How to learn to save and save with a small salary
Laziness and impatience are manifested in something else: I don’t cook at home – I hang out in cafes. I am late for public transport when I return home from parties, so I spend money on a taxi or rent an electric scooter. I like to sleep with the lights on.
I’m also fond of advertising. For example, an advertisement for power engineers taught me that when I emptied a can, I would start thinking quickly, think of great things, or quickly pass exams. In fact, the energy bank gave me only nervousness, and after two my hands began to shake.
Recently I decided that it was time for me to change my attitude towards money because I already have so little of it.
The topic is broad, and the article is not rubbery
Books have been written on the topic of financial literacy and personal finance, and multi-day seminars are held. It is impossible to fit all the answers into one article. Here is only an overview of materials on savings and savings.
Why people don’t know how to manage money
According to TED: The Save More Tomorrow Principle, people don’t know how to save because they fear it will take away a lot at the moment. Therefore, the author recommends to start saving money gradually and only with an increase in income – then the main cause of fear will disappear by itself.
In addition to problems with accumulation, we are faced with the problem of impulsive spending. When, for example, we receive a salary, we go to an electronics store and buy a cool phone. In the article “How to stop wasting money on unnecessary things,” Olga lists five reasons why this happens:
- Dopamine, a substance produced by the brain, makes us make unreasonable purchases.
- There are triggers – situations that trigger the buying habit. For example, failures at work.
- We do not always succumb to a bad habit, but only when we are in a certain state. Most often it is tiredness, hunger, drunkenness, illness, or stress.
- Behind unnecessary purchases is the pursuit of what is necessary and desirable. Impulsive spending is the wrong means to the right goal. For example, you don’t have to buy anything to enjoy life more.
- We often fall into the traps of thinking. These are the arguments that come to mind and justify the purchase: “I will endure another time”, “I did something useful today, so now I can relax” or “Anyway, I just fell out recently, what now?”
Where to start saving
Better to start by planning your budget and keeping track of your income and expenses. This is what the author of books on personal finances Bodo Schaefer says in his work “The Path to Financial Freedom”, and his words confirm the achievements of the readers.
Budget planning… I always planned my budget like this: I piled up money, and if I needed to buy something, I took it and bought it. This is the wrong strategy: at least this is confirmed by the fact that I have not yet been at sea.
Keeping a budget correctly means writing down income at the beginning of the month, planning expenses and savings, and spending the money earned only in the next month.
You can create a table for budget planning yourself, or you can take a ready-made one from this article. Its author is a good economist and believes that the most important budget is the daily one.
It is convenient to keep regular control of income and expenses through applications for managing personal finances. Readers who use them notice a lot that they could not buy and what to save on.
Financial priorities. Group your financial goals into categories: important, not very important, and not at all. Always buy what matters most first. With this approach, there may be no money left for unnecessary goals, but important goals will be closed.
If you buy unnecessary things first, then there may be neither time nor money left to buy the necessary ones. Once, as a student, I spent all the money with my friends, and when it came time to pay my rent, I was almost evicted.
Refusal of loans. A loan is a transaction in which you knowingly overpay. If they have already taken out loans, Nikita told them how to return them and overpay at a minimum.
What to do?
I have a few loans and a debt to a friend. How to pay off all this?
Moneybox. Bodo Schaefer also talks about this technique. Choose your most important desires and put them under each individual piggy bank. You don’t have to buy a pink pig with a hole in your back. You can open a savings account with a bank.
Discount and discount cards. Discount cards are valid in chain stores, cafes, and pharmacies. Sometimes they are given for free, sometimes for money. In any case, the card will be a profitable investment if you are a regular customer of the store. The cost of such a card can be recouped with the first purchase.
- Optimization of costs. Some Vasya offers the following optimization principles:
- Make a list of really necessary expenses per month so that it covers the basic needs.
- Find places where you can buy this for less than a convenience store.
- Set limits on cards and disable online purchases in them.
- Before going to bed, mentally check whether I really bought what I need today at the best price.
