Many of us haven't a clue how much money we lose daily, but it all adds up. Here are a few saving tips to get you going.
Introduce just a copy of these tips and, before you know it, you'll have found hundreds if not thousand of dollars every year that you can put to real use. If you save $5.50 every day, you'll have an extra $2000 by the years end.
- Negotiate your interest rates with your bank's personal relationship manager. A better rate can save you thousands of dollars in the long term.
- Make use of online and telephone banking-you will save hundreds in banking fees every year
- Watch sales but don't buy sale goods unless you'd like them as much if they were full price. Investigate local factory shops.
- Stop smoking and you can save at least $300 every month
- Stockpile presents as you find them at good prices, and keep a stash of cards from bargain books. This can trim at least $50 off each gift, amounting to a significant saving over the course of the year.
- Revisit you insurance regularly and check that you aren't over-insuring your car, for example. If you have installed security or moved to a safer area, you may qualify for lower premiums
- Save in your garden by seeing if you already have other plants which you can take slips or cuttings, or which of your plants can be split. Look out or fetes and jumble sales with plant stands as these have hardy, established plants at low prices.
- Buy in bulk when you can and do one large shop every month at retailers shop. Eliminate daily stops at the corner shop, which has a far higher mark-up.
- Making one additional mortgage payment each year, whether in lump sums or in monthly increment, can reduce a 30-year loan to 18 years. If you make more than one extra payment, the number of years will decrease even more. This additional payment is applied only to the principal and not to the interest, so you end up saving thousands when the home is paid off.
- Never shop for groceries when you're hungry-you'll buy more than you need
