Saving money and still enjoying life?

Trying to save for your future while enjoying your present may be difficult. But it is not impossible. Saving money is an important topic that we should talk about. It’s not only a good practice but also a necessity for the future.

It’s often said that time is money and this saying is especially true in these days. We all want to try and save as much as we can because the future of our economy isn’t clear at all.

A few ways to save money for the future are:

• Reduce utility costs (turn off lights, switch providers, put a jumper on!)
• Cut down on unnecessary items
• Spend less on groceries and dining out
• Find cheaper transportation options (walk to work if you can)
• Another way is to start saving early and have a varied portfolio of investments.

It is not just about how much you save, but rather what you save for. You can save up for a holiday, an emergency fund, retirement account, or university fees.  In actual fact, you are probably going to be saving up for all these things in your lifetime, and you need to do that when still enjoying your current life!  It can be hard, but its definitely worth it in the end.

Saving up for retirement may seem like the most obvious option because it is the one that will take the longest to come to fruition. But this might not be the best option. The amount of money you need in your retirement account by the time you retire has grown substantially over the last few decades and saving early can get you there faster than saving later on down the line.  You could consider taking a lump sum and investing it to see if it grows – always remember that it could also go down in value, so any investments you do should always be with money that you can afford to lose, if necessary.

Before you start saving, you should check your expenditures, and see how much debt you have.  Always pay off debt (apart from things like mortgages!) before you start saving, particularly if you are paying interest. 

The steps that you need to take to get out of debt are as follows:

• Start by listing your debts from the highest interest rate to the lowest, and then work on paying them off one at a time.
• Consider consolidating your debts to have one larger payment rather than lots of small, high interest payments
•  Make a budget and stick to it.
•  Find ways to make extra money by selling unwanted items

Learn more here.

So now you are out of debt, saving money – but you still want to have fun, right?  Look at your savings goals, and work out how much you have left at the end of the month.  Check your outgoings, and see if there are some things that could be cut out.  Gym membership or streaming accounts often go unused but you are still paying for them.  That money could be used to have a lovely meal out.  Also, don’t over do your savings goals.  If you know you want to go on holiday, then that’s different – its for your current lifestyle.  But if you are saving so much for your retirement that you don’t have any spare money now, you need to rethink your savings goal so that you have a happy medium.