Easy money-saving tips to improve your finances

With simple strategies, it’s easy to make saving part of your everyday routine. Look after the pennies and the pounds will look after themselves, or in other words, if you put small sums to one side, over time, you’ll have saved a considerable amount of money. Here are some money-saving tips anyone can do.

The 52-week challenge: save €1,378 in a year

You can save a lot of money with the 52-week challenge – and have fun doing it. The principle is so simple: Choose a day of the week – Sunday, for example – and put one euro in your savings box. Then, the next week, put one more euro in than the previous week. That means, in the first week, you’ll have saved one euro, in the second week, two euros, in the third week three euros and so on until the 52nd week at the end of the year where you’ll put 52 euros in. So, when you empty your savings box on New Year’s Eve, you'll have saved a grand total of €1,378, which you could put towards a nice holiday somewhere.

Five euro trick – put your notes to one side

The five euro trick in a nutshell: Every time you get a five euro note in your wallet or purse, take it out and put it in your savings box. Even if you can’t be sure how much money you’ll have saved by the end of the year, it’ll certainly add up over the months. You can also do this trick with other notes or coins, e.g. 1 or 2 euro coins.

The consumer diet – curb your spending

We all know what it’s like. Black Friday and a myriad of sales and special offers. The temptation to make spontaneous purchases is hard to resist, long-term saving is not easy. By thinking twice before you buy something – even if it’s a bargain – you can check your behaviour and avoid unnecessary purchases. Just follow this simple rule: Write down all the things you want and come back to the list in a month’s time. If you still want something on the list, then go for it. Otherwise, you’ve saved money. It sounds simple, but it’s effective.

The beauty of it is that you’re free to choose what you want to go without. Another version of the consumer diet is to consume any goods you’ve stockpiled before buying anything new. For example, you could rethink your wardrobe and start wearing items you’ve hardly worn. Make sure you use up consumer items, such as perfume, cleaning materials or hygiene products before you buy new ones.

Of course, you can also do the consumer diet with others. Decide among your friends what you are willing to go without for, say, six months or a whole year.

Round-up savings

Every time you decide to buy something, whether it’s an item of clothing or a night out at a restaurant, round up the amount you spend and save the difference. How does it work? If a new pair of shoes costs €75.99, for example, round up this figure to, say, €80 and transfer the €4.01 to your savings account. Of course, you can be even more generous and round the figure up to the nearest €50 or €100. If your new shoes cost €75.99, then transfer €24.01. If they cost €155 then transfer €45, and so on.

Saving is like all good intentions: sticking to them is the hardest part. Not only that, but it won’t always be possible to put money to one side. That’s when it makes sense to have a look at your finances and see where you can make savings. At least once a year, you should take a closer look at what you’re spending your money on – from mobile phone contracts to electricity bills and bank charges. At the end of the day, you can only save the money you don’t spend.