Honestly no body can motivate you to change your shopping habits unless you believe by yourself. The best way would be to keep record of all your spending for at least one full month. At the end of the month, categorize the spending and add all the money you spent in different categories.
You would be amazed that how much you are spending on things which you might not even need or avoid very easily. I am not suggesting that you stop buying coffee if that is what you need to kick start your day at work. If you stop doing that you will not be performing at work and that is the last thing I would suggest. Based on your findings you decide now that what you can avoid and where you can save money. Seeing the actual numbers will surly a big motivation for you.
You may consider following 5 things to save money and avoid getting into debt:
- Reduce the frequency of eating out. If you have the habit of eating out every night, then you might consider eating at home by preparing your meals at home. You might consider making more than one meal at time so that you do not have to spend time every day making your food after coming back from work.
- Are you the one who always want to purchase name brand merchandise? If the answer is yes then consider buying store brands as those are just as good. Some store brands are made by name brand companies and are the same product, just with the store brand name. And they are just as good, if not better.
- You may consider borrowing movies from the public library for free instead of paying the rents. Well it does not mean that you want to watch a new release and wait for it long time before it is available in library. Similarly you may want to consider watching a rental movie with your friends and sharing the cost with them.
- Coupons are a great way to save money and most grocery and warehouse stores offer discount coupons that can save you significantly. There are many websites from where you can print the coupons and use them to save money. You may also consider hunting for freebies which you will use.
- Have you ever consider barter and trader with others. You may have many items in your home that you do not even use anymore and may be able to barter those to get items you need. It is a good way to save some extra cash.
You have actually taken time to calculate all the expenses for one month, so why not keep on doing it and find out how much you are saving by using the above tips.
