Best Money-Saving Tips for 2020

The following contribution is from another author.

With many of us being paid early in December, January can feel like a long month with a big gap between pay checks. Not only that but, post-Christmas, a lot of us are feeling the pinch. With just a little forward planning though, we can be back in the black in no time at all. Read on for some smart, money-saving tips for 2020…

Use Apps

Guilty (like everyone else) of spending too much time on your phone? Utilize this pocket gadget for spending sensibly. There are hundreds of apps that will help you save money. Some of them round up your spending to the nearest dollar and save the excess for you. Others calculate how much you spend on a daily basis and put a little aside each day or week for you. Don’t feel loyalty to any of them – if you try one and it doesn’t work, it just might not be the right one for you. Do some research and take advantage of your tech.

You can also use apps to save and even make money. You can access platforms such as Robinhood, which might be the best stock trading platform, via an app on your phone.

Save a Little

Kind of the manual version of the apps, something you might want to do is put a little aside every week. If you buy a coffee five days a week, skip it one day and instead have the cash automatically transfer to your savings. Once that starts adding up, try going two days a week. Once you start seeing a difference, it’ll be even easier to stash money away for a rainy day.

Check Your Bills

There might be bills and direct debits coming out of your account that you have forgotten about, but all these little amounts really add up. Is there a gym membership you barely use? Either commit or cancel. Should you look for a company that refinance student loans so your monthly repayments are less? Not only that, but there are likely to be areas you can save on bills. Even if it isn’t quite the time to renew them yet, it’s worth doing your research early and having a plan in place. That way, when your contracts start running out, you can switch with minimal hassle and won’t fall into the trap of just letting things roll over because you run out of time.

Look for Discount

Whenever you’re purchasing anything online or in store, look for a discount coupon. There are plenty of sites, like ulta coupon, which will give you money off. You can also often make a big saving by buying in bulk. Have a clear out and do some decluttering to make space – all those small amounts add up. If you’re feeling really fastidious, calculate the saving that you made and, instead of letting it vanish into your current account, put it directly into your savings. You’ll soon see a difference from all the little, positive changes you’re making.

30% Rule

This is part of the 50-30-20 savings rule, which is spending certain percentages of your income on different things and being diligent about setting money aside for particular purposes. Though this is a good rule, it’s also worth assessing your bills and spending to see if these exact percentages work for you. Remember, if it isn’t working for you, there’ll be something that will. 

Compare Cable Providers

The cost of cable TV can be substantial. Families, therefore, should do as much as they possibly can to reduce costs. But how? Aren’t cable TV prices fixed? As sites like https://www.highspeedoptions.com/tv point out, they’re not. There are actually big differences between providers, both in terms of monthly fees and what you get for your money. 

Remember, you’ll always pay much more for sports content. But if you aren’t fussed about watching the latest football or basketball games, then you can actually save a huge amount of money – sometimes more than fifty percent.