing money in assets that will turn into passive income in the future. That is, you will be able to replenish the family budget with finances without making any effort.

Method number 2. We adhere to the rule: “Pay yourself first”

The essence of this rule is that any financial receipt must be “subject to its own tax.” That is, you should set aside a certain percentage of any funds that appear in your wallet. You can also immediately invest them in your business. You don't have to own your own business to do this. You can invest money in construction, antiques, securities, in anything that will bring income in the future.

This rule works if you always use it, regardless of any circumstances. No matter how high your desire is to spend the money you have set aside for other purposes, this cannot be done. Otherwise, You will not be able to learn how to save and save your money correctly.

In general, as mentioned above, money should work. (Therefore, we also recommend reading about where it is better to invest money so as not to lose and make money in). This article has already discussed where it is most profitable to invest and where to start investing.

Those who pay themselves first will never have a question: where to get capital for the future possession of passive income. The right investments will slowly but surely gradually increase the limit of your family budget. In this case, the amount of investment may not exceed 10% of your income.

For reference, 20 % millionaires in the West, learned this rule and were able to get rich. (We recommend reading: “”)

Today you can safely put 10% of the funds available in the house in a distant drawer and forget about them for a while. Let these funds become the beginning of the foundation of your future building of well-being and successful life.

Method No. 3. Income and expenses accounted for

All financially successful people believe that all expenses and income must be subject to strict accounting. In this way, the cell with the highest costs can be identified and optimized.

Let's say that every month you leave a round sum in cinemas, cafes or other types of leisure. With desire and perseverance, this expense cell can be reduced or eliminated altogether. Visualization and analysis of your actions sometimes works wonders. In general, practice helps to determine what theory cannot.

You must always be aware of all your own financial indicators.
According to world-renowned speaker and personal success coach Anthony Robbins: “ What cannot be measured cannot be managed».

Progressive information technologies have simplified our lives in many ways. They also touched upon the process of accounting for income and expenses, making it accessible and easy to use. Specially developed applications have replaced the manual work of creating tables and filling them out.

Clear monitoring of all financial transactions makes it possible to ultimately gain financial literacy.

A sociological survey conducted in Russia revealed that 85-90% By the time people receive their next salary, they manage to almost completely spend the previous one. Moreover, each of them has a completely different level of income.

Financial literacy will allow you to think differently and give you the opportunity to enter those 15-10% exceptions.

• We recommend reading -

Method number 4. We go to the store with a pre-prepared grocery list.

Having a grocery list compiled ahead of time at home will prevent unnecessary and unplanned expenses. After all, the marketing of any store is aimed at purchasing goods that, in fact, do not represent a need for you. That’s why we strictly follow the list in the store.
Another trick to dealing with unplanned expenses is the amount of money needed for purchases in your wallet. It is not advisable to take more.

ADVICE!
It’s probably no secret that you should go to food stores well-fed. A hungry person can sometimes buy up half a supermarket.

Mobile applications again come to help in compiling a shopping list. In addition to money, you also save your time by purchasing planned goods. After all, you don’t have to visit every department and remember what else you wanted to buy.

It is not recommended to go to the store on paydays or advance payments.. As a rule, having a round sum in hand, a person stops thinking objectively and makes investments that he would not make on another day.

Experts advise paying strictly in cash for purchases. Plastic cards- certainly a convenient thing, but from an economic point of view it is unprofitable. The perception of a bank account is completely different from that of paper notes. Therefore, money from a plastic card disappears much faster than from a wallet.

Method No. 5. Learning to work with analogues of the same quality, but at a lower cost

For each product there is an analogue that differs in price from the original, so to speak. Those who have learned this truth for themselves put a tangible difference into their pockets every day. First you need to learn not to fall for marketing tricks.

4 important rules for saving money

1. Higher value items are often at customer eye level. To choose a cheaper analogue, you will need to look at the lower or upper shelves.
2. Before buying household appliances, use the Internet and compare prices for the same model in different stores. In addition, you can get information about ongoing promotions in hardware hypermarkets without leaving your home.
3. Try to find prices for goods not only in the store closest to you, but also in those located further away. Sometimes you can save money by purchasing the same unit 10-30% means walking a couple of blocks more.
4. Online stores have also become widespread. Prices for goods there are much lower, and you do not need to leave home to buy the necessary thing.

The rule of saving on analogues also applies to pharmaceuticals. Imported medicines, the cost of which exceeds all permissible standards, have domestic and cheap analogues. They have a different name, but their composition and properties are no worse than foreign ones.

