7 Smart Money-Savings Tips
Wise financial strategies provide a roadmap toward success.
Whether you want to reduce your monthly expenses or to pad your bank account, you can get started today.
Mindful Money shares smart money-savings tips to help improve your financial situation.
Set a Goal
Saving money may require you to make some lifestyle changes.
However, setting a goal could enable you to maintain your focus.
Along the way, a goal with a targeted date will reinforce your usage of prudent money-saving tips.
Plan for a short-term or a long-term goal.
Your goal might be to take a 7-day cruise next year.
Perhaps you want to save enough money to buy a home.
A written goal that you often refer to is great for accountability purposes.
Placing your goals in a highly visible place could motivate you to stay on track.
Create a Budget
Creating a budget will be instrumental toward optimizing your savings.
Your budget should reflect the cost of recurring items, such as your housing expenses, utilities, transportation, food, insurance and savings.
Be sure to include your actual costs and your best estimates for your budget.
For example, your transportation costs should include your car payment, insurance, gas, tolls, maintenance and estimates for vehicle repairs.
Additionally, include parking or transit expenses, if you frequently pay for these items.
Reduce Your Debt
With fewer obligations, you’ll have opportunities to save more money.
Reducing your debt is essential to starting your wealth-building journey.
Focus on paying off your credit cards with the highest interest rates and the lowest balances.
While, you should not close your most established accounts, lower balances will result in less interest paid, which could help improve your credit profile and your credit score.
Eliminate Unnecessary Expenses
If you pay for a monthly or a yearly gym membership without frequent usage, you can eliminate the expense.
Also, you could walk a few times each week or invest in home exercise equipment for less than the cost of a gym membership.
Eliminate the cost of television streaming services and other subscriptions that you rarely use.
Eliminating expenses for infrequently used item could save you hundreds of dollars per year.
Review Your Receipts
Knowing how much you spend on certain items each month could reflect where you’re making wise purchases.
A thorough review of your receipts could reveal some stores that you may need to avoid.
Pay Yourself First
Paying yourself first is among the smartest money-saving tips.
Speaking with a human resources specialist where you work could lead to details about employer-matched retirement programs.
You could also discuss automated payroll savings plans to fund a money market account or a mutual fund that pays more interest than a typical bank savings account.
Obtain a Home Loan
Refinancing could enable you to secure a lower mortgage interest rate or to get a fixed-rate home loan.
Mindful Money offers affordable loan programs for homeowners and home buyers in Arizona, California and Colorado.
Inquire today about using some of the equity within your home to pay off high-interest rate debts via a cash-out refinance.
Speak with Samantha Cooley, a licensed mortgage broker who has helped individuals and families secure attractive mortgage loans for more than 20 years.