6 Ways to Save Money

EverydayHow to Start Your Journey to Financial

Peace

1 - Debt Repayments

2 - Groceries

3 - Everyday Lifestyle

4 - Grooming

5 - Gifts

6 - Mobile Phones

Table of Contents

Debt Repaymen

ts

Break the habit of taking on debt 

Make it a priority to eliminate smaller high interest debts

Consider reducing your home loan repayments to ‘interest only’ to free up funds to pay down your higher-interest lifestyle debt

Debt Repaymen

ts

Use the Debt Snowball method

Speak with your financial institutions about lowering your interest rates

Consolidating your debt into one facility at a lower interest rate

Paying off debt is always far easier if it is just one larger payment

Groceries

Shop with cash! Dunn and Bradstreet statistics have shown that people spend on average 18% more when paying with a credit card than when paying with cash

Don't be afraid of home brand products; much of the time there will be no discernible difference

Groceries

Buy in bulk when possible

Shop at the same time every week; routine is important when it comes to managing your money efficiently

Shop when specials are available

Plan your meals - shop with a list and purpose for each item

Don't shop when you’re hungry

Everyday Lifestyle

Lifestyle expenses, like specialty coffees and take-away meals, are on the rise

As 'one offs' these expenses don't seem so bad; the problem is they are rarely 'one offs‘

A lot of these expenditures become rituals for people

Everyday Lifestyle

How to eliminate lifestyle spending:

Calculate a reasonable amount to spend on these daily lifestyle expenses

Pay yourself a cash allowance each week to cover these expenses but do not go over

Plan your lunches as you would your evening meals 

Everyday Lifestyle

How to eliminate lifestyle spending:

Change your habits

Reward yourself intermittently

Brew your own coffee, make your own lunch

 

Grooming

Give yourself a realistic grooming budget

Color your hair at home with a friend or family member

Don’t pamper your children, teach them the value of money instead

Go to the shops for something you need, not to “take a look”

Grooming

Shop at op shops and thrift stores for bargains

Save your budgeted money for big sales and go crazy

Organise clothes swaps, especially for children’s clothes

Auction websites and eBay are great for deals

Gifts

Plan gifts in a spreadsheet to see who you have to buy for and how much you have budgeted to spend

Write gift ideas for what you will buy each person at the beginning of each year

Be aware of what you want to buy throughout the year and chances are you will be able to buy the same item on sale

Gifts

For a large family, consider Kris Kringle (Secret Santa)

Don't fall into the trap of thinking you need to spend lots on your children

Plan what you will buy so that the gift reflects your child's interests

Allow for unexpected gift occasions (baby showers, etc.)

Mobile Phones

Smart phone use is quickly becoming one of the major areas of over-expenditure

Get the right plan - Find a capped plan that suits your usage

Don’t upgrade your phone “just because”

Monitor your network usage

There are hundreds of other potential areas for over

expenditure; these are just the ones we see the most

often.

We want to hear from you about the areas of

expenditure you struggle with the most.

Let us know on Twitter @Grandmasjars