It’s January 1, 2018, and you made some new year’s resolution. If your resolution is like one of most people, that would include saving this 2018.
Here are my top 6 savings tips you can do this 2018
1.Track down your expenses, big or small, every day.
Include in your tracking all your expenses as well as your income. Create a monthly budget from there.
Once you know where your money is going, it’s easier to know what particular area you could cut down.
One particular client I have before couldn’t save from her income so she can buy something that she knew she needed, like an insurance plan from me. I advise her to track down her income and expenses first, and we can talk again after 2-3 months of tracking down her expenses.
After 3 months, she said: “Doc, I know now where to get savings so I can buy an insurance plan”.
I asked, “Where?”
She said: “I discovered that I love to drink Mogu-mogu 3x a day and if I can reduce that habit just to once a day, I can have a 2,500 savings per month.”
Wow, just with what you think a harmless drink can give you a great impact on your financial plan.
2. Once you know where your money is going, you can now set the budget that you need to stay committed.
Only 10% of Filipinos have a family budget. 90% doesn’t have. Be one of the 10% who knows where their money is going.
It can be a specific amount you budget every month, for example:
Food 10,000/month
House Rent/Mortgage 12,000/month
Utilities (water, power, cable) 5,000/month
Wants (dining out, etc) 2,000/month
Once you set the budget, continue recording your expenses so that you will know if you are about to go over your budget in a particular month.
I use this APP in tracking my expenses and also creating my budget:
Best Budgeting APP Guaranteed to Make Your Financial Life Easier
3. Create a Rainy Day fund that will only be used for emergency.
This is approximately 3-6 months of your monthly expenses. Meaning, if you are spending 20,000 pesos per month, your Rainy Day fund should be around 60,000 – 120,000. This fund will not be used for anything else except for an emergency. If you have a Rainy Day fund, you can protect your real savings fund once there is an actual emergency.
4. Be a smart shopper, create a list before you shop.
Before shopping for grocery or anything, list down your shopping list and stick to it. If you shop without a list, it is almost always more than 50% of what you really need.
Making a list will help you get only what you really need over what you just want.
5. Make your savings automatic.
If you don’t have the discipline to save and set aside a portion of your every pay check, make your contributions automatic. You can program that on your online banking, to automatically transfer a specific amount of money on a particular schedule to your savings account. Or you can also ask your human resources department if they can direct-deposit a particular amount or percentage of your pay check every month to your savings account.
6. Challenge yourself according to the frequency of your PAY-OUTS:
A 52-week challenge is good for those earning once a week. But since most Filipinos are receiving their pay checks twice a month, then this is a more fitted money challenge:
The 24 Pay-outs Money Challenge: Save up to 150,000
In case you haven’t seen this, this is in TV Patrol and ANC. This post was created because they seek MYFINACEMD’s expertise.
Finally, create a great financial plan with the help of financial experts. If you don’t know anyone, you can contact me. I will gladly help you out.
To all MYFINANCEMD readers, I greet you, “May your 2018 be a year of your breakthroughs and financial blessings. May God be always with you.”
For your Financial Health,
Read More:
- Best Budgeting APP Guaranteed to Make Your Year Easier
- How to Know if you are Getting Richer Each year
- The 24 Pay-outs Money Challenge: Save up to 150,000
For questions and Advice. Contact me here.
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