How to save money with a small salary? How to save correctly?

Most regions of our country cannot boast of a high level of wages, despite the fact that prices are constantly growing, as is the cost of living.

In addition to the monthly expenses for utility bills, the purchase of products and other expenses, I want to save up money for a long-awaited vacation, purchase of real estate or training children. Unfortunately, not everyone succeeds, and some are so fixated on saving that they cross the line on the path to outright treason. So how to save money with a small salary, without prejudice to the little things?

What can and cannot be saved?

Before you start living economically, you need to clarify that this is not the road to poverty or the complete limitation of one’s needs, but rather the correct alignment of life positions, which, in turn, leads to a rational waste of money.

In addition, having learned how to spend money and save it correctly even with low earnings, you can improve your financial situation, easily and quickly give up bad habits, be healthier and freer. For those who don’t know how to save money with a small salary, but really want it, some significant goal will be an excellent motivator. It will be she who will encourage the rational use of family income.

What can you save on from the first day of the goal:

• giving up bad habits;
• from the “I want” shopping section;
• mobile communications;
• utility bills;
• products
• items of clothing;
• gifts;
• household chemicals.

What can not be saved? Three points can be distinguished here:

• Family Health;
• security;
• education.

Reasons to start saving

Setting a goal is already a serious step towards saving. Otherwise, the result cannot be achieved, and money will be spent on all sorts of little things. If a person strives for something, he will always weigh the need for expenses and choose what to save on - buy new jeans or wear old ones, but go to the resort faster.

Goals may be:

• short-term, for example, the purchase of household appliances;
• medium-term, for example, a trip abroad or repair;
• long-term, for example, buying a property or repair.

It will help you understand how to save money with a small salary, the table below. It presents the goals for the periods and the necessary means to achieve them.

How to determine the source of income?

In order to really assess one’s capabilities and determine whether one or another set goal is feasible, a person needs to calculate his earnings and funds, free from essential expenses.

For example, in a family there are several people with a stable monthly income, then each person’s earnings are added up and obligatory expenses are deducted from them:

• payment of utility bills;
• money for travel;
• food purchase;
• payment for education;
• other payments.

These data are only approximate with permissible errors, therefore it is better to have a notebook and record all the primary expenses every month. As a result, you can calculate the average cost indicator and adjust it as necessary. In addition, this way you can determine how much can be postponed monthly for a planned goal.

A small salary is not a reason to cut all ideas and plans in the bud. Of course, when thinking about how to save money with a small salary, you should not collect it for a luxury mansion, but you can approach the goal from the other side and invest in education and personal growth, as a result, earnings will increase, and the goal will be more attainable.

Not everyone likes to live in the economy mode, but if you competently approach the matter, you can fulfill your dreams and improve your financial situation.

Reserve formation

After analyzing the reviews of people who understood how a family can live economically on a small salary and save money, as well as those who are just mastering the savings, we can conclude that the fundamental point is the mandatory formation of reserve cash.

The creation of a reserve is a prerequisite, every month it is necessary to save 5-10% of the salary in your own fund. This is a kind of “untouchable reserve”, it will be a defensive front in case of unforeseen circumstances. If the stock was not spent in the previous month, you should not attribute it to the income of the coming period. On the contrary, continue to add 5-10% of earnings to the reserve fund every month.

No wonder the reserves of entire states are thus formed. Continuing in the same vein, after a few months you can afford to buy an expensive thing, and picking up a little more, save up for a vacation with a small salary or make cosmetic repairs in the apartment.

How to start saving?

Once a person thinks that it is worth changing something and starting to live more economically, immediately there are obstacles in the form of incoming bills for the apartment, the need to replenish food supplies, paying for children’s clubs and other household expenses. As a result, the goal is delayed indefinitely.

To master the principles of economy, it is necessary to cast aside all doubts and set aside at least a minimum of funds. Despite utility bills, an empty refrigerator and more. It is important to remember that the rational use of funds is practiced primarily for oneself, and accumulation is no less important than the cost of products and payments.

The optimal amount for stock formation will be the amount of 10% of monthly earnings. Despite the fact that this is not so much, it is rather problematic to postpone them. Often, the matter does not concern the monetary issue, but the relationship, why people are so disrespectful to themselves that they do not consider it possible to postpone 10% for personal needs. Or they don’t believe in the possibility of saving up for something significant, making such small amounts, however, most often, putting aside money a couple of times, a person slowly pulls out of the reserve for current needs.

It is necessary to give yourself an attitude: under no circumstances to spend money on secondary goals, willpower is the key to success. A constant account should be kept of cash, how much has been received and has been spent. At first, it is recommended to start a notebook and indicate in it all daily expenses down to the smallest detail. At the end of the month, an analysis is carried out in order to determine which of them were redundant, which ones can be saved in the next month.

Home accounting for Android will help save money. This is an application that keeps track of expenses and income of a person or the whole family. Using the program, you can analyze several periods. The functionality also allows you to transfer data to a computer. Security is provided by entering a password.

Savings during the loan

Repayment of loans, mortgages and collateral obligations is a hot topic for most of the country's population. Stretching a large payment for years, people deny themselves small whims: a trip on vacation, buying new equipment, updating the wardrobe. What can we say about going to the cinema or attending a theater premiere.

In the conditions of economy, “pleasant expenses” are immediately deleted from the planned budget, which is absolutely wrong. If a person takes planning of expenses with full seriousness, these expenses must be laid down in the plan, otherwise the lesson will seem completely gray and unpromising. Well, if at least once a month there will be an opportunity to go to the theater or buy a new thing.

