Sometimes you would want to purchase a gift for yourself or loved one but money stands on the way of getting something nice. This is especially when you have a fixed monthly budget.
However, if you carefully plan your finances, it is possible to buy that expensive gift you have always wanted.
How do you do that? The answer is simple, save. It is unfortunate that many people still find saving difficult. A saving culture requires discipline and commitment. It is something that takes time to develop and make it part of you.
Let us take a look at some of the 7 ways you can save money for your gifts:
- Set Goals
If you begin a savings plan with a general desire of simply saving money, then it means you are not genuine and true to your expenditure. You need to set goals and target for yourself in order to hold yourself accountable.
Your goals should be SMART – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. Most people often set goals that are not realistic and cannot be measured. Having realistic and time-bound goals will ensure that you stick to your original saving plan from the start to the end.
A good saving plan should relatively be shorter. It should also be pegged on the type of gift you are planning to purchase. For example, if you are planning to purchase a gift worth $500, then your target savings should also lie between $500 and more.
- Learn to Budget Your Finances
It is near impossible to have a proper savings plan if you cannot account for your monthly expenditure. Budgeting is one of the first steps in a savings plan. Being able to understand what goes where will give you a general overview of where to make adjustments in order to save.
Budgeting will make it possible to take control of your finances. For example, you will be able to understand where you are overspending and where you are underspending. This will allow you to see how much you can put aside every month for the purposes of saving.
- Cut on unnecessary expenditure
The culture of saving requires sacrifices. How many pizzas do you east in a week? How much do you spend on entertainment? Is it possible to reduce some of these expenses and channel that money to your savings account?
If for example, you take 4 pizzas a week, why don’t you reduce that to 2 and save the rest of the money? If you are spending $500 on entertainment, then reduce that to a substantial amount and save the rest of the money. The whole idea is to cut down your budget in order to increase your savings.
- Settle Your Debts
Many people don’t realize how much paying debts takes its toll on their monthly income. Just imagine paying a 20% interest on a accredit card debt every month. That basically means you are paying a whopping $100 dollars or more on servicing your debt.
However, if you are able to pay off your debt at once it means you will definitely increase your income. Start by paying debts with high-interest rates gradually until you clear everything. The money that used to go for paying debts, can now be directed into your savings account.
- Track Your Spending
There are various steps in the budgeting process. One of the first and simplest steps is planning on how you will spend your money. On the other hand, the most difficult part is determining if you are abiding by your budget every month or not.
However much it seems difficult, it is important to ensure that track down all your expenditure up to the last penny. The good thing is that there are various smartphone apps assist you with budgeting and keeping track of all your expenditure.
- Bank Your Tax Refund
One financial mistake that most people make is misusing tax refunds many people treat it as “found money” -https://lendvia.com/news/how-to-save-money-saving-tips/ and end up using it almost immediately.
However, the truth is that tax refund is part of your hard-earned money that the government deducted from your paycheck and is now refunding. Channelling your tax refunds to a savings account every year will go a long way in boosting your income or savings.
- Develop a Savings Mindset
Having a positive mindset about saving is one of the most important steps when it comes to succeeding in saving for your gifts. Don’t act as if you are being forced to do it. It needs to come from the inside rather than outside influence or pressure.
When you think like a saver, you will act as a saver. On the other hand, when you think like a spender, you definitely act like one. Moving from a spending mindset to a saving’s doesn’t imply that you will stop spending. It means that you will still spend, but only on things that matter.
In general, there are different ways through which you can save money for your gifts. All you need is to come up with a proper savings plan and have a savings mindset together with several other ways mentioned above.
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