Do you find yourself getting to the end of the month and wondering where the bloody hell all your hard earned cash went. The bank balance is looking pretty dismal and your savings account needs life support?
I’m Dominique Mullally, Money & Mindset Coach and in today’s video I’ll give tips and trick to get your bank account bursting with all that extra cash.
Having worked as a Financial Adviser and now as a coach, I’m still surprised when I hear someone say they can’t save. Can’t is only ever simply a choice.
Most of the time we happily unconsciously spend our money on choices of things we don’t need but think we want. Majority of the time it’s habit or a well meant direct debt that now no longer serves it’s purpose.
These choices get stacked up and can often go unnoticed. Truth is we pay more attention and give love to the little meaningless things in our life like who’s doing what on FB or what celebrity is dating who…… that we forget to focus and pay the most attention to one of the most meaningful things in our life, our money. Our money pays our way and keeps us safe and secure so it’s important we keep this friend feeling loved and respected.
We all have all had a direct debit or habit cost us at some point in our lives but how much is it costing you right now?
Here are some ways we can shave money off your expenses and save 100 spondulas a month!
Tip #1 Prepare your own lunches
Unless you’re working from home everyday, working in the office can be a costly affair. Most people’s mentality is oh it’s only 3.50 here, $5 or £5 here and there but the truth is….they all add up! If you were to buy 3 times a week at the cost of £5…………. that’s £720 a year. You’ve literally eaten your way through your annual holiday money.
Now I don’t believe in denying yourself of anything….that sometimes just makes you want it even more……so if you enjoy buying your lunch just treat yourself to once a week like on a Friday or even once a fortnight and the rest of the time make your own lunch. Being prepared here is the key but by doing that if you were to buy yourself lunch once a fortnight as opposed to 3 times a week you would save yourself £50..or $50……a month!!!!
Tip #2 Cut out your daily coffee purchases
I mean come on we all love a latte or 2 but in the same way the cost of lunches add up so too do your daily lattes….David Bach calls this the Latte Effect!
Over the course of a year it would be far cheaper to purchase a coffee machine and make your own at home than it would to purchase one everyday.
So just like your lunches, make your coffees at home or cut down on the amount you buy in a week. If you buy one every day, try and limit it to every 3 days and watch your pennies begin to stack up!
Tip #3 Finding the gold
Come on be honest, when was the last time you looked at your bank or credit card statement? I mean a really good look. I’m guessing for some of you it might have around the time of never, never?!
For some of us looking at our bank or credit card statements can be a painful experience. I get it but from pain can come immense pleasure…..bear with me…
I cannot begin to tell you the amount of times I looked at my own bank account statement and been charged two for a transaction….trust me….it happens more than you think.
Or I have been paying for a subscription I no longer use. Lets be honest… how many made going to the gym a new years resolution so you signed up for a gym membership. Question is, how many of you are still using that gym membership now? I bet there’s a fair few of you who are simply paying for something you no longer need. I know we can all have good intentions but the truth is unless there is a really need or use for these subscriptions it could be like setting fire to £20 each month.
Light some candles, put on your favourite relaxing music, your favourite colour highlighter and spend some time getting friendly with your bank or credit card statements. Review your statements for the last 6 months and notice if there are any duplicate transactions or any there are any current subscriptions you’re no longer in need of. It could be a gym membership, a magazine subscription, anything that is costing you money but yet you’re not actually using it.
Tip #4 – Treasure hunting
What is it they say, one woman’s trash is another woman’s treasure. If your closet was anything like mine before I decluttered it, you’ll probably have a whole host of hot cash shoved into every crevasse of your cupboard.
I cannot begin to tell you the amount shoes, handbags, and clothes I had that I never wore…some of which had the tag on them, which were all representative of some monetary value and here they were….simply stockpiled!
Make a date in your diary and get stuck in. Make a pile of clothing and label, ditch, donate and sell. For those items you can sell, either list them on ebay or arrange a spot at a local car boot sale and watch some extra pennies begin to roll in.
So I’d love to hear from you, …………do you have any tips or tricks please comment below.
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