Method number 6. How to save on food, groceries - healthy but cheap food

Immediately discard the thought that you will have to tighten your belt and go on a diet. No matter how paradoxical it may sound, healthy eating nowadays is much cheaper than a luxurious table set with exquisite delicacies.

To eat healthy for your body, you don’t have to spend large sums on food. After all, their cost depends not so much on naturalness, but on many other factors. For example, prices per package. Manufacturer's marketing company, brand popularity.

When caring not only about the money you save, but also about your own health, give preference to nutritious cereals over “fast food.”

Optimizing your diet can be done in other ways:

• as a rule, products sold in bulk are cheaper than those packaged in beautiful packaging;
• You can purchase goods on the market, where bargaining is appropriate;
• give preference to fresh meat in bulk quantities over ready-made semi-finished products. You can use it to prepare both first and second courses;
• The optimal time of day for shopping at the market is evening. It is during this period of the day that sellers make significant discounts;
• take a ready-made lunch to work;
• Let’s not forget about the seasonality rule. During their season, vegetables and fruits are much cheaper than at other times of the year;
• first courses are more beneficial and cost less;
• You need to make a menu and accordingly make the necessary purchases a week in advance;
• do not exceed the required limit of required calories;
• It is better to purchase cereals, flour, sugar and other products in bulk.

Saving on food will not only save money in the family budget, but will also make adjustments to your health. Do not pollute your body with soda, crackers, burgers and other nonsense.

Optimizing your diet can save you money from 10 to 50%.

So, for example, by giving preference to home-cooked food, you will not only improve your culinary skills, but also put a tidy sum of money saved into your piggy bank. There is no point in even arguing about the usefulness of self-cooked food. In addition, the same frozen semi-finished products in the form of dumplings and dumplings can be made at home and thrown into the freezer.

Fresh vegetables can also be exposed to high temperatures. By purchasing them in larger quantities during the season, you take care of future savings.

Can be frozen tomatoes, pepper, carrot, greenery. During the cold season, you can not only please yourself with summer gifts, but also benefit your body.

Since most people “eat up” most of their monthly income, cost optimization must begin with food costs.

Spending most of your life on a “festival of the stomach” is not right. It's harmful and expensive, and besides, you can't save money on food.

Method No. 7. We fight bad habits

We can talk about the dangers of tobacco products for hours. Hundreds of videos, books, booklets scare us with the irreversible consequences of smoking. However, not a single pack of cigarettes or article about a bad habit describes the colossally large expenses that it entails.

Giving up this dependence means tangible savings every month and even greater savings annually. According to the most conservative estimates, quarterly it is possible save up to 6,000 thousand rubles. Accordingly, over the course of a year your family budget can increase by 24,000 rubles.

As for alcohol, the situation here is somewhat different. Some people simply cannot imagine having a good rest without drinking alcohol. At the same time, a person can receive a small salary and at the same time allocate funds daily for a bottle of beer.

If you give up this habit, there is a high probability of purchasing a laptop at the end of the year or opening your own mini business.

Method No. 8. Optimization of loan payments

Any loan implies a debt that must be repaid sooner or later.
As practice shows, many people who have once taken out a loan subsequently take this process as a habit. But few people know that if you correctly approach the optimization of payments, you can significantly reduce the overpayment on the loan.

So, for example, a new loan can pay off an old one ahead of schedule. Accordingly, the amount of overpayments in this case will be less. However, before taking this step, it is necessary to calculate in detail the benefits of this operation.

IMPORTANT!
When applying for a loan, choose the longest term for its repayment so that your monthly payment is minimal. Don't let the total amount of overpayments scare you.
Often, problems associated with the family budget arise due to the increased burden created by the obligation to pay the loan. It’s much easier to give it to the bank for a loan, for example, 2 000 rubles, rather than 10 000 rub..

A wise decision, before taking out a loan, would be to study in detail the terms of loan repayment in different banks. Then analyze them and choose the most profitable ones. Don’t just fall for fancy advertising.

If you still need financial help, then read our article: - quick ways to find money"

Method number 9. We fight against “money sinks”

The “Bermuda Triangle” for your finances is not only cigarettes and alcohol, but also seemingly harmless needs - unprofitable telephone and Internet tariffs.

Often for unknown reasons, perhaps in moments of weakness, we connect some additional service. As a result, we don’t use it at all, we forget, but we pay for it for a long time, not paying attention to where the money goes.

Napoleon Hill - famous writer and journalist of the twentieth century I believed that spending is always much easier than saving.

So be prepared for this before you learn how to save money.

