How to painlessly save money

It’s a brand new year.  A time when we all have an excitement for a fresh start.  A time when we decide we’re finally going to get our act together. We start out great, but then we tend to get tired over time and go back to our old ways. Getting financial situations back on track rank high on the “fresh start” list.

Below I’ve listed a bunch of ways to make saving your hard earned cash easier and way less painful!

Set up automatic deposits

Have your bank move a set amount of money automatically into your savings account each month.  Whether it be $50 or $500, if you don’t see the money in the first place, you’ll never miss it!  And at the end of the year you’ll have a very nice amount in your savings account!

Stay home

By staying home more often, you’ll save money on gas, impulse buying and even free up precious time for the things you really want to do!  Let this be a time when you encourage yourself to learn new skills such as learning to make bread from scratch, or learning to recreate your favourite restaurant meal at home, or even learning simple wood working techniques to build a shelf. Involve your children so they learn the value of being creative.

Put extra money into savings

Did you receive a bonus at work? Or a cash gift from Grandma? Why not put it all, or a portion, into your savings account?  Since the money was unexpected in the first place you shouldn’t miss it once it’s safely away in savings.  Just resist the urge to spend it right away on something that caught your eye if you’ve got some financial goals you’d like to accomplish.

Once you’ve finished paying a big bill, put that money into savings

Did you just finish paying off a car loan?  Pretend you haven’t paid it off yet and put that same amount into savings or onto another debt. Be your own bill collector.

Shop for things you need, not for recreation

Recreational shopping used to get me in lot of trouble. I would shop when I was bored. I’d also wonder why I was never saving money and why I never had time to do the things I really wanted to do, like read a book!  Once I stopped treating my boredom with shopping, I discovered the things I really needed to buy were essentials and I discovered ways to occupy myself that made life more meaningful. I stopped cluttering my house up with useless stuff too!

Shop with a “frugal” friend

If you have a tendency to overdo it during your shopping trips. take along a trusted friend that has a more frugal mindset then yourself.  Nothing like a sensible person to reign in your personal spending habits!

Have you got any more recommendations on how to painlessly save money? Let me know in the comments below!