Money Saving Tips and Financial Planning

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Top Money Saving Hacks
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Do you look at your bank account at the end of
every month and wonder where did all the funds
disappear? Most of the times we end up spending
more than what we have to on unnecessary things
and. Try these tips to put more money in your
pocket without too much muss or fuss. 1. Fix a
budget and stick to it 2. Window shop offline and
shop online 3. Get Cash Back/Rewards credit
cards 4. Set financial goals 5. Prepay
loans 6. Go green 7. Watch the mobile phone
usage 8. Start investing 9. Plan vacations ahead
of time 10. Eat at home
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1. Fix a budget and stick to it Fixing a budget
is the first step towards financial planning and
it is not that difficult. The tough part is
sticking to it. You have to set limits on how
much you will be spending on clothes, food,
travel every month and stick to it. Most of the
time it is the smaller bills that go unnoticed
and add to the monthly spend. Prioritizing based
on what is important will help you spend money on
the right things. Always spend on the essentials
before splurging. If you are having trouble
keeping track of how much you spend, there are
many apps that can help you. iExpense Diary is
one such app that lets you enter your income and
expenses and comes with a large number of
categories you can sort your spending into.
Another extremely useful app to have is
MyUniverse, which can not only track your income
and expenses but also investments, and it can
integrate data from different banks as well. You
can use the app to set up automatic payments for
your phone bills and other utilities, and other
recurring bills such as credit card bills.
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2. Window shop offline and shop onlineOnline
shopping is a great way to save money. Be it
clothes or groceries, there are deals online that
will save you a lot of money. A wise idea would
be to research offline and note down the prices
and compare it to the online price before buying.
Always search for coupons before making a
purchase. Websites like DesiDime.com and coupondun
ia.in offer discounts, coupon codes as well as
deals on online merchants. These websites offer
discount coupons on practically everything from
restaurants to books and stationary specific to
your region.Even while you are online shopping,
you should compare prices on different portals
before you make the purchase. Websites
like junglee.com and Pricedekho.com lets you
search for a product, see its price on various
online retailers and get contact link and product
shopping page direct from listing page. This
makes shopping easy and economical at the same
time. An important money saving idea is
postponing something you want to buy. Postponing
your purchase will give time for the impulse to
die down and rational thinking to takeover. Also,
theres always a sale every few months so it will
pay to wait a little bit for that sale to come
by. 3. Get Cash Back/Rewards credit cardsAll
credit card companies offer cash back credit
cards where a percentage of what you spend is
given back to the card holder. With cash back
credit card, you get cash reward every time you
make a purchase on your card. Most credit cards
have an interest free period on purchases and, as
long as you pay your balance in full by the due
date each month you will not usually have to pay
any interest. The best credit cards in the
industry such as Citibank rewards card gives you
10X reward points on your purchases at apparel
and department stores and you can redeem the
points instantly when you shop at over 700
outlets and e-shopping sites.
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4. Set financial goalsBe very specific and
realistic with your goals. Map out your financial
plan and follow through. For example, I want to
buy a house or I want to buy a car cannot be
your plan. You need to map out how much you need,
by when and what you need to save every month in
order to reach the goal. Prioritize each of your
personal goals in order of importance, and then
determine how long you have to save for each of
them. When you know what your targets are, youre
more likely to stay the course and continue
saving for them for the long term. 5. Prepay
loansSaving money on the interest paid on your
expenses can be a good way to save your hard
earned money. Majority of us leverage loans to
meet our financing requirements be it vehicle,
educational, home or personal loans. A huge
portion of your salary going towards the EMI
payment is not the happiest feeling. Moreover, to
keep paying this sum of money for a period of
time can be infuriating. It is advisable to limit
your EMIs to a maximum of 35 of your monthly
income. Besides, the interest rate you pay the
lender may actually end up making the repayment
amount bigger than the principal amount you have
borrowed. Then, what is the solution? The
solution is prepayment of your loan to lighten
your debt burden and save money in the long run.
Prepayment of loans helps to save heavily on
interest. You can also increase EMIs or shift to
another loan if you find a cheaper interest rate
to save money. Here is a useful article that will
help you understand prepaying and restructuring
loans better. Do check with your bank about the
terms and conditions on prepayment or
restructuring of your loan.
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6. Go greenFor short distances, opt for walking
rather than taking a car or bike. If you really
need to use a car, try to car pool. Start using
public transportation more. When you leave a
room, make sure the lights are off, and teach
your entire family to do the same.
Energy-efficient light bulbs might cost a bit
more initially, but they have a much longer life
than normal incandescent bulbs and use far less
electricity. Unplugging the TV instead of just
switching it off can save a lot of electricity!
Dont do the laundry more than once in two days.
Dont unceremoniously throw all your garbage in
the bin- instead, sort out what can be
recycled. 7. Watch the mobile phone usageOwning
a phone is no more an option. It is an essential
item and most of us dont plan our mobile usage
the right way. We end up just recharging when we
run out of balance or pay the bills at the end of
the month without noticing the bills. So watch
what you need and modify your plan accordingly.
Most mobile phone operators have rate cutters
that can reduce the bills. There are also
websites like cashkaro.com, which not only
provide discount coupons, but also give cash back
which can be deposited right into your bank
account.
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8. Start investingWhile savings are important,
you also need to learn how to grow them. Knowing
where to invest is the first step towards making
a smart investment. There are numerous options
out there but one investment you should have is
in a Mutual Fund as they come with a number of
benefits. The returns vary from fund to fund
depending on the period and risk
category. Here are a few tips to maximize returns
from your systematic investment plan in MF. If
you are looking for a long term investment fixed
deposit is a good choice if your investment
period is 6-24 months. It is very common, simple,
risk free and offer high return of investment.
Stock market is another place you can put your
money in. However, it requires constant
monitoring and knowledge about the markets to
make money. Although there is no sure shot way to
make profit, there are ways to minimize risks and
play it smart. These tips will help you do just
that. 9. Plan vacations ahead of timeVacations
are a necessity in this busy day and age and they
can be pretty expensive. However, you can cut
costs by planning ahead. While booking your
tickets, use websites like Kayak that scans the
fares of multiple airlines and travel booking
sites simultaneously. Kayak also shows you a
calendar of the best fares for your itinerary
found by other users in the past 48 hours.
Traveling off season is another way to save a lot
of money. Most destinations, hotels and airline
companies lure tourists with attractive deals
during this slow period. 10. Eat at homeGoing
out to eat or out on the town sounds extremely
exciting but it has a way of completely
destroying both your food budget and your
entertainment budget in one fell swoop. And no
matter what, it is always cheaper to stay in with
friends and come up with your own entertainment.
Cooking and making your own coffee will not only
be cheaper but also better for your health.
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