Are you having trouble saving your money?
Yung kaka-sweldo mo pa lang, kinabukasan, ubos na agad?
Maybe you just want to learn how to save better. Let us give you some realistic tips on how to save and to faithfully stick to it.
STOP THE IMPULSE BUYS
The culprit for most useless spending is the impulse buy on things we don’t need and sometimes things we don’t even want. The term “budol” is commonly used with our budding online culture. Nowadays, impulse buys are getting easier and easier with some just a click away.
The best way to stop this habit is to give yourself time before hitting add to cart. For smaller purchases, 24 to 48 hours would suffice but for larger purchases, give yourself a week to research the product further. It’s up to your discretion on what you consider a small and large purchase.
LESSEN THE WINDOW SHOPPING
Shopping sites make window shopping inevitable. As soon as you open the site, you are immediately greeted by multiple deals for things you don’t necessarily need or want. Sometimes, we don’t even notice we’re window shopping with simple scrolling or checking out a popup ad of a product.
With this in mind, make sure you really want to spend money on what you find. Don’t use sales and discounts as a way to justify buying things you will not use.
REGULARLY CHECK YOUR ACCOUNT BALANCE
Sometimes, the best wake-up call is checking your bank account and regularly seeing how much you spent in a day or a week. With the budding of the online culture, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing. With buying made so easy, checking your balance has been made easier as well.
Depending on your bank, download the corresponding app to have a real-time update on your purchases. Regularly looking at your account balance is a great habit to keep yourself in check with frivolous spending.
LOCK YOUR MONEY AWAY
The final tip sounds less drastic than it what it actually is. The basic thought process is if you don’t have extra money to spend, you won’t be tempted to buy useless things. How exactly do you “lock your money away”? Well, a suggestion could be making use of time deposits.
Think of time deposits as piggy banks that earn money the longer you leave it in. It’s there to keep your money safe so instead of collecting dust or you being tempted to use it, time deposits can help you save better while earning you money. This is a great incentive to keep “locking your money away”.
Ka-Investa, saving is realistically hard. We have our own responsibilities and desires. But remember, savings can save you especially during rainy days. It’s always good that we have something to use during emergencies and other urgent expenses.
You can start by saving even at least Php 500 per pay day. That relatively small amount can compound in the long run. The amount you save is not a problem. What’s more important is the habit of saving & that you start now. Happy saving, Ka-Investa!
