Saving money is one of those tasks that's so much easier said than done. There's more to it than spending less money (although that part alone can be challenging). How much money will you save, where will you put it, and how can you make sure it stays there? Here's how to set realistic goals, keep your spending in check, and pay yourself first.
How to save
1) Don't buy things you do not need.
2) Figure out what you need to save for and how much you need to save. For short-term goals.
3) Set savings goals. Once you determine how much you need to save, establish a timeframe eg “I want to be able to buy a house two years from today.”
4）Figure out how much you’ll have to save per week, per month, or per paycheck to attain each of your savings goals.
5）Add together the installment amounts (monthly, weekly, or per paycheck) for all your savings goals. Can you afford to save this total each period?
6）Pay yourself first. Savings should be your priority, so don’t just say that you’ll save whatever’s left over at the end of the month. Deposit savings into an account (or your piggybank) as soon as you get paid.
7）Keep a record of your expenses. Write down everything you spend your money on for a couple weeks or a month. Be as detailed as possible, and try not to leave out small purchases.
8）See where you can trim your expenses.You’ll probably be surprised when you look back at your record of expenses: $300 on ice cream, $100 on parking tickets?
9）Reassess your savings goals. If there’s absolutely no way you can fit all your savings goals into your budget, take a look at what you’re saving for and cut the less important things or adjust the timeframe.10）Make a budget. Try to leave a little room for minor unexpected expenses.
11）Open an interest-bearing savings account. It’s a lot easier to keep track of your savings if you have them separate from your spending money.
12）Don't use your credit cards. This is one of the most effective ways to reduce spending.
13）Kill your debt. Simply calculating how much you spend each month on your debts will illustrate that eliminating debt is the fastest way to free up money. Once the money is freed from debt payment, it can be easily re-purposed to savings. info from : http://www.wikihow.com/Save-Money
Some interesting information i obtain on thread..
hope to share all this information $ saving tips:
lets talk abt food
1) eat at hawker,food courts, don the resturaunt. resturaunts prices are crazy.at least 15 or 20 per person after service charge and gst. even though its a bit more ex to eat a hawkers compared to last time, one meal only cost 4 max* ( at least for me)
2) bring own bottle, buy lesser cold drinks. can save ard 40 to $1 per day. one month will be $30(can be used to top ur ezlink) and plain water is more healtier
3)buy ur fish,veggies meat at wet market, if not seng song, or be a ntuc member and collect link pointsi never buy frm cold storage,unless im really thirsty and need to buy their bottled drinks
lifestyle
1) i dont smoke nor drink. can save alot of that.smoking is an exp hobby..most ple spends at least $50 on their cigarettes per month.
2) don club, save me taxi fares
3)currently still living wif parents, no need pay hsing loans yet
4) i dont have a car, and dont plan to have a car. like some podders mentioned ,need at least 600 for a car monthly.looking at how much petrol have gone up, i think its even more exp to have a car. IF u have the extra cash,why not. but for someone who does not earn alot, having a car is not possible.. oh i forgot to mention the driving lessons.. hell knows why learning to drive can be so exp!! 3000 is alot.
others
1)dont splurge alot on counter brands. for foundations i will use counter brands, but for blushers, e.s i get drugstore brands
2) i try not to spend too much on shoes, bags and clothes.. my stuff are all not branded. my most ex bag is 120. my most ex pair of shoes is 39. normal everyday clothes, i get frm random stores..frm mango to even this fashion...
3) skincare.. i buy nivea toner,olay moisturiser,and biore cleanser..all inexpensive and good
I agree with phoebella's lifestyle.
- Smoking, clubbing, drinking are the most expensive hobbies. I avoid them too.
- Dont start gaming... if ur games require real $ to purchase items/ monthly subscribtion.
I'd also like to add: Dun spend on 4D, Toto etc. Zane80 spend 200 on 4D every month? If u had saved them up, u'll get like 2400 in a year and 24000 in 10 years, not to mention the interest earned. The probability of winning 4D is so low, u'll most prob waste 2400 for nothing if u dun strike any prize in a year. If u had used them on insurance, u'll be getting more protection and better retirement plans. Sorry, no offense, juz sharing my opinion.
I use a combination of 2 methods:
1. Keeping track of expensesFor me, I keep track of my expenses in a notepad and will calculate monthly how much I spend on food, clothes, books, etc so that I am aware of my shopping habits and I will not overspend. I will curb myself if I know I've spent too much on this for the past few
2. Monthly savingsI also do regular savings into monthly saving accounts like POSB's mysavings account and OCBC'S monthly savings account
I dun withdraw any money from these accounts. These are purely for savings for the future like housing, renovation, children etc...months. This helps me to save up coz if I dun spend them, I'll save them.
Dont go shopping when ur broke.
- use money saving coupons for grocery shopping.
- take part in newspaper/mag contests, den sell the prizes for cash or swap!
- buy in bulk for necessities on sales.
- dont go movies, rent dvd instead!
- 6. dun buy bks, borrow fr libraries.
- Dont bring your credit card if you know you can control your spending
- bring just the exact amount of cash without anything else.
- I bring along my water bottle and I top up in my company's mineral water dispenser.
- I would share food with my friend and I will eat very little, if I am really hungry, I would return home and eat bread or instant noodle.
- I would take free lift from my friends to nearby MRT station, after alighting from the MRT station, I would walk back home.
