22 Dec 5 Ways to Save More Money in the New Year
After the holidays are over it is always a good time to take inventory of your life and to review your finances. After weeks of spending money (that is often barely tracked) it is a good idea to slow down and evaluate your spending and your saving tactics. Most of us feel that we can save more money than we actually do. It may seem difficult to do, but saving money is a lot easier than you think, even if you live on a tight budget. With a little will power and some old fashioned record keeping – it may be possible to start putting money away. If one of your new year’s resolutions is to start saving more money -following are some effective ways to begin saving money in the new year.
Identify Your Savings Goals
Sit down and set a goal for savings. Evaluate your finances and your income and identify areas where you can be more efficient with spending and saving. People are always very focused and excited at the beginning of the year but tend to lose motivation as time goes on – you can keep the motivation going by writing down your goals.
Unload Expensive Debt
According to U.S. News and World Report, “It’s hard to direct money into savings when you are weighed down by high interest rate credit card debt. That’s why paying off debt, especially credit card debt, needs to be a top priority in the new year. Start with the accounts that carry the highest interest rate and work your way down from there.”
Evaluate Your Spending
Keep track of everything you spend your money on. This is such a simple and easy thing to do but many people never do it. Keeping track of both incoming and outgoing money allows you to identify the most troublesome (and often wasteful) areas of spending. Once you identify wasteful spending you can start to make changes and save that money instead of spending it!
Eat In More
We all lead busy lives and there never seems to be enough time for anything – especially making a home-cooked meal. This however, is a huge area where many Americans waste money! The average take-out meal for a family of four costs the same as at least or three two healthy meals prepared at home. Cutting out take-out can not only save you money – it can be better for your health.
Save Automatically
If your employer offers direct deposit for your paycheck, you can often split your payroll deposits into multiple accounts. After you have decided how much money you can put away each week – have that amount directly transferred into your savings account. It is much easier not to spend money that you never physically have in your hands. Setting up automatic savings is the easiest and most effective way to save, and it puts extra cash out of sight and out of mind.
With a little diligence and planning it is possible to save money. Be creative with ways to do things on a budget. Remember that small lifestyle changes can significantly reduce monthly expenditures and before you know it you will start to see your savings account grow.