Tuesday, June 26, 2018

10 Ways to Save Money

One of the things that I have been eyeing is making a downpayment on a house. As a single Mom though, it has been quite hard to save for this because I'm the one who pays for my son's tuition fee, daily needs, and everything in between.

Tuition costs more than 80k and then other basic needs so with the small earnings that I have, I barely get by. However, M and I have started talking and we really want to be able to set aside money for a house for us so we talked about how we can save money.


So here are 10 ways to save money that we have tried and tested. These have been proven effective so feel free to grab some ideas and if you have anything to add, let me know in the comment section below.

1. Save those Php5. Start now and by the end of the year, you would be surprised at how much you have saved without even noticing.

2. Reuse and recycle. Those ketchup sachet you get from fast food places, bring them home. Instead of buying ketchup, you can use it. It saves space and a little bit on the budget. The same goes for those creamer, sugar, and the like that you get from restaurants and hotels. Most people leave these things behind. I take them home. It has proven useful especially when you have visitors. You don't need to bring out your canisters because you already have the ones in sachet form.



3. Since I receive a lot of press releases, I recycle them as well. I have B use the blank side as scratch paper so I won't need to buy notebooks or scratch pads. The folders are also used by him when he passes on his paperwork in school. It also makes for a great conversation starter in his school because the teachers wonder why he has folders from Starbucks, Avon, ASUS, and the like.

4. Instead of eating out, we now have movie nights at home. It adds more bonding time for the family as well as M and it costs far less. We don't need to pay for gas, parking, and other things that will catch our eye that we don't need which is what happens when you are at a mall.

movie night at my house last night 

5. Bring your own water bottle. This not only saves you money but also helps lessen even a tiny little bit on plastic consumption. A single bottle of water on average costs Php20 and when you order or buy water outside, you spend money. If you bring a water bottle with you, you are guaranteed clean water and at the same time, you don't need to spend for it. I realized the importance of this when I checked my son's consumption at school and saw he had been ordering bottled water for at least 11 days out of 22 days he's in school. That's Php220 that we could have saved.



6. Buy your chips and cookies from the grocery store. When you purchase from convenience stores or sari sari stores, the top up is high. You may think, it's only Php5 but if you add everything up, you will realize that a little amount can go a long way. See #1 on this list.

7. Choose water over soda and juices. It's healthier and most of the time, restaurants have house water that is free of charge. You did your body good and you saved your wallet from spending. Additional tip: Restaurants make a lot more money on drinks than they do on food.

8. Declutter. This may seem like it doesn't make sense but it really does. You see, most of us buy things because we think we don't have it or we need it. When we declutter, we realize how many items we actually have on storage and how many items we have that we actually don't need. It realigns your mind and the next time you grab that bottle of body wash, you will remember that you either never ever use it or you have tons of it waiting to be used at home. Money saved right there and then.

9. Money jar. You can have as much as 10 money jars and label it with whatever you want to save for. Is it travel? Shopping spree? Retirement fund? Wedding? Buying a home? It can be anything but have a jar for it and when you want to buy something you don't need, face those jars and then you will realize that you would rather put your hard earned money on those jars and get whatever it is you really want rather than getting another item that you just want but most likely won't use.



10. Put 20% of whatever you earn in the bank. This has been said time and time again but few people actually do it. Soon as you get your paycheck, deduct 20% and the 80% left is what you will use for your spending needs. It's always deduct savings then spend, not spend and whatever is left will be your savings.

These are all doable and easy to achieve. I hope that this inspires you to save a little bit more especially for the rainy days. I may not have much on savings but I am debt free and I think that is one of the most important things that you can say to yourself in this world.

17 comments:

  1. These are great tips for anyone to try out! Thanks for sharing!

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  2. Saving money is always a difficult thing because we have more expenses than income! I believe these tips will help many people in saving money!

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  3. Some good money saving suggestions. My biggest money saver has been staying away from the supermarket midweek. I can't just pop in for some sugar, I always seem to end up with a basket full of goods. If I don't go in, I can't spend.

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  4. These are all awesome tips! I struggle with saving money because I love to shop, so this is super helpful!

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  5. I always have a hard time saving money even it's important to save but I love this tips and it will be of great help to me.

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  6. These are very good tips and when one thinks about it, its doable. There is a saying in my language that the says 'drop by drop is how the pond is filled.' Small savings make a huge difference.

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  7. Automatically transactions work also. Let the bank do the job for you transfering money to your savingsaccount. Out of sight out of mind.

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  8. Nice going through you lovely tips and this inspirational post to save money. I have already adopted the movie idea as it is getting way too costly in the multiplexes.

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  9. Haha I'm already doing over half of these. I am really strict when it comes to spending money and I'll try to save as much as I possibly can

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  10. These all are amazing tips. Often we ignore these small things, but they add up lots of cost. I try to carry my water bottle with me. Also trying to reduce meals outside.

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  11. These are really excellent tips! I really need to start saving money in jars. This will be super helpful.

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  12. What a great idea to reuse and recycle. We try to do so as often as possible.

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  13. Great article. This is a topic I know I need to learn more about and you really helped me understand some good ways to get started in saving money. Thank you

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  14. love this topic! every single one of them is such an important guide on how to save money. Thanks so much for sharing

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  15. Such a helpful tip. It is really hard to save money, it seems to just disappear in your hands for minutes 🤣 after receiving it. 😅

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  16. I love this post. Thanks for sharing tips on how to save money. It will be a long way but you will have that house soon. Good luck!

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  17. Great tips, especially the recycles and the jars! Lovely guide!

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