The most significant financial sinks include:

• alcohol and tobacco addiction (bad habits);
• unjustified loans (expensive equipment, a car not suitable for social status);
• Useless mobile phone services and high Internet tariffs.

In general, every financial transaction must be deliberate.

Method No. 10. We install water and gas meters

Well, the last way to avoid becoming the owner of unnecessary expenses is to install gas and water meters. At the same time, you should not neglect the choice of a profitable company that will install the devices.

The absence of meters is fraught with monthly overpayment. After all, then the tariffs are calculated based on the square footage of the apartment or the number of residents registered in it. In general, you pay for water and gas, even in those months when you are away from home. For example, we were on vacation.

It is noteworthy that these investments in the purchase of meters can be recouped in just six months.

4. How to save money in the family - a sample table for tracking expenses

How to save your family budget? Let's look at saving money using an example - a table

Here's an example table where you can save your money by assessing your spending in three categories:

Category "1" - the most necessary (necessary) and important expenses of any person;
Category "2"- minor expenses (expenses) that in some way improve a person’s standard of living;
Category "3"- bad habits and entertainment. These expenses most quickly lead to financial problems and negatively affect your physical and emotional well-being.

So, the table itself is how to save money correctly

Mandatory (periodically) Category "1"	Secondary (one-time) Category "2"	Money sinks Category "3"
Food, food, etc.	Education (in some cases may be classified as Category “1”)	Cafes, restaurants, night clubs
Utilities (water, gas, electricity)	Furniture	Expensive and unhealthy goodies
Transport (gasoline, fare payment)	Household and digital appliances	Gambling (poker, betting, etc.)
Communication (Internet, home and cell phone)	Branded items and accessories	Bad habits (alcohol, smoking)
Cloth	Hobbies and interests	Unnecessary options for different devices and processes (individually)

5. Conclusion

It would be great if this article helped you learn how to intelligently optimize your expenses and income, and you could go all the way to reasonable savings. After all, this art will not only save a significant part of the family budget, but will also transform it into future more significant passive income.

It is necessary to optimize your own expenses in the following areas:

1. Tariffs for Internet and mobile communications. As already mentioned, we give preference only to profitable services and exclude unnecessary ones.
2. Expenses for travel on public transport. You need to buy a reusable pass for travel on the transport you use most. Single tickets will cost you much more.
3. Motorists should save on gasoline and diesel fuel. It is much more profitable to refuel your car at gas stations of the same proven network than at different ones. Moreover, as a regular customer, you can be issued a discount or bonus card.
4. Rent, which includes payment for electricity, water, gas. Follow all the rules of saving: replace conventional lamps with energy-saving ones, turn off non-working appliances from sockets, if you do not need them in operation, install meters.
5. Optimizing food costs. Give preference exclusively to home cooking, buy only healthy food. Limit the number of trips to cafes, fast foods and restaurants.
6. Entertainment and other leisure activities. Try to cope with momentary weaknesses, do not make purchases under emotional pressure. Skip the expensive brands. Adhere to the principle: clothes do not make a person. Remember that everyone in this life is trying to make money from your frivolity. Especially marketers and advertising companies.

Spend less time on television and be interested in truly valuable information.

earn from 20 thousand rubles on real estate in the next week

Saving money is difficult, but it is possible; I will say more - this can be turned into a way of life that is not only not annoying, but rather brings joy and pleasure.

Of course, the key condition that puts this mechanism into action remains motivation: someone wants to accumulate start-up capital for an apartment, someone invests money at interest and receive passive income, someone dreams of buying a car or going on a trip around the world. “It’s good when you have something to save,” says popular wisdom, and I will talk further about how to accustom yourself to such a sometimes complex method.

How to save on a small salary

Few people can boast of having too much salary, and if they can, they are silent about it, which is also quite fair and understandable. If you don’t know how to start saving and saving money, and if you do, then for some reason you don’t use these important recommendations - I advise you to choose a goal for yourself and, after implementing one, set a more complex one and so gradually reach a more expensive project.

“Economy should be economical,” says popular wisdom, but when it comes to fanaticism, then all attempts to save money and enjoy life are destroyed, so always know a sense of proportion.

Feel the value of money

I think many people have now remembered the period of childhood, or even youth, when our parents told us that we simply must feel the value of money. If 20-25 years ago it seemed too complicated, then over the years and wisdom, we still managed to understand what the point of such an expression is. Of course, you can earn a million and throw money around left and right, or you can use capital rationally, putting it to work.

I always use the rule: each product has its own price, but it must be adequate.

