Saving ideas for the New Year - The Bookkeeping Company

New Year’s Resolutions that will save you money

Every year, many of us make resolutions but we often don’t stick to them. In fact, around 80% of us break them, according to U.S. News and this is often done by the second week of February. The odds are definitely against you, but here we’ve compiled a quick and easy realistic list of resolutions and offer advice on how to stick to them so that you save money.

Save for next year’s Christmas and festivities:

We all know that Christmas and the festivities that come with it occur every year. Yet, a lot of us tend to struggle with our finances around this time. Why not make next year’s festivities easier on the wallet by planning ahead and putting money away for it now. If you still have some money left over you could always buy next year’s Christmas presents in this year’s sales! That way you save money and get the queuing and cost out-of-the-way.

Save more for those emergencies:

Saving more is what we tend to promise we’ll do come January. But we often fail in this endeavor mostly because we don’t put down the specifics of how much we’ll be saving and what the goals may be. Make it work by looking at your overall expenses. Decide how much you can save, set goals and save for the short and the long-term and put them all in different savings pots. You can even label these savings accounts according to their needs, for example: ‘school fees’, ‘holiday’, etc. Embrace the ‘pay yourself first’ principle. This means that before all the bills are paid make sure you put some money into savings. Often we find that after we’ve paid all the bills and used our money on entertainment there’s nothing left to put into savings. But if you pay yourself first and the bills second, the rest of the money is yours to do with what you wish.

Spend less:

Again, it will help to be specific here. It’s no good saying you’ll spend less. That’s easily said but not easily done. To make sure you do spend less it’s important to look at your budget and hone in on your spending habits. Take a look at your bank statements for 2017 and scrutinize where the money went. Ask yourself how you can cut back on the unnecessary spending in 2018. Cut back on things like takeaways, using the car less frequently and embracing public transport, etc. When you go to the shops next year make a list of what you intend to buy and stick to it. Also, try to go to the shops when you are not hungry – you’re bound to buy less.

Get your family involved:

Making a promise and struggling through it on your own can be a lonely, boring exercise, which is often the reason why people fail. If you get the entire family involved or even a friend to join you in your money-saving New Year’s resolution, the exercise will feel like less of a chore and more like a challenge that you look forward to doing. Getting your family on board will also help in you explaining why certain things can no longer be bought on a whim.

To be successful in your goal to save money it’s best to break up your goals into manageable targets. Once one has been achieved then the next savings goal can be met. Above all, keep goals realistic otherwise it will be difficult to achieve your endgame and you’ll just feel like giving up.

To start you on your saving goals for 2018.

Open a saving account attached to your cheque account
If you received any money today, work out 3% or 5% (R3 for every R100 or R5 for every R100) Transfer this to your savings account. Start small its like putting your small change in a jar and watching how it fills up.
Do this every day.

Wishing everyone a Happy Saving for a Rainy day 2018.