- Usually, I will try to restrain myself from buying new clothes, unless it's on sales.. I would target myself to spend less than $50/- on clothing each month..I have save quite a fair bit for the transport and on food.
trying to do all these
1)save my 1 dollar coins/dont waste coins
2)less taxi3)fixed buget for meals everyday/no outside drinks unless necessary
4)no buyin of clothes till really necessary, i'll make myself walk around the place to lessen the temptation
5)drugstore cosmetics 6)toiletries i get from those provision shops which are cheaper
7)breakfast is usually bread from home and dinner at home too
8)i bring fix amount every week to lessen temptation to shop or buy misc things
9)trying to resist the temptation to buy things for my pet dog, usually when i tell my bf about the things i want, he will reject my idea and then i wont have temptation to buy already hahah
10)no credit cards/debit only so that i can keep check of my spendingmost importantly, i transfer a fix amount to my savings account from my primary account FIRST when pay comes in and also set aside money for other fixed expenditures ie insurances or parents' allowances
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to me , if u ever even want to save moneyfirst thing u must have the awareness , like "wtf am i doing!" or "is this wat i want to be?" main thing is to be aware of watever u r doing , in order to have a lasting habit to save money actually most of my saving methods, start with this book by david bachlet me get the link herehttp://www.finishrich.com/i personally recommend this book, start late finish rich by himto start with saving money methodsit was the part , where david bach was proving the power of saving compared to earning power, he analyse a rich executive or her spending habit(she being hungry most of the time, partly due to her habit in indulging in things like cakes and muffins costing more than normal food meals)anyway david bach prove alot of rich, upcoming executives,CEO , entreprenuers that they r NOT rich (which he doesnt even believe it) , bcoz of their spending habits, which is the "earn more, spend more, neva save" VERY VERY common in singaporeso my point, unless u r convinced to change urself, no amount of help will help
---fixed sum to save..something like before u spend..forced urself to save first. saving in those hard to withdraw banks. keke..preferably wifout atm. i starting save all the loose change like $1, 50cents. I think i am pretty addicted to it now. Feels a sense of achievement when i feel my piggy bank heavy and full. going to start a new piggy bank soon. cutting down on credit card usage. best is dun bring out. credit card is one major issue cos u think u can buy things and always pay next mth...it's never ending one!no taxi cutting down on window shopping..the more u see, the more u wanna buydrink kopitiam kopi..not high class coffeee. cut back on restaurant food. good thing i invested my cpf many yrs back..otherwise it's rather pathetic.
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Actually using credit card is not that bad if you have the discipline to save the amount used and pay the bill on time. Credit card point can be accumulated and redeem for products or servcies.I don't eat fast food unless got coupon (IMG:style_emoticons/default/tongue.gif) .
But sometimes come to think of it, actually we can't really save much on food. Unless you are switching from restaurant to hawker, if you are already not a restaurant person, eating a $5 meal makes no different from a $3 meal. How much can you save in a month? Maybe less than $50.I feel that shopping is a killer (IMG:style_emoticons/default/icon_ranting.gif) .
No matter how hard you saved on food, a top or a bag will easily wiped out whatever you have saved. I used to buy Mango and GG5 but i feel that they are becoming more and more expensive. Now I start to buy from other shops including This Fashion (I used to hate it), may not be branded but I feel the clothes look as good and I can buy more stuff using the same amount of money (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) .
I also have the habit of saving the $1 and $0.50 coins. Can save about $150 in a few months. For those who does, you can deposit in UOB account on every Tuesday and Thursday from 9.30 am - 11.30 am. If you deposit 199 pieces and below, there's no charges (IMG:style_emoticons/default/whistling.gif) !
I feel that all the interest rates offered by banks are more or less the same ie VERY LOW and can't cover INFLATION (IMG:style_emoticons/default/hot.gif) .
If possible should do some investment (I'm not a Financial Planner).
a few of my friends dun even have saving and one common factor, they take cab very often. phew cab fare is such a killer, b4 the fare increase i take like 15 times per yr???
with the increase i am determined not to take again unless cab sharing with friends.i can save quite a fair bit but still end up no money coz money used up for many things, sigh i spend lot of money on my car and bike lic and on part-time degree. Now back to zero again but determined to make my saving grow again, afterall i am turning 27 soon, scary!1. During lunchtime i only buy food but nv buy drinks, that really save quite a fair bit and drinks now also cost quite a lot,eg if u order lemon tea it is like $1.30 and there are around 20 working days, there be like close to thirty bucks. i also realise all my lunch khakis dun buy drinks during lunctime too, they are all earning like 3k plus and 4kplus i think. Maybe they are all married women with family that y v thrifty2. We are girls mah so we also need to maintain our looks but that does not mean we got to spend lot of money, there are Watson 20% sale and that is the time to stock up our facial and other bodycare, cosmetics time~ Oh ya chinatown there are lot of shops sell very cheap skincare, facial product. Me and mum will go buy in bulk and there is quite substancial saving too3. I dun spend a lot on my hair too, dun dye nor perm or rebond it, save money and more healthy for hair too. I heard actually those expensive hair treatment at the salon are of no use and there are so ex but i heard you are diy with natural products egg blah blah, there are cheaper and really works than those chemical treatment at the salon. I kept very long hair too and i trim like 3 times a yr? Actually at most i spend 100 bucks per yr at the salon.4. I dun wear too much cosmetics, so i also save a lot on cosmetics, i spend like 50 bucks per yr on cosmetics. I think less cosmetics also good for your skin and people wun be shocked mah to see u without make up one day that it is if u always wear make up. Very impt occasion den apply make up or weekend, working days save the time for your beauty sleep hehe.But of coz skincare v impt dun wear make up but must always apply sunblock so good sunblock is very essential so cant scrimp on that.5. We girls love to shop and there is often many impulse buy. so now must think carefully do u really need to buy and will you really wear it often if you buy it? Now i go through all this qns before i decide whether i buy a not. so now my shopping expenses cut down and yet i still enjoy shopping as i bought only items i only like and will wear/use very often.
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