Save Money Fast with these Four Quick Tips

Saving money is a great way to be able to get the things we want. Whether you want extra funds for a home roofing project or you just need to have cash when the time comes that you need to buy a new car—saving is the best way.
But of course, putting aside money for savings is not a walk in the park. Yes, you just have to set aside a portion of your money in your trusty piggy bank, your reliable bank account, or even with your friend who can save it for you. But this is no easy feat, and it requires more than what one typically expects.
You need discipline and hard work to actually achieve your financial goal.

Force yourself to save money

Saving money is not just an idea to keep in mind. You need to actually do it and not just think of it at an emotional level. Create a process where you are forced to allot money every payday to your savings accounts. Make it a priority and set aside money for your savings even before you spend the rest of your cash toward paying bills, such as your credit card, electricity, water, and others.
Here are four quick easy and simple ways to save money:

Write down your cash flow

List down your monthly income and include your extra income from whatever side hustles. If you have sideline gigs like conducting online classes or tutorials or have extra money from your freelance writing job, then add this all in your list.
In another sheet, list down all your expenses-from credit card bills, personal loans, and other utilities. See how well you do with expenses and compare it with your monthly income. Are you spending more? Or are you doing a good job at keeping your expenses low? This will allow you to determine whether you are spending more than what you earn.

Create a target

Now that you already know the amount that comes in and that comes out, you have to practice some money management skills. You can determine how much money you want to save for a certain goal. Let’s say you want to save for a trip abroad in six months. Then you have to know how much money you need to set aside every payday until you reach the deadline.

Divide and categorize

After determining your expenses, categorize your expenses—cost of living such as rent, food and utilities; costs like tuition fee, transportation and gas allowance, monthly insurance, and ceremonial occasions such as birthdays, etc.; Leisure and entertainment such as clothing, trips and occasional dining out; and lastly the amount of money you want to save for a certain goal.
First, deduct the amount you want to set aside per month from your income. It should go directly to your savings account. Whatever is left shall be for the remaining three categories which are all under expenses.

Separate savings from expenses

Open a savings account and set-up an automatic transfer of the savings from your monthly checking account (where the money comes in). Remember that your expenses should always be separated from your savings. It would also be great if you have 4 separate accounts for each category.

This way, you can track down every expense from these categories. You will also have a bird’s eye view of the categories under expenses which can be adjusted. Let’s say you can make some adjustments to leisure and entertainment. You can forego going on regular restaurant trips and just have a home-cooked meal. The money you can save here can go to your savings account instead of making it to your credit card processing company, making you achieve your goal quicker.

Material based from Lifehack.com

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