Get
Started with Extreme Saving
Feeling that
your finances are out of control is extremely stressful, however
theres something extremely satisfying about knowing you have them
under control and having a plan. This guide will help you get started.
The
starting point for Extreme Saving is the same for everyone, it's
easy, it's a given, it's doesn't envolve a bank, a loan, a credit
card, a get rich quick scheme or participation in underground medical
research. It's much easier than that:
Stop
buying crap!!
Stop
buying crap. It's easy. The bag of crisps at the petrol station,
you don't need them, why buy expensive socks when you can get cheap
ones from Primark? why treat yourself to a Chinese take-away when
you won't eat it all anyway? why buy a scratch card when you buy
the papers on a Sunday? In fact, why buy the papers when you can
read the news online?
Start
analysing every little thing you buy and consider whether or not
you really need it, chances are you don't. Here's an example of
how to save by cutting out the small things:
50p juice, 2 x 20 p Coffee at work each day: 90p/day, £18/Month
1 x take away per week: £7/week, £28/Month
Bag of sweets each week at garage - £1.20/week, £4.80/Month
OK, theres £50 a month by cutting out crap
food! £600 per year, thats a decent 2 week holiday, a good
chunk of credit card/store card paid off, the total bill for Christmas,
next years car service, MOT and insurance!
Cutting
down the little things really can make a difference. It's something
you should start straight away, it's a no brainer and can only have
a positive effect on your finances, not to mention your health!
Analyse
your Outgoings:
This
isn't nearly as hard as it sounds. This basically involves reading
over your bank statements and categorising your purchases. Once
you know how much you spend and what you spend it on you can begin
to break the task of reducing your outgoings down to smaller, more
managable tasks such as reducing your mobile bill, cutting down
on car fuel, cuting down on household bills and even cutting down
on food bills.
1.
Make life easier for yourself - use your debit card as often as
you can! OK, this isn't completely necessary but when it comes to
the end of your financial month (based on your pay dates) it's far
easier to have all your purchases on your bank statement.
2.
Sign up for Online Banking - Pretty much all current accounts have
online banking available these days. Online banking is extremely
secure, and makes managing your financess a thousand times easier.
Online banking really puts you in control, you can create statements
based on certain dates, transfer money, check your balance and check
on any direct debits you might have. All essential tools for the
Extreme Saver.
3.
Use our Monthly Expenditure spreadsheet to categorise your outgoings.
This lets you pinpoint where you can make savings and serves as
a record for you to check back on to show just how much you are
saving!
4.
Pinpoint what to cut down on
Cutting
down on spending
Ok, well hopefully you've already "cut the crap" and
saved on that. next is to look at your spreadsheet and figure out
where you can make savings.
As with the cutting down on crap excercise above, we've worked
on a monthly basis, you should continue this when working out where
to cut down spending.
If this is the first time you've carried out this excersise, chances
are some biggies will jump out - the amount you spend on food at
work, the amount you spend on fuel for your car, the amount you
spend on alchol, cinema, DVDs etc
You should tackle these first - can you stop drinking on nights
out (estimated saving £20min), cut out a night out every week
(Estimated saving £30+) or fortnight. If you go out frequently,
you could soon see yourself save a serious amount every month. If
you spend alot on petrol or diesel, why? is it purely commuting?
school runs? socialising? what can you do to cut down - car sharing
with 1 person could cut your fuel bill in half!
Half
way there!
OK,
now you know exactly how much you spend and on what, you've cut
out some unnecessary purchases and begun to cut down some of your
bigger expenditures of the month, you're doing well!
It's time to explore the rest of this site to figure out where
you can make more quick savings, make long term savings, how to
save your money and even how to make a little extra!
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