To feel the value of money and start spending truly rationally, you can:

1. Having earned a large sum for the first time;
2. Finding yourself at a broken trough;
3. Starting to regularly receive a stable profit and constantly allow yourself a little more than before.

Determine your savings goal

I will agree with those psychologists and coaches who insist on why it is necessary to limit - in fact, the juice of the process itself is not so much about testing yourself - you can or cannot give up something or on what minimum amount you can live for a week, but about why are you doing this? Thanks to a series of webinars for investors, we will not only be able to identify important points in saving for ourselves, but also understand what motivates each of us in the investment process.

Keep your savings

I am convinced that successful people are more likely to save. In my life, I often observe that even with a small income, people manage to keep their funds intact and accumulate capital. And the stories that after leaving for a better world pensioners have millions of rubles left in their mattresses are significant evidence of this. To make it easier to accumulate, use the following rules: 1. A stable amount or percentage should always be set aside after receiving a profit; 2. Have NZ (emergency reserve). You cannot spend it, as you understand.

Keep your home accounting

Smart saving of money should be like this, and for this it is worth keeping track of expenses and profits. I am not so pedantic about regularly entering data into a program or a regular Excel file, but I believe that in order not to get lost in the financial world it is necessary to at least sometimes, or better yet, once a month, take stock, taking into account:

1. How much did you receive?
2. How much did you spend?
3. How much did you put aside?

At first it seems tedious and ineffective, but seeing specific numbers, you can quickly learn not to spend a lot.

Learn to allocate expenses

When you want to buy both, then you should answer the question: “Do you really need this,” or even better, sleep with this thought; if the desire is not gone, then buy. Sometimes, in order to save more efficiently, everyone sets themselves a certain amount that can be spent this month on certain things, and strictly follows the established limit amounts.

Avoid brands

This rule is relevant for those who are not too dependent on branded items. You can find a stylish item without the label of a famous designer, which, in fact, makes up 80% of the entire price. If you give preference to not expensive things, but only buy some with a distinctive brand, for example, shoes, watches, accessories, then it is quite possible to save up for an apartment much faster.

Don't use credit cards

I love this rule because I share and understand the philosophy of those people who are considered anti-lenders. In fact, once you forbid yourself to use a credit card, or borrow money from friends and acquaintances, and then repeat to consolidate the position, you can learn to “feel money” and, as they say in popular wisdom, stretch your legs over your clothes - save and follow strictly designated goals.

In Japan, for example, wallets have only 1 slot for a plastic card - for the one where the income from the main job comes. And if it becomes known that someone has used the loan services, no, there will be no execution, but the employee’s reputation may significantly deteriorate.

Buy only what you need

In order to determine what exactly is necessary and what is excessive spending, evaluate your usual life and see what you are used to and highlight where you can save. This method most effectively allows you to save on food, as well as all sorts of pleasant little things, such as photo frames that have nowhere to put and candlesticks.

NLP trainers who conduct master classes with avid shopaholics suggest never buying anything on promotional displays in hypermarkets, as well as on shelves at eye level, and always carefully study the price tag. After all, let’s be honest that in stores, seeing the word “Promotion”, “Sale”, certain centers in the brain that are responsible for rational spending are switched off. If these tips do not allow you not to spend money, then when going to the store, take out all the cards from your wallet and leave a certain amount of money. Don’t buy anything unnecessary, because few people will give you goods on credit.

Make a shopping plan

This rule applies to everyone and at any age. This way, you will learn to coordinate your spending and develop yourself to become financially independent. There are several strategies for creating a shopping list, which I discuss below.

1. The accumulative strategy: you evaluate your reserves, and strictly write down what you need in the long term.
2. Instant: the list is compiled only for today. According to him, no one will buy a new bottle of shower gel if the old one has not yet run out or accumulate packs of salt in the kitchen drawer.

The world does not stand still, and today, in order to save money, there are even special applications in which you enter a shopping plan, and based on the analysis of “habits”, artificial intelligence removes unnecessary things, and you may not even notice that some item has simply disappeared from list. And one more piece of advice: if you plan to spend a large sum today, then it is better to go to the hypermarket after eating well, because it has been proven that on an empty stomach, we make more unconscious expenses.

Eat at home

Food remains one of the largest expense categories, and if you eat outside the home at least once a day, your expenses increase. This applies to both a basic lunch in the canteen and a friendly dinner in a cafe. To spend money rationally in this segment, you can:

• Take food from home, and the design, shape and volume of lunch boxes have improved so much lately that now there is no shame in coming to the office with your own “containers”;
• Make it a rule how many times a month you can eat outside the home;
• Use an alternative: for example, barbecuing outdoors is also eating out, but it saves you money if you just went to a kebab shop. In many cities, family picnics in parks and squares are also popular in the spring.

