Financial Goals : 9 wise steps you must know for saving money Neha Pugalia August 26, 2015 Money 4641 Everyone loves to see that huge savings which confirms financial stability. But with raising standard and cost of living, saving money seems to be one of the toughest tasks. With so many temptations around us, it’s easy to put some money out of your pocket. But lack of emergency fund can put you in trouble at any moment. So, if you’re looking to add some money to your current cash cushion, there are effortless ways to grow your personal savings. Everyone needs at least a three to six month reserve. Although it takes sacrifice and a little creativity to save money, you can reach your financial goal. Here’s how. 1. Piggy Bank If you think that piggy bank is only for the kids, then you are wrong. It works for the people of any age. Make a compulsory habit of saving a particular amount of money, say a dollar or two and put it into your piggy bank. You should also develop a habit of putting all your spare coins into the piggy bank every day after arriving home from work. At the end of the year you will definitely see an improvement in your saving. 2. Do the Savings Challenge Saving challenge is one of the best and exciting way of saving money. For example, try this, on the first week of the challenge; you deposit $1 into your savings account. On the second week, you deposit $2. On the third week you deposit $3, and so forth. Continue this routine for 52 weeks and on the last week deposit $52 into your savings. At the end of the year you would have $1378 in your saving account. 3. Turn vegetarian for few days in a week It may sound difficult to skip eating your favorite chicken, pork, beef or steak but meat dishes hold a huge space in your grocery bill. If you’re looking to save money, prepare a few vegetarian dishes each week. Vegetables and pastas don’t cost much, and you can usually use these ingredients for multiple meals, which can drastically reduce your grocery bill. 4. Deposit Part of Your Paycheck into Savings Rather than put all your earnings into a checking account for bills, only deposit a portion of this money into your checking and then deposit the remaining balance into savings. These savings can later be used in the need of emergency. 5. Stay updated for Sales and Discounts Why not to shop for the same product at cheaper price than its usual price? Number of shops offer sales and discounts many a times in a year. Stay updated for these discounts and sales and make sure that you left nothing to buy after the sales end. You can save a lot of money if you plan your spending wisely. 6. Buy refurbished or used designer clothes If you can’t do without those expensive designer clothes, because you just love fashion, then you can buy those from websites such as ebay where you can find used designer clothes at cheap rate. You should also subscribe to some ecommerce sites to stay updated with the upcoming offers so that you don’t have to compromise with your fashion at the cost of your savings. Flea market, thrift stores, stores that offer sales and exhibitions are some of the places where you might find some fabulous designer clothes. 7. Learn how to Sew You might be surprised to learn that many fashionable items can be easily re-created with a sewing machine and a little skill. Take a sewing class and you can save money with one-of-a-kind outfits. It doesn’t take much to buy fabric or a pattern, and once you learn the art of making a skirt, dress, pants and other items, you may never want to buy full price again. 8. Exchange books, Use Library If you are an avid reader then you can save some dollars by either exchanging both books and magazines with your friends or by withdrawing the same from local Library for free. Some libraries even have awesome ambiance where you can seat and read those books peacefully. Sometimes you might not found the book you want in the library in that case you can buy the used books at cheap rate from any next corner book store. 9. Reward points Almost every bank provides the facility of reward points with their Credit card. It means that when you will use your credit card to withdraw some money, you will get some points based on the amount you have withdrawn. These points can later be used while paying for your food or entertainment. If you can control yourself and use your credit card wisely, instead of using it excessively, than you can save a lot of money. There are also some shopping malls which give rewards point on shopping from their shop. Saving isn’t easy, but it’s not that difficult too. All you need to be is disciplined and wise. But the effort is worth as the cash cushion can provide peace of mind, and ensures you have emergency cash. Comment below and tell us what tricks do you use for savings? SHARE THIS POST