Don't think that because you can't cut your grocery bill or your utility bill is just high this time of year, you cannot save money.
There are other effective ways to make a difference in your budget and you can start right now. Here are five ways to save money in 10 minutes or less:
1. Set up automatic transfers to pay yourself first
When you receive your income, pay yourself first by setting up an automatic transfer to your savings account to make sure that you are prioritizing saving money over spending it. Shift your mindset: Look at your savings account as a bill to be paid. It's just as important to pay yourself as it is to pay your household bills.
2. Take out cash for your weekly spending
If you are trying to stick to spending a certain amount of money per week, withdraw that amount in cash at the beginning of the week. If I budget an amount of $100 for the week, I make a quick trip to the ATM to withdraw that amount from my account, and that helps me stay on track with my spending.
It's easier to overspend when you are swiping a card, but taking 10 minutes to get cash and committing to only spending that amount means you can't spend more than you have.
3. Call your monthly bill providers
Set aside a few minutes to call your cell phone or internet provider and see if they can reduce your monthly bill. This is why paper statements are so important. I got an email from my cable TV provider that my bill was $272. For what?!
I called my cable provider immediately and asked why my cable bill was so high. We went through my bill and by the time I was done, my monthly bill was $185. This is also why none of my household bills are on autopay. I need to see and know what I am paying every month.
4. Replace an app that encourages spending with one that helps you save
You can choose any app that makes it easy for you to spend money. For me it was Ubereats. Because my credit card was hooked to this app, it was easy to spend money ordering food, especially on Friday nights at the end of the work week when I didn't feel like cooking.
Delete a shopping, ride-share, or food app and replace it with a savings app or budgeting app. That way you can see in real time where your money is going — and it just might change how you spend.
5. If you want to take drastic measures: Freeze your credit card
If you feel like your spending is out of control, or you're carrying credit card debt, you can literally take a cup of water and freeze your credit card for a month, or two months, or however long it takes to get your credit card spending in line.
Remember that if you do this, you also need to remove the card details from any apps or websites where it's saved. The idea is to make your credit card almost impossible to access — not just to create a credit card popsicle. Once you're feeling better about your spending, you can defrost.
Jennifer Streaks
Senior Personal Finance Reporter and Spokesperson
Jennifer is a Senior Personal Finance Reporter and Spokesperson for the Personal Finance vertical at Business Insider.She started her career covering personal finance at Black Enterprise Magazine, went on to CNBC where she covered personal finance, women and money and tech and then Forbes, where she reported on personal finance, business, tech and money matters related to the economy, investing, credit and entrepreneurship.Jennifer is also the author of Thrive!...Affordably: Your Month to Month Guide to living your Best Life without breaking the bank. The book offers advice, tips and financial management lessons geared towards helping the reader highlight strengths, identify missteps and take control of their finances.In addition, she has extensive experience as an on-air financial commentator and has been a featured expert discussing credit and savings, investing and retirement, mortgages and all things money and personal finance. She has an ability to discuss and simplify complex financial issues and make them easier to understand.Follow her on Twitter @jstreaks.
The 10% rule of investing states that you must save 10% of your income in order to maintain a comfortable lifestyle during retirement. This strategy, of course, isn't meant for everyone as it doesn't account for age, needs, lifestyle, and location.
The 50/40/10 rule budget is a simple way to budget that doesn't involve detailed budgeting categories. Instead, you spend 50% of your after-tax pay on needs, 40% on wants, and 10% on savings or paying off debt.
The rule is to split your after-tax income into three categories of spending: 50% on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings. 1. This intuitive and straightforward rule can help you draw up a reasonable budget that you can stick to over time in order to meet your financial goals.
The seven percent savings rule provides a simple yet powerful guideline—save seven percent of your gross income before any taxes or other deductions come out of your paycheck. Saving at this level can help you make continuous progress towards your financial goals through the inevitable ups and downs of life.
What is the Rule of 69? The Rule of 69 is used to estimate the amount of time it will take for an investment to double, assuming continuously compounded interest. The calculation is to divide 69 by the rate of return for an investment and then add 0.35 to the result.
In the 50/30/20 rule, the remaining 20% of your after-tax income should go toward your savings, which is used for heftier long-term goals. You can save for things you want or need, and you might use more than one savings account.
The 80/20 budget is a simpler version of it. Using the 80/20 budgeting method, 80% of your income goes toward monthly expenses and spending, while the other 20% goes toward savings and investments.
Jog for 30 seconds, run normal training pace for 20 seconds, and sprint for 10 seconds.Immediately repeat this cycle four more times, producing one continuous five-minute repeat.
However, one of the most important benefits of this rule is that you can keep more of your income and save. The 20/10 rule follows the logic that no more than 20% of your annual net income should be spent on consumer debt and no more than 10% of your monthly net income should be used to pay debt repayments.
This challenge works the same as the 52 week challenge, but you go up in multiples of £5 rather than £1. So week one = £5, week two = £10, all the way up to week 52 at £260. Alternatively, if you're not in the position to save these larger amounts, you could save £5 every week instead.
The premise of the 30-day savings rule is straightforward: When faced with the temptation of an impulse purchase, wait 30 days before committing to the buy. During this time, take the opportunity to evaluate the necessity and impact of the purchase on your overall financial goals.
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