tips to save money in regular life?

[reliablefinancers]

I am not able to do savings as per i have planned. So can anyone suggest me that how to save money in our regular day to day life?

[dczech09]

In order to save, you have to not spend all of your money. Are you spending all of your money? If that is the case, then that is why you have not been able to save. Maybe you're spending too much or not making enough?

I can only speculate as I do not know any details.

Otherwise what I generally do is set aside $100 out of every paycheck to go toward savings goals like Christmas, vacation, etc. I also set aside 15% of money for retirement as well. Once I have set that money aside, I cannot spend it. So in a sense, I "force" myself to save, which is what a lot of people on here do as well. It is the whole "pay yourself first" principle. However, this only works if you make enough money and do not spend all of it on other expenses.

[krantcents]

I have been a lifelong saver! I set up a payroll deduction to start my savings for annual expenses such as property taxes, insurance etc. You can start small and increase it as you go along. It is real important to contribute to a 401k as part of your long term savings goals.

[ThriftoRama]

It's just a matter of minding the little things.

Through the years we've:
-switched grocery stores. We do our main shop at Aldi, which saves us a bunch. The prices don't SEEM that much better than the regular store, but all those small discounts really add up. We can get an entire cart of groceries there for $60 or less, including splurges.

-Grow more of our own veggies and fruit. I dedicate a larger plot every year to growing some of our own food. I concentrate on high value items like tomatoes, which I process into pasta sauce and diced tomatoes that we use all winter. We also make all of our own applesauce to last us through the years. Plus, we get fresh veggies all summer long.

-Buy used first. That is our mantra around here. Is there a way we can get what we need second-hand first? Cars, appliances, furniture, kids toys and clothes. We shop thrift stores,craigslist, yard sales, estate sales, etc. for the kids clothes and a lot of our home items and gifts. You really can become a master at this and do it classy on a small budget!

-Do more for yourself. Think, make your own fancy coffee at home instead of hitting Starbucks, make your own dinner, lunches, etc. and try to do as much of that from scratch. I'm not a natural at this. It takes work, but free cookbooks from the library and a little advance planning go a long way.

-Analyze for lifestyle costs. Yes, everyday savings are great, but if your bills are too large, it won't help you much. We just switched internet providers and cancelled cable and it saved us $80 a month. We also re-shop our auto and home insurance every two years, a switch that recently saved us $500 a year.

-Aggressively pay off debt. Interest payments get you nowhere. We aggressively pay off debt. We own two cars free and clear and are working to pay off our mortgage in the next three years.

-Take extra work when you can get it. We take freelance assignments for extra money whenever we can. It isn't always convenient, but it sure is nice when the check comes.

[Augustine]

Saving money requires desire, determination, creativity and patience.

But most of all, having the right mindset and strategy will help you a lot more than any 'tactics'.

Be clear about the reason you want to save money and if your 'why' is strong enough, it will motivate you to follow through with your plan.

[BMEPhDinCO]

I am not able to do savings as per i have planned. So can anyone suggest me that how to save money in our regular day to day life?

Make coffee or tea at home.

Bring your lunch to work.

Take public transportation (even once or twice a week).

Bike or walk when possible.

Turn off lights when not in use.

Take a shorter shower.

Turn down the hot water heater temperature.

Use up all your food or freeze it if it is about to go bad.

[Bob B.]

Is there any room to cut expenses in categories like "eating out" "entertainment" "alcohol"?

I'm not sure of your age, but I know there was room in my budget to cut expenses like that 15+ years ago.

[Jerry91]

Budget is the cornerstone of a good financial life. This will help you cut extra costs and save you from unnecessary expenses. Minimise your cable/satellite TV and Internet packages. You should also reduce the amount that you dining out. Buy groceries in bulk and shop at garage sales, thrift stores, eBay and Craigslist.

[DisciplinedSaver101]

Pay Yourself First

Try to pay yourself first every month. If you pay your bills and expenses first, and then save any money you have leftover, you'll never have any money left over. Start by setting $20 per paycheck aside as soon as you get paid. You'll learn to do without that money. Increase that when you can. Once you have accumulated $100, open a Schwab account and put your money in an S&P 500 Index Fund. That's by far the best way to invest your money.

Good Luck!

[snidersusan21]

If you want to save money you must to know what's the difference between needs and wants.
Don't spend your money for not really important to you.
Do you have a job? If there is, save at least a bit of % from your monthly income.

[johnt78]

Saving money doesn’t have to be a tedious mission. From shopping at lower-end grocery stores to curbing those addictive vices, our finance expert shares simple tips to help you save money every day.Shop online and save on gas.Sell unwanted things to earn extra bucks.Use free software instead of their paid alternatives.Exercise at home, instead of going to the gym.Never buy unnecessary things.Don’t buy food if you don’t need it.Try to repair simple faults before they become big and require more money to fix.Use solar water heater to save grid electricity cost etc

[purplish]

One suggestion is to join the LifeHacker challenge to save $1400 in one year. I think the way it works is that you start on day one with $1, then each day add a dollar, so the last day you put away $365. In one year you've saved $1400. The logic is that if you gradually increase the amount, you won't really feel that it's missing. I know a lot of people who started Jan 1 and say it really works. There's also a chart to help somewhere online.

[hamchan]

One suggestion is to join the LifeHacker challenge to save $1400 in one year. I think the way it works is that you start on day one with $1, then each day add a dollar, so the last day you put away $365. In one year you've saved $1400. The logic is that if you gradually increase the amount, you won't really feel that it's missing. I know a lot of people who started Jan 1 and say it really works. There's also a chart to help somewhere online.

That doesn't make sense. You'd be putting over 300$ a day in saving during December. Are you sure it's not every week?

[youshallliveinoverflow]

Coupons, sales and discounts are a good way to save money. I try to only make purchases when on sale. Also, look at monthly reoccurring charges and contact service providers and maybe downgrade services.

[theoracle]

I'm not very disciplined when it comes to saving/spending (depending on which way you choose to look at it) and i know that if i have easy access to the money... i'll end up spending it.

So what i've done is open up a savings account with another bank and set up a standing order that pays half my salary into my savings account at the start of the month. I let my wife manage that account... i don't even have the logins for internet banking on that particular account!

It helps that i have a missus that is extremely thrifty! But this has been working extremely well for us over the past 2yrs or so.