Plus, you can buy food in the culinary departments of hypermarkets, or order from companies that specialize in this, and not directly from restaurants.

Save on entertainment

I am for saving, but in reasonable forms, so I think it’s stupid to visit a roller skating rink every day or swim with dolphins, but if you do this at least once every six months, then you can get pleasure from life and feel the elementary joy of being just spent money. This rule is important especially for those who do not know how to save money in the family, because both newlyweds, children, and parents want entertainment.

If you believe the advice of experts and trainers, you can spend up to 10% of your income per month on entertainment. But this is an average figure, since a vacation or visit to another country can also be classified as entertainment, and therefore, you need to slightly reduce spending in one month in order to afford more in another.

How to save on food

Since one of the biggest expenses in our lives falls on the grocery basket, it is necessary to understand how you can learn not to spend your entire budget on it. Let me point out right away that starving or eating spoiled food is definitely not right, because you can save money in other absolutely normal ways. Respect yourself and respect your money. This is where you can save money - expert advice will help us, in particular:

1. Buy only those products that are currently on sale.
2. Clearly create a menu (at least in your head), and do not buy products that are not part of it.
3. Plan your family menu several days in advance.
4. Remember, the smaller the packaging, the more expensive it is.
5. Stock up wisely.
6. Abundance on the table can be organized without delicacies. For example, simply by preparing several options for side dishes and salads for the same meat dish, such as chops.

In Asian practice, people value their time spent on buying groceries so much that they go on general purchases only once a week, or even every 2 weeks.

By choosing this method, which helps you spend money rationally, you can use your time profitably and make a list in advance of exactly what you need. Agree, if you go to the supermarket every day, then in addition to the necessary milk, yogurt and sausages, you immediately have a desire to buy seasonings, sunflower oil and something else. And this is not particularly profitable.

How to learn to save money

Today, this art (and there is no other way to call this skill) is taught by professional trainers, and my recommendations are absolutely free for GQ Blog Monitor readers. I am convinced that this art can be taught only superficially, in fact showing the basic techniques that will help you maintain a budget in order to save up for some large-scale purchase. I completely share the opinion that saving can and should be taught from childhood, and examples from some countries demonstrate this.

For example, in Spain and Portugal, during mathematics lessons, children are taught the nuances of financial literacy, which can be useful in real life, and are not forced to memorize rules that will never help with anything practical in their lives. Secondly, I think that in order to learn not to spend a lot, you need to:

1. Live without saving and live saving on everything in order to feel the extremes. A week in both modes is enough to feel the difference.
2. Choose a significant motivation for yourself.
3. Use control and monitor spending.

Remember that saving is not a matter of one day or month, in fact, it is a conscious choice for many years or until a certain goal is achieved or another appears on the horizon.

Saving wisely and not spending money, I believe, means living for your own pleasure and systematically increasing your capital. Both basic classic work in the office and remote work can help with this, which may even be more cost-effective: you don’t have to waste time and money on travel, you can eat regular food in the kitchen and work on your laptop right away. For those for whom it is important to use funds rationally, it is worth setting limits for yourself and trying to stick to them. Although sometimes you need to give yourself some slack, otherwise you can lose the basic satisfaction from the money you earn and still undermine your mental health. It is much more effective not to spend a lot when the whole family is interested in it.

This is not only more practical, but also honest, in the sense that everyone is working towards a certain result - going on vacation to Turkey, buying an apartment, providing a proper education for the child. It is correct not only not to spend money in all directions, without denying yourself everything, much less what is necessary, but also that you need to look for new, alternative and additional ways to increase capital, especially since today there is plenty to choose from, given that how much risk you are willing to take or what conservative positions you take.

It is necessary to use it rationally, not to spend everything and to accumulate money, but it is also worth objectively assessing that very important threshold, which you should never cross, otherwise you can simply lose the pleasure of life, and even the accumulated capital will not return psychological stability and joy to spending. Don’t spend your entire salary, look for new sources of investment, organize your expenses rationally, buy only what you really need, and not what you want - the basic rules on this long journey.

And, of course, you must be guided by a specific goal - why you are doing this. Traditionally, I wish you not only to learn how to use funds wisely, but also to earn more, and also to enjoy the financial situation of your life.

Learning to save money correctly is important for everyone, even those who receive a small salary. In order not to borrow until payday and to be rich, you need to follow simple rules.

