“Money looks better inside your bank accounts, than your feet”…
To put it in simpler words, we’re careless with our money if it’s inside our wallet. If we keep it safely in the banks, it just multiplies with time. The bottom line is you can spend a fortune in future. To do this, you need to fashion your saving habits in such a manner that you don’t have to spend a single penny of your hard-earned savings on useless stuff.
When I got my first job in the initial phase of my life, I made plenty of mistakes. Resultantly, I ended up spending more than I earned. It was a lesson learnt the hard way. To prevent this from happening in the future, I’ve laid down a check-list. Trust me, you can save plenty of money if you follow these 10 simple tips.
10 Tips to Save Money for Fresher, Students and Early Beginners
- Make a Monthly Budget and Set aside Savings once you get the Paycheque.
However irritating as it may sound, making monthly budget always works. Nothing elaborate, just bifurcate your savings in 2 categories– Cash and Card/e-Wallets. Divide your expenses in the following manner.
Cash: House Rent, Food (Vegetables, dairy, groceries), Local living expenses, Education (stationary, books, etc) and house rent.
Card/e-Wallets: Fuel, Travel (trains and flights), Public conveyance (cabs and autos), bills (internet, TV, mobile, electricity, water, house tax etc.), online shopping and savings (insurance).
Try to save up to 25% of salary. It’ll come in handy for you.
- Don’t Carry Cash.
Yes, you heard it right. The sole purpose of demonetization was to deprive people off too much cash. More cash equals to impulsive spending. This way we end up spending more money than we actually need. Drop the paper currency and stick to e-wallets. The good thing is card swiping is free now, thanks to Digital India programme.
- Strike a Deal with your Parents.
If your grandparents or parents love to pamper you, use this to your advantage. Ask them if they can match your savings, they’ll gladly do it. Say, you’re planning to save Rs 2000 per month. Ask your parents to give you extra 500 bucks. This way you can put Rs 2500 in the banks. The more, the better.
- Save the Extras
The good thing about Indian society is when the relatives are too lazy to go gift-shopping for birthdays, festivals and anniversaries, they hand out cash. This is an extra, non-taxable income that comes in handy when you save it. Save the extras all throughout the year. When it adds up to a cumulative amount, just invest it in a savings policy or spend it in Diwali sale.
- Always make a Shopping List and stick to it!
Visit a shop to buy a packet of chips and return home with your hands full of scrumptious bakery goodies! Happens with me all the time and I think this problem is common to all the youngsters. The solution is– focus on your necessities and chuck the desires. Prepare a strict shopping list and try your best to follow it!
- Shop Online
Because online shopping is the new pass-time! The most evident benefit is you save money on fuel, conveyance and the ‘refreshment’ you tend to munch on when you head outside.
The good thing about online shopping is you can compare prices on ‘Makkhi Choose’ and look for promo codes on ‘Klippd’. Use ‘PayTM’, ‘GoPaisa’ or ‘CashKaro’ to get additional cashback. Free shipping and interest-free EMIs are extra advantages.
- From Food to travel, movies and hotels, book everything online.
Post-demonetisation, I just can’t have enough of online bookings. A good news for passionate travellers– since the announcement of Budget 2017, online bookings are cheaper. You can use this to your advantage. Save money on group/bulk bookings. Here are some great apps to reinforce your goals.
- For Discounted Deals: NearBuy,
- For Food Discounts: Food Panda, Zomato,
- For Movies: Book My Show,
- For Hotels: Ibibo, Oyo Homes
- For Flights: Make my Trip, Go Air.
- Switch to Prepaid plans.
I’m telling it from my personal experience, prepaid mobiles, TV and internet plans are always better. This way, you can keep tabs on your spending and you don’t end up with a hefty bill at the month end.
- Diversify your Investments and Save Taxes.
A diversified investment portfolio is when you spend your savings in the following manner– NSCs, UPILs, PPFs, Shares and FDs/Mutual Funds. The reason? Different policies carry different returns. They’ve their individual benefits that are influenced by changing government policies and market fluctuations. Now that income tax is free up to Rs 3 lakhs, you can save the tax exemptions too!
- Share!
Sharing is caring. Besides this, sharing equals to savings. Carpool with your friends and buy common toiletries or split the cost of groceries with your roommate. If you and your friend share a common goal that is purchasing an expensive item like a camera, you can share its costs to save money.
So you see, it was simple, nothing hard and you save tonnes of money on your expenses. Isn’t it great?
