Splurging a little once in a blue-moon is great, until it becomes a habit, and you are hardly left with anything towards the end of every month. That little voice that keeps telling you that you need to save, and the heart that stops at every flash sale, every new food outlet, and every cosmetic you don’t need, needs to stop beating and become practical. While we are young, it is supremely easy to throw away money on unnecessary items and not bat an eye. We blindly rely on our over-achiever parents who are always ready to be our fall back option no matter what. I think it’s about time we pause and think how saving money will help you when you want to take a vacation from work or invest in something greater than expensive cosmetics, or even to have a backup fund in case of an emergency.
While we live in times where every Instagram feed is full of people enjoying to their fullest, it’s very hard to resist not spending money especially if you are financially independent from a young age. Here we have some money saving tips that will help you save up for the future, keeping out a certain amount of money every month no matter how much or how less you earn.
Focus on long term happiness
A very basic way to understand why you need to save in the first place is knowing that long term happiness is what really matters. An impulsive buy, an outfit you don’t need, or food you cant afford will give you momentary happiness, and a few Instagram worthy pictures, but an amount in your bank will enable you to enjoy long term happiness that will help you tick off your bucket list sooner than a lot others.
Start small
No amount is small when it comes to starting to save. Decide a percentage you need to keep aside every month and stick to it. You can always put aside this money in a bank so that it grows every month and you get a decent interest when you eventually withdraw it, or you can go for other reliable money saving ways like SIPs, or Mutual Funds.
Make a budget
Making a budget for every month and sticking to it works wonders because you know how much you can spare. This is not only a great way to enable savings, but also helps you make a conscious effort to cut down on things that you don’t need.
Stop Using Credit Cards
Probably this is the most cliché tip anyone can give you. But it actually works. Plastic money is super easy to shell out, you just need to swipe through. Using actual cash to pay helps you keep track of how much money you are spending and you actually take notice. Credit cards are again such an easy passage to over spend and indulge in debts. Make sure to buy things that you actually really need, and not those who just look good, or you saw it on someone else.
Stop being a hoarder
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E-commerce websites make you indulge so much in things you really don’t need, it’s so tempting to buy all the things in sight. Obviously you end up buying so much more, and in variants you don’t even need. Try sticking to one brand even if it is a little costlier. There will always be a hundred different brands for every tiny product, and they will keep growing by the day. You cannot obviously fall for each one of them and even risk trying no matter how organic they claim to be. With Millenials being exposed to more and more international brands each day and them entering Indian markets, advertisers have more jobs than ever it seems. Try not hoarding things based on how pretty they look, or how much discount they carry.
Turn off notifications
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Turn off notifications to apps that sell clothing, shoes, or cosmetics. This way you will only reach out to them when you actually need a particular product, and it will definitely help you save so much cash. Instead of having ten variants of shampoo, twenty types of creams, and a zillion clothes that you bought off flash sales, try sticking to pieces that will last you. Quality over quantity is what you should be going for.
Go for fixed deposits or SIPs
Fixed deposits and SIPs are excellent ways to great returns on your savings. SIPs are a pretty popular way of investing your savings and taking them out whenever you need a lump sum amount. FDs are also traditional, yet safe and popular way to invest your savings in a bank in order to get an interest each month and get more money than you had initially invested. Make sure you do a quick Google search for various reliable investment schemes and choose the one that suits your pocket.
Live a life for yourself
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Someone once said “Comparison is the thief of joy”, and it can’t be truer. Living a life for Social Media will greatly impact your mental health while also putting you in a constant comparison rut. Living for yourself, knowing how much can you exactly spare, and not just for others to see will help you greatly with your mental health and happiness while you end up saving up so much.
Eat in
Readily cooked meals on a decorated platter is a delight for sure, but eating in has advantages which don’t just limit to health. You can learn easy to cook recipes, use your mom’s cook book, or just have a fun cook-in session with friends every once in a while instead of going out and over spending on meals in fancy restaurants. Obviously we are not telling you to stop eating out, just cut the frequency so you can save up.
Hustle with a weekend job
Try finding a weekend job that doesn’t take up all you time, and also pays. You can begin by teaching at an evening school or taking up photography or writing gigs if you are an artist, or even taking tuitions. This will obviously help the boredom too, and also help you have some extra money that you can use for something worthy.
We hope we were able to give you some informative and genuine advice on how to save your money in your 20s. If you have more tips, comment down below and we will be happy to share them!