Most people in Russia today are financially illiterate. This is constantly used by banks, credit firms, sellers, scammers and many others. Even people who seem to receive decent salaries fall into credit bondage and are forever without money. What can we say about those who have small salaries - poor students, pensioners, young mothers...

To break the vicious circle of lack of money, it is important to use simple rules for managing finances in everyday life, which will help accumulate money.

Savings will protect you from emergencies. Plus, if you save money, you won't have to turn down unexpected, exciting opportunities in life.

The basic rule of wealth is very succinct: “Spend less than you earn.” Just four words. It would seem, what could be simpler? But for some reason, the opposite always happens to many people.

How to save money even with a small salary

Let’s look at what methods will help you implement the main rule of a rich person and start actually saving money.

1. Keep track of your budget

If you are going to save money, then it is important to start maintaining a family budget. Don't spend money thoughtlessly on shopping and paying bills, but keep track of all your expenses during the month.

This way, you can understand how much money was wasted, and what you can save on next month without much harm to the family.

In addition, in a couple of months you will know exactly how much money you and your family need for a normal existence, and how much you can put into a piggy bank.

2. Live on the same amount

If you have already calculated how much money your family needs on average per month for a normal life, then you need to fix this amount. It's no secret that we have easy money from time to time. Some people are given a bonus, others get additional earnings, or maybe you finally managed to move up the career ladder and your salary increased a little.

Rest assured: as income increases, expenses will tend to increase. Does this mean you won’t be able to save money again?

You need to set for yourself a fixed amount of money that you will spend on living every month, even if easy money appears. It is better to immediately save additional income, leaving only the necessary fixed amount for living.

3. Save 20 percent of your income

If difficulties arise in determining the fixed amount necessary for the normal life of a family, then you can use a simpler method of saving money. Immediately after receiving any income (including easy money), put 20 percent of the funds received into a piggy bank. Moreover, it is important to do this not at the end of the month, but right away! If you postpone this important matter until later, then rest assured: the money you planned to save will probably already be spent.

How to learn to save money in order to save?

Understand a simple idea: everyone is trying to make money off of you. Even when you yourself earn money in the service, your employer profits from your work. In modern life, you are constantly being hunted by those who want to take your money. Thousands of marketers come up with cunning schemes to take your money in such a way that you will also be satisfied when you part with your hard-earned money.

To avoid this, you should try to follow the following principles.

4. Simplify your financial life

The more complex your financial life, the more time and effort it takes. Along with this, the chance of getting confused and making a financial mistake increases.

The more loans and credit cards there are, the greater the chance of not noticing missing funds or missing another payment.

Pay attention to the services of your mobile operator. Do you need all the connected paid features? If not, disable the unnecessary ones.

Deal with utility bills. Calculate the feasibility and amount of savings when switching from average tariffs to metering water, gas and electricity. Buy energy-saving light bulbs. They really reduce your electricity bills.

See what other recurring “planned” expenses you can cut.

It is useful to do such general cleaning once every few months.

5. Get rid of loans with the highest interest rates

Try refinancing loans from other banks at a lower interest rate.

Take advantage of an effective way to get rid of loans. Select the loan with the highest interest rate and start paying off this debt twice as fast, that is, in double payments. Do this until the debt is paid off. Then add the entire freed-up amount of money that was spent on repayment to the payment on the second debt until that one is paid off. And so on until all debts are eliminated.

6. Go shopping with a shopping list.

A pre-prepared shopping list with which to go shopping will help you avoid spontaneous spending. The point of shopping lists is not only to ensure you don’t forget to buy anything, but also to avoid buying too much.

The easiest way is to draw it up on a regular piece of paper. For these purposes, you can use “reminders” built into gadgets and, in general, any application where you can make a simple list.

However, it should be noted that today fewer and fewer buyers are using this method of saving. Another method is coming into fashion...

7. Buy products at discounts and promotions

Each of us roughly knows what products he uses in everyday life. With a certain frequency, every family buys detergents for the kitchen and laundry, shampoo, toothpaste, toilet paper... You never know what else! These goods do not deteriorate and will definitely be needed. Today you can buy them at a discount during promotions, saving a lot of money.

This type of consumer behavior in our country. People who are always looking for promotions and discounts on products they regularly purchase are called Cherry Pickers. This word comes from English cherry picking, literally “picking cherries.”

8. Stop using a bank card

Using a credit card or even a debit bank card makes it difficult to save money. If you have the habit of paying in stores with a bank card rather than money, then try switching to cash.

When we pay with a card, we don’t realize the value of the money we pay for goods - we enter the PIN code and we’re done. And now there are bank cards that don’t even need to be inserted into the terminal. It is becoming easier to pay, and, accordingly, saving and saving is becoming more and more difficult. In addition, the card may contain more money than you would take to the store for purchases. There is a high chance of spending more than you planned.

When you go to the store with cash, do not put more money in your wallet than you need for your previously planned purchases.

9. Use cashback cards

If you think that giving up a bank card is a return to the past, then at least use cashback more often. This word comes from English. cashback and translates as “cash return”. Today, many Russian banks issue cashback cards.

The principle of its operation is simple. The buyer pays for a product or service with a bank card, and part of the paid amount is returned to his account in cash or in the form of bonuses.

As a rule, banks set different cashback amounts for different groups of goods and services, and therefore you can choose the most profitable one. There are people who use cards from several banks with cashback for different groups of goods. In this way they try to get the maximum possible discount. True, banks are trying to combat this behavior, considering it fraud, and may limit the accrual of bonuses or refunds. Therefore, it is advisable to sometimes spend money using a card without receiving cashback.

10. Buy through cashback services

Cashback services have been gaining popularity in our country lately. These are aggregators of goods and services that enter into contracts with online stores. They attract visitors with advertising or convenient services, such as the ability to select similar products and compare prices, and then redirect them to stores, receiving a percentage of each purchase.
Here the money is returned not by the online store where the purchase was made, but by the cashback services themselves. They share their commissions with customers in hopes that they will come back again and again.

11. Use the 10 second rule for cheap purchases

Did you see something inexpensive on the counter and immediately wanted to buy it? Hold this thought in your head for 10 seconds and honestly ask yourself: do you really need this thing? Is it really impossible to do without it? Often these 10 seconds are enough to understand whether you really need the thing.

For expensive purchases, use the 30 day rule. If you want to buy something expensive, do not rush to spend money, but think about the importance of this purchase for a month. Most likely, after 30 days there will be no trace left of your intense desire to buy this thing.

12. Estimate the cost of purchases in terms of opening hours

To avoid making unnecessary purchases, calculate how much one hour or day of your work costs. Then, when you buy this or that product, think about whether the thing you are planning to buy is worth the few hours, or maybe even days, of your labor that you spent to earn this amount of money?

This principle works very well when purchasing household appliances or other large goods, when time is no longer calculated in hours, but in days, or even months. Such financial “sobering up” helps you not to commit stupidity in the form of buying unnecessary expensive goods.

How to save money correctly

Now that we have gotten rid of unnecessary expenses and learned to save money from our income, we need to manage our funds correctly

The path to proper money management

Divide the free money that appears as a result of all your efforts into several parts.

1. Create a financial reserve in case of unforeseen situations. Free money is needed to solve unexpected problems that arise. It’s better if it’s cash, so that in case of an emergency you don’t have to urgently run to the bank.

2. Open a deposit in one of the reliable banks, for example, VTB, with the ability to replenish and partially withdraw money without losing interest. As a rule, expense deposits do not have a high interest rate, but you can put a certain amount into this account every month and withdraw part of the funds at any time.

3. Apply for a time deposit at the most favorable interest rate. This will be useful when you have already accumulated a decent amount. You won’t be able to withdraw funds from such a deposit at any time, but you will be able to accumulate money. Open deposits in rubles, dollars and euros to get even more income if the currency rises in price.

4. Save money not for the sake of abstract wealth, but to achieve a specific goal. You can even open several accounts to save up: for repairs, for a car, for a dacha...

Content

Extra spending of money is natural with high incomes, but they are no exception when analyzed in detail for families with small budgets. Constantly making spontaneous, thoughtless purchases is common to everyone. The question of how to save money in the family worries many, and to do this you will have to learn how to correctly distribute your budget according to the income received.

How to learn to save money

To learn how to save your family budget, you don’t need to limit your needs, but you just need to develop the ability to competently manage your available funds. To save money you should:

1. Keep detailed records of expenses and do analysis. Develop useful habits of highlighting priority areas that you cannot do without and refuse unnecessary spending.
2. Plan spending money according to the funds received.
3. Learn to save for unexpected expenses so as not to take out loans during a crisis in the family - if you lose your job or need treatment.

Rules

Eliminating unnecessary expenses does not reduce your quality of life. Saving money in the family is possible if the following rules are observed:

1. Do not visit stores hungry or after receiving a salary, but spend money after planning your budget.
2. Go to the supermarket with a prepared list of products and, in order not to buy unnecessary little things, visit only those departments where the necessary goods are located.
3. For payments in stores, refuse plastic cards and use cash. After making purchases, make a total count of them.
4. When deciding to make a large purchase, it is better to postpone the acquisition time for a certain period and carefully weigh the need for this item.
5. Use discount cards and cashback opportunities to receive discounts.
6. It is wise to approach ongoing promotions and beware of the temptation to purchase products that are irrelevant to yourself.
7. Regularly get examined by a doctor so as not to buy medications if an advanced disease is detected.

Methods

You can start saving money in your family using the following methods:

1. Five envelope method for four weeks of the month. The entire salary is divided into five parts. Control over the spending of money occurs by following the rule - the contents of only one envelope are allowed to be used per week. The fifth is provided for the remaining last days of the month and for accumulation.
2. Keeping records of purchases and payments for services with subsequent analysis of expenses. You can record expenses in a notebook, in an Excel spreadsheet, or use programs downloaded from the Internet for this. Analyze your spending monthly. This method helps to identify unnecessary costs, and after analysis they can be reduced or eliminated altogether.
3. Waiver of loans. Borrowing for a vacation, to buy household appliances or a telephone, when you still have old ones, is an unwise decision. It is better to save money and use the saved funds to relax or buy the desired item, so as not to spend money on bank interest.

How to save money in the family - table

When planning a family budget, it is necessary to distribute all expected expenses in descending order of their importance and include the first ones on the list in future expenses. All family needs are shown in the table:

What can you save on?

Wise use of the opportunities provided means savings. You can reduce costs by:

1. Utilities. It is necessary to install water and gas meters.
2. Wardrobe. Buy clothes at the end of the season at sales. Don't try to buy a lot of clothes - you can create new outfits using a combination of several things.
3. Household appliances. There is no need to buy a product with a large set of functions - this increases the cost of the purchase. You can select only the required options.

Food expenses

Vegetables and fruits are necessary for proper nutrition, so you cannot skimp on them. Savings can be achieved by:

1. Reducing meat consumption. This will not reduce the quality of food.
2. Reducing the amount of sweet desserts in your diet. This will improve your health.
3. Purchasing products at competitive prices at the market before it closes.

How to save energy

To save you need:

1. Buy energy-saving lamps.
2. When leaving the room, turn off the electricity.
3. Purchase household appliances that consume less electricity - class A, AA, A+.
4. Do not place the refrigerator near a heating radiator or stove; defrost it regularly.
5. Unplug electrical appliances after use.

Bad habits

When analyzing costs, you can find that the cost of smoking and buying beer eats up several thousand rubles. A lot of money is spent on purchasing chips, carbonated drinks, and alcohol. By eliminating these costs, you can not only save money in your family, but also maintain your health. Giving up on them will help compensate for the lack of funds or use the savings to save.

Cheap analogues

Large sums of money are spent on purchasing new products or branded items. There is no need to strive to buy expensive products or acquire new equipment and communications equipment if the old ones still work. Promoted brands of dairy products and cosmetics can be replaced with similar cheap goods from a local manufacturer. To do this, you need to compare their composition.

How to save money with a small salary

Small income is not a death sentence, but an incentive to streamline your expenses. How to save money in a family on a limited budget? It is necessary to learn how to plan expenses according to the funds received. To save money you should:

1. Refuse loans, as paying off bank debt increases the burden on the family budget.
2. Determine the priority needs of the family and bring them into line with income - this way you can reduce expenses.

Budget distribution

With a reasonable approach to the use of family finances, it is possible to identify reserves even with a small budget. To balance income and expenses, you can use the following recommendations:

1. Plan your needs for the month.
2. Make a meal plan for the week and make purchases according to the compiled list. This way you can avoid purchasing extra food and prevent it from spoiling.
3. Necessary products that are consumed by the family in large quantities and do not spoil (sugar, flour) can be bought for future use at wholesale prices and thus save.

Financial Accounting

Registration of all expenses will help to analyze them and detect unnecessary or harmful expenses. How can you save money in a family with little income? There are options for this:

1. Avoid going to restaurants and cafes, and cook home-cooked meals for family members and guests.
2. Replace visits to spas with home treatments, and paid fitness classes with morning jogging and exercise.
3. Give up unhealthy foods (chips, carbonated drinks) and habits (smoking).
4. Replace vacations at exotic resorts with excursions to a neighboring region, visiting exhibitions and museums, and going on a picnic.
5. Do not buy ready-made food and semi-finished products in supermarkets, but cook yourself. Instead of packaged goods and cuts, purchase cheaper food products by weight.
6. Periodically review your cellular tariff plans and choose only favorable tariffs that include the necessary options.
7. Buy cheap things from online stores.