Improving your finances is not an instant change: it takes time to heal your relationship with money. Admitting that you have a problem, either with controlling your spending or resisting frequent splurges, is the first step.
However, the real issue might be poor overall management, such as prioritizing FOMO and refusing to cancel certain subscriptions. In other cases, comfort takes priority, and you spend significantly more to avoid a temporary hassle (such as cooking). In this article, we explore how to improve your personal finances through hack-like suggestions that sound feasible and less scary!
Don’t fear budgeting
In your mind, budgeting might appear as the big, frightening monster that needs constant supervision, and one that also rejects all your cravings and wishes. With this image, it’s easy to avoid budgeting like the plague, without even realizing that it can be more sustainable and far from being restrictive.
- Split your earnings into three categories to start: plan how much to spend on necessities, entertainment/pleasure/wants, and decide on the amount you deem comfortable to allocate to savings. Ideally, you should aim for 20%, but start smaller if needed.
- Calculate your current expenses per month or week, and start by focusing on limiting the spending during the week.
- Use various mobile banking applications to their full potential. After all, many of them include features for saving and budgeting, and don’t require external apps.
Don’t underestimate small earnings
Big plans likely mean big spending (such as buying a house for your family). If you’re reworking your relationship with money, the motivation might be a big future purchase or plan. For this, we highly recommend following the usual suggestions: budgeting, reducing spending, and opting for a more minimalist lifestyle.
Besides that, don’t disregard a simple online earning app that could contribute to your savings. It could be a service like Honeygain that lets you earn by selling your unused internet bandwidth, or a tool like Mistplay that rewards you for playing mobile games.
Practice cooking more
A lot of money during the week goes to food. To satisfy our cravings, we also do not shy away from ordering takeout or frequenting restaurants or cafes. The best decision is to improve your cooking skills slowly but surely so you can make your favorite dishes at home. Meal prepping is key as well, but it can be difficult to embrace it as a routine. However, even if you fail multiple times, don’t let it discourage you, as cooking is like any skill: it needs to be honed.
Use everything until you fully run out
Using products until they are fully used up has become a challenge, as we are motivated to purchase replacements even when we are stocked at home. For example, there are plenty of useful recommendations on how not to waste beauty products, and you should look for ways to use every item you struggle to finish. For example, this rule also applies to items like tech gadgets that you rarely use. The best option is to resell them or give them to friends/family.
Dropping the low-effort approach
Using your free time solely to rest or watch TV adds little value to your life. Hence, reinventing your lifestyle from the low-effort approach to a busier lifestyle is incredibly helpful.
For example, you feel tired after work and have no motivation to prepare a meal and clean up afterward. Starting to demonstrate more initiative could mean researching meals that come together in under 30 minutes and require only one pot.
Conclusion
Overall, saving money doesn’t need to be a harsh sentence. It can be based on your current lifestyle and aimed at easing the transition towards a less wasteful approach. For one, pick a budgeting approach that seems the most doable for you, find the potential in small, low-effort earnings, becoming a chef in your home, and be more present and active in getting things done!
