3 Ways to Conserve Money as a Time-Poor, Cash-Poor, Shiny-Thing Driven Millennial
Saving in 2017 isn’t easy. As the world has gone digital, retailers and marketers have developed more ways to get into our easily-distracted millennial minds whether on the side of our social media pages, in the middle of the news article we’re reading or through our spam email (that you’re sure you unsubscribed to 3 years ago). And as our obsession with material possessions and the latest gadgets only grows, young adults are facing difficulty in saving their precious pennies for the future.
With the extra pressure of paying off student debt or even perhaps buying a house in the near or distant future (if you live in Sydney, Australia like me, good luck), conserving money for the long haul is more important than ever. So if you’re on struggle street in the funds compartment, here are 3 simple tips to help you kick off your saving journey and increase your financial security, even if just in a small way.
1. Start small.
If saving to you has never meant much more than picking your meal from the ‘Loose Change’ or ‘dollar’ menu at McDonald’s, forming a few small habits may help you wrap your head around the idea and eventually see some progress.
A good habit to start off with is an assessment of your weekly expenses. Create a simple budget with an initial four categories — needs, (food, drink, essentials etc.), transport, leisure and saving — to allocate your income into each week. This will help to give you a visual of your expenditure that you can keep track of over time, and can be adjusted quickly if things aren’t working.
Putting a certain amount of money away from your weekly/fortnightly/monthly pay into a less-accessible location is another great habit to practice. Whether you prefer transferring it into another bank account, storing it under your bed or hiding it in an old-school piggybank, making your savings hard to reach can quickly multiply your wealth without you even realising. For beginners, try stashing 50 dollars a week away or, if you’re brave, you could even try 100 — before you know it you’ll be accruing serious money with little effort. 100 dollars x 10 weeks = 1000 dollars. How good is that! (Answer: really good).
The final habit to develop is to become a 21st century bargain hunter. If you can’t sit at home all day and starve yourself to save funds — understandable — search for free events or festivals to fill your calendar with or, if you’re a student, take advantage of the many concession discounts that are offered both offline (i.e. movie or concert concession tickets) and online (if you’re in Australia or the UK, UNIDAYS is a personal favourite). And if you MUST go out and socialise, opt for menu specials or attend a happy hour — my two favourite words — to decrease your spending whilst increasing your intake of delicious goods.
By adding a few of these basic habits into your day-to-day, you can start to not only feel more in control of your money, but also develop new skills that will remain with you into the future.
2. Close that tab.
In this aggressive and fast-paced age of consumerism, the line between ‘need’ and ‘want’ can get a little blurry. Avid online shoppers (my people) experience this constantly — browsing across sites hours on end for new possessions that probably won’t even fit into their wardrobes or inside their living rooms. The fastest way to figure out if that new sparkly dress or virtual reality headset is a ‘need’ or a ‘want’ is to just close that browser tab. Waiting an extra day to see if you still really need that product allows you to think more rationally, and can even change your perspective.
If you just can’t live without that 8-foot longboard you’ve been eyeing for months (and you’ve never had one lesson) or the ergonomic desk chair of your good-postured dreams, always compare prices between sites and — as I mentioned before — utilize coupon codes and sales. You could be pleasantly surprised at how much you can save on your useless new junk. Score!
3. Set #goals (of the important financial variety).
While not every young person has the goal of eventually becoming a homeowner (or your spirit has just been defeated by the improbability of finding one to begin with), having a long-term goal to save towards can be just the thing to keep you motivated. Find out how much you need to reach your target, divide it by how many weeks you want to save that amount in (i.e. 6 months, a year etc.) and set up a consistent payment either within or in addition to your weekly savings.
Whether it’s for a new laptop, car, a luxury item or just some extra savings for security, setting money aside for something you consider to be valuable and worthwhile will teach you how to reassess your everyday, smaller purchases. There’s nothing better than reaching a financial goal knowing that you’ve worked hard for it — reassuring you that sticking to a plan can actually work (and also that new things are really fun).
Extra (free!) tip: Don’t be too hard on yourself.
Millennials will always enjoy spending money — it’s fun and creates memories (unless it’s spent on alcohol, then maybe not). Whilst companies like Pennybox are overhauling the ‘pocket money’ system and teaching kids about money in fun and simple ways, many of us missed out on being properly educated about finance and therefore have been forced to take it into our own hands. By changing your money habits over time with just a few simple adjustments to your lifestyle, you can be on your way to building your finances without even really noticing. Try to resist the shiny new things being marketed to you from every direction and think to the future instead, as you might save more than just money in the long run.
Wish someone mentioned these tips to you before you bought that jet ski? Have any saving ideas for recovering spending addicts? Let us know in the comments!
And don’t forget to check out Pennybox on Facebook for the latest tips and tales about educating kids about money, so they don’t make the same shiny-driven mistakes we do.
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