How To Save Money When You’re Young: 8 Useful Tips

Thing through your own needs: While purchasing anything, ask yourself what the main purposes of this item are. Don’t let an advertisement fool you. Do you really need the latest iPhone model? When on the other hand, with the very same functionality you can buy another one that’s either cheaper, or, for example, some kind of outdoor mobile phone, which you can drop from Mount Everest without any worries and with which you can take a photo of the beauties of the Mariana Trench? Of course, when you work with certain graphics, designing something, you need the highest quality machine to help you to realize your most intricate plans. Concentrate on what you really need. Also, consider next the two factors when you consume – time and volume. Decide for yourself for how long you will use a certain thing, should it serve you for ages or is it something that will only be used once? Everybody knows, the more you buy, the cheaper it will be per unit, kilo, or liter. If you buy a one liter bottle of milk, which will be gone in 3-5 days, but normally you drink only half of one liter per week, simply buy a smaller bottle. This is good to remember, when we are talking about perishable goods. Try to think, maybe a friend also needs something you buy, so you can buy a bigger package and share with him or her. Both of you will save money on it.

Share: Sharing is a very good thing in general. For instance, there are websites where you can find a companion going the same direction as you. You can travel together, share an apartment, split the cost of gasoline and other expenses. Following the same principle, you can even start a business together to share not only the costs, but also risks and revenue.

Compare prices worldwide: Use price comparison websites to find optimal price and shipping terms. In today’s age of globalization, you are no longer limited to only one country in making purchases; feel free to look for something in America or China as well. Do you have a promo code for a discount? Nowadays it is not a problