Millennials have heard lots of opinions recently about how they should supposedly be saving for a house. They should stop buying coffee and eating avocado toast. These pieces of advice have been met with ridicule by many. After all, saving a couple of dollars a day isn’t going to get you a house. However, just because it’s not going to help you save for a property, it doesn’t mean that everyday savings don’t have their merits. Making savings on purchases both big and small can make you some nice savings, even if it’s more like a few hundred dollars, rather than the thousands you need for a mortgage. Your savings can add up so that over a year you can make some great savings without having to give up your small pleasures.
How Much Could You Save Each Day?
If you want to save more, one thing to consider is any purchases or payments you make every day or most days. A lot of people can’t help but buy something small each day, justifying it as only a small purchase. However, if you add up the cost over a week, month or year, you could be saving a lot. One thing to consider is your lunch. While many people do make their own lunch at home and take it to work, some can feel pressured into going out to eat, buying something from the work canteen, or going to the store with their colleagues. When everyone else is doing it, you don’t want to feel left out. But making your own lunch is usually a lot cheaper.
Another daily expense to consider is the oft-mentioned coffee. If you believe some journalists and commentators, if only people stopped drinking coffee every day, they could all be living in mansions and retiring early. In reality, many people only buy coffee from somewhere like Starbucks now and then. Even if they do buy one every day, the expense isn’t huge. Still, nixing a daily coffee could save you a nice amount across the year. Let’s say you spend $2 on a coffee every weekday, for 50 weeks of the year. That’s $500 spent on coffee – not a huge amount in the great scheme of things, but enough for a new phone.
Calculate the Cost of Something Over Its Lifetime
Another way to make savings on your regular purchases count is to think about what you’re saving over a purchases lifetime. For example, you spend $50 on a jacket that will last you a year, so in five years, you could end up spending $250 on jackets. But if you spend $150 on a jacket that will last you four or five years, you’ve made a saving. Because these are more long-term savings, it can be difficult to really recognize them and feel their benefit. However, you can make even better savings by looking for discounts and sale items. It’s a good idea to have a favorite website for vouchers, coupons and discount codes. You can use DontPayFull.com and sites like it to make savings on all kinds of things. You can save on everything from groceries and clothes to furniture and vacations.
Think of Monthly Payments as Yearly Savings
Many of us now make monthly payments to a variety of things. Where does your money go each month, without you even really noticing? Perhaps you have a subscription to a streaming service like Netflix.com or Hulu, or maybe even several of them. Maybe you’ve got insurance or care protection on several of your devices, like your phone and computer. When you think of them as monthly costs, they hardly seem like anything at all. A few dollars goes out of your account each month without you having to do anything, and you barely notice. But if you think of these subscriptions as yearly costs, the expense adds up. You don’t necessarily have to get rid of these things, but switching them for cheaper services could add up to some great savings over the year.
Give Yourself a Cooling-off Period Before Buying
It’s so much easier to buy things these days, so making impulse purchases is common. Even if you’re trying your best to limit your spending, you often can’t help but have weak moments. And it’s so simple to make a one-click payment or to go through the checkout process online. Avoiding these impulse purchases can save you a lot, but it means changing your behavior. If you tend to buy things on your phone, getting rid of any shopping apps might help you. But mostly you need to be disciplined and try not to buy things as soon as you spot them. Give yourself a day or two to see if you change your mind about wanting or needing something.
Do It At Home for Nothing (Or Less)
One of the problems with a lot of advice on making daily savings is that it often seems to leave you with no little pleasures. You might save money by not buying coffee or going out to brunch, but what’s the point of saving if it makes you miserable? You should still have things that you enjoy. One of the ways you can do this and save money is by making and doing things at home. For example, if you want to have brunch or get a coffee, you’ll only be paying for the ingredients at home. You might not get the atmosphere you would if you go out, but you can still make eating at home enjoyable. And cooking or even just brewing coffee can be a fun and relaxing experience too.
Save on Getting Around
Everyone needs a way to get from A to B, whether they’re going to work or just doing some errands. In some places, there’s no option but to use a car. Public transport is either nonexistent or unreliable. However, you can still save on getting around. It’s possible to carpool with friends and colleagues, and sometimes it’s better to walk or cycle than to get in your car. If you do have public transport, it’s worth working out if it will save you money compared to owning a car.
Small savings might not seem much each day, but they can add up to become something more significant.