As already mentioned, it is necessary to save 10% each in the reserve fund, but if funds are left from the family budget to pay the loan, then this amount can be divided in half, for example, 5% to be postponed for itself and 5% for early repayment of the loan. Since payments to the bank are not a rational, but a forced waste of money, which is desirable to remove from the balance sheet as soon as possible.

Of course, any financier will advise you to do it yourself and not take loans at all, but the realities of life are often put in a tight framework, and credit becomes a necessary measure. In this case, it is better to limit yourself to smaller payments for a longer period than to give almost all of your earnings in a short period of time.

Many people think about how to save up for a car with a small salary. In this matter, the main thing is not to break at the last moment. If a person does not work all day, then you can look for additional work or create something with your own hands.

In order not to be tempted to spend the accumulated, you need to create a system of accumulation. Such methods will help in this:

1. Envelopes in which money will be saved. They are sealed, so taking funds from there will be more problematic than from a box or box.
2. You can also open a bank account and make cash deductions.
3. Get a funded card or a cashback card.
4. Open a deposit with the possibility of making an additional monthly payment.

Save on Products

Most buyers are familiar with the situation when they went into a store for bread and went out with a full cart of products, and not of prime necessity. Saving on products is quite real, and it is not necessary to switch to low-quality food or starve, a reasonable approach to business is important.

How to live on a small salary, buying products:

1. Proper nutrition. Refusal from semi-finished products will not only save money, but also preserve health, the same can be said about fast food. Purchased rolls and donuts can be replaced with dairy products or baked on their own, an alternative to meat and sausage semi-finished products is boiled or baked beef roll, and dried fruits can be sweets.
2. Menu for the week. A planned menu for the week excludes options when you need to run into the store for just one ingredient and come home with a full package of products. In addition, excess products will not deteriorate, therefore, money is spent correctly.
3. Grocery list. Writing a list of necessary things is a very good habit. Firstly, it will save you from impulsive spending, and secondly, there will be no need to return for a particular product, and it is already known how it ends.
4. Cash or card. Numerous surveys revealed that people are more likely to part with money by paying with a card, because they do not have visual and tactile contact with money. However, payment with a card gives many advantages in the form of discounts and bonuses, therefore it is not worth excluding it at all. No matter how you pay, you need to keep checks and keep records.
5. Shopping on payday. Most people, having received an advance or a salary, tend to make purchases on the same day. It is better to postpone this in order to cool down a little and plan the costs for the coming period.
6. Who should go shopping? According to some statements, men behave more rationally when shopping, but many women can argue with this. Not all men study the price tags and often take the goods without having familiarized themselves with the price, or buy the wrong products that are required by the wife in the kitchen. Therefore, it is still better to go to the store for that member of the family who does not give in to spontaneous purchases and makes more deliberate actions.

The table below shows how to save money with a small salary. Using it, you can analyze which purchases were redundant.

Save on other purchases

In addition to products, people make many other daily purchases: clothing, cosmetics, toys, shoes, not to mention larger acquisitions. With the right approach, you can save money here. When wondering how to save up for repairs with a small salary, it is also necessary to apply an envelope system. To do this, it is necessary to analyze the cost of repair work and calculate the amount of deposited funds.

Consider other costs:

1. Cosmetics and hygiene products are not something to save on. Cheap and low-quality products often lead to allergic reactions, deterioration of the skin and hair. Cosmetic products should consist of natural ingredients, which, by the way, are quite expensive. As an option, you can save by buying goods in the same network and accumulating bonuses using a discount card.
2. Clothing. Second-hand sales are out of the question, although many people say that you can find good things at an affordable price. It is recommended to buy clothes in online stores, joint purchases or in stocks of last year's collections - this will save up to 25% of the market value. The main advice is not to make spontaneous purchases, all things in the wardrobe should be in harmony. Thus, you don’t have to pick up clothes for a long time and you’ll get decent money on unnecessary things.
3. Equipment. The most popular brands of telephones, televisions and other gadgets add a huge percentage to the cost of production due to advertising and a earned name. You can always buy an analog that meets the basic requirements at a lower price.

Communal payments

With the right consumption of resources, you can save on monthly payments for utilities. For example, if there is an electric kettle in the house, you can refuse it and boil water on the stove in an ordinary kettle or pour strictly the required amount of water, rather than wasting electricity on constantly heating full containers.

How to save money with a small salary, saving on utility deductions:

1. It is better to make tea or coffee with water from a thermos.
2. The refrigerator should stand as far as possible from heating appliances and direct sunlight.
3. Cooking on an electric stove is better using dishes with a thick bottom. So the heat is stored longer, and the preparation of some dishes is allowed, just before they are fully cooked.
4. When buying household appliances, you should pay attention to the energy class.
5. Significantly save electricity LED and energy-saving light bulbs.
6. If the family is used to taking a bath, then it is worth making the habit of bathing in the shower.

Travel, communication, Internet costs

If we talk about trips, the principle applies here, there is a car - it is better to walk on short distances more often or try to use public transport at least occasionally. So it will turn out to learn to save with a small salary.

For regular trips by transport you need to buy a travel card. A long trip is ahead, you can use the application, which allows you to find travel companions and significantly save on travel expenses.

In the modern world, just to keep abreast of events, you need to use the Internet and mobile communications. How to save money with a small salary, given these costs? Most subscribers do not use 100% paid tariff. To reduce costs, it is recommended to switch to a cheaper tariff or choose the one where only the services that were used are paid. Another tip is sometimes to check your tariff package and control the connected paid services that can be imposed by the mobile operator.