5 Easy Tips to Save Money

Saving money is a simple yet difficult thing to do. 

Saving money is an integral part of building and strengthening your personal wealth. It is also considered as the most basic when it comes to making and growing money. In different financial books and even the Holy Bible, the importance of saving has already been told over and over again.

(Proverbs 6:6-8 Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no commander, no overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer and gathers its food at harvest.)

Despite the constant reminder since time immemorial, why does many people fail to save money?

What seems to be the problem?

If you are one of the people who wants to find ways to save money and address the problem why they can't continue saving, then you're in the right spot!

In this article, we will talk about five easy tips to save money that will blow your mind! And to make things even more interesting, we will also discuss some of the common problems that you will encounter while in the process of saving money.

To begin, first of all you must...

1.) Remember your "WHY?"

You already decided to be thrifty and save for rainy days because finally, you already found the reason why you should do it. To strengthen up your heart and steel your resolve to save money, you bought a Chinkee Tan book and downloaded Ipon Challenge app!

Every paycheck, you'll allocate a portion of your salary to savings. I bet the first month is easy since you're still fired up and filled with overflowing morale.

After six months to one year, saving money is slowly starting to become a burden. You might be creating different alibis such as,

"Nakakatamad pumunta sa banko. Ang haba ng pila! Nakakaloka!"

"Ang dami namang bayarin ngayon buwan! Paano ako mag-iipon neto, kailangan ko ang pera ngayon. Saka na muna ulit ako maglalagay sa savings."

"Ang mahalaga may 50,000 na ako bilang emergency funds. Next year ko na lang ulit dadagdagan."

"Ay may travel kami ng tropa sa Buscalan next month eh... Sa susunod na lang muna ako mag-iipon. YOLO besh!"

After this lagging phase, the fire of motivation to save money will start to dim until it totally fades away. The old habits of spending and the YOLO "you only live once" mantra will be starting to kick in and once again, you're back at the same old you.

If you're experiencing this kind of cycle in your financial life, it means that you need a reboot. Create a new mindset that will relentlessly inspire you. Always remember, why?

Why are you saving money?

Why do you want to do it?

Why are you sacrificing?

Don't let the flames of motivation inside you get exhausted and die. Fire up yourself, be inspired always seek knowledge and keep on learning. Surround yourself with people who share the same thoughts as you and avoid friends who drags you down.

Always remember why you started to save.

Always remember your why's.

2.) Start Small

Greed is part of our human nature. When it comes to money, properties and power, we want to acquire them as soon as possible.

That's the reason why there are still a lot of  people still being lulled in a by some really obvious schemes and scams. Their hopes and greed clouds their decisions, making them fall into pit of despair.

To minimize the greed, learn how to start small. Save a little, set aside a coin or a single twenty peso bill and put it in your trusted piggy bank or empty can of Pringles.

Do this saving routine religiously for a more than month to slowly build a new habit until your own mind and body gets used to it.

Why do it for a month?

According to GoalCast, it takes 21 days for an old habit to remove from our system and it also takes 21 days of consolidation for a new one to incorporate in our daily lives.

It means that saving a small amount for a month will be transformed into a habit that will help you to carry on especially during rough times. Also, a small amount of cash won't hurt our pockets so the temptation to spend it will be lower, which aids a lot in developing your discipline.

Slowly but surely, saving little by little will become a habit, a part of your system. It will be your very first step towards your goals.

3.) Create A Plan

There is a 90% chance of failure if you don't create a proper plan to achieve your goals or dreams. Planning is one of the most essential thing you must do in order to fulfill what you desire.

According to some studies, if you are trying to aim for something without a concrete plan in hand, failing is a huge possibility.

Now, you might be saying, "But Rufer! I don't need a plan! Saving money is a very simple thing to do!"

Well, sorry but you're wrong. Saving is way more harder than you think it is. Being frugal and the ability to save money even in trying times requires a humongous amount of discipline and willpower that will strain you to the core of your soul.

Creating a definitive plan will makes things much more easier.

First thing you must do is write down your daily expenses. Separate the needs (things that you critically need in order to survive,) from wants (these are things that you don't really need but for some reason, you want them.)

After successfully writing the list of your daily expenses, creating a sound and reasonable budget comes next.

A sound budget plan is the core of a successful wealth building, especially if you're employed and self-employed. In order to acquire the needed capital for investment, you need to save your hard earned salary and budgeting is your trusted ally to maximize saving.

4.) Discipline

You and your buddy Gorio attended a life changing seminar that fills both of you with burning desire to change for better. You've both listened to some of the great and inspiring speakers, both of you absorbed the message, savored the lessons but there is one equalizer that will decide if both of have what it takes to change. Yeah, it's discipline.

Inspirational career seminars will give you a surge of motivations and inspirations to push for your dreams but at the end of the day, your self-discipline will change the game for the long term. It is also really useful when you are trying to save money.

Saving requires a huge ass worth of discipline. Life will throw temptation at you when you least expected it and if you get caught, your saved money will be gone with the wind.

If you're a type of person who values discipline, I'll bet that temptation and other annoying distractions to spend unnecessarily won't bother you at all.

5.) Be Thrifty Without Self Deprivation 

Once you already get used to some of the tips mentioned above, it is now time to step up your game and try to be thrifty to lower your expenses and bolster your savings.

Being thrifty or matipid is simple to do but hard to maintain especially if you don't have a budget plan, and a iron will discipline.

You don't have to be stingy or deprive yourself of material things that makes you alive and happy. You simply have to cut your spending on your wants in order to save money.

To show you the power of thriftiness, let's do the math.

If you are a person who consume a glass of milk tea every day that'll be...

120 x 7 = 840 expenses on milk tea every week

120 x 30 = 3,600 every month! It is already enough to cover for your monthly health insurance or electrical bill!

Now, stay calm and don't tell me "Ano ba? Pera ko 'to no at wala kang pake!" I'm not telling you to stop drinking milk tea and deprive you of your only happiness. Besides, if you're here, I'm assuming that you want to learn how to save money and that's what I'm going to teach here.

Instead of buying your happy pill on a daily basis, why don't you limit it to let's say, 2x a week. Inom ng milk tea kapag Monday, and another one on Friday.

120 x 2 = 240 a week and this way you can actually save 600 pesos!

120 x 6 = 720 a month expenses for your milk tea! Save 2,880 pesos and add it up to your monthly savings to build up capital or emergency cash!

Isn't that simple?

Many people really want to learn how to save money easily and effectively but being misguided and fooled by complicated articles scattered across the internet sewers.

If you really want to save money, just remember our five key take aways to make things easy and simple.

1. Remember the reason why you are saving money. This will serve as your main motivation through the entire journey.

2. Start small, don't push yourself too hard in order to avoid burnout and stress. Consistency is the key.

3. Create a plan, writing down your income and expenses will give you the ability to create a proper budget plan. This will improve your money management by tenfold.

4. Discipline is a very important trait in order to achieve your dreams and goals in life. Learn it by starting small and practicing consistency. Improve by 1% every day.

5. Be thrifty, no need to be stingy or deprive yourself. Treat yourself by spending on things that makes you happy. Treat your future by saving money.

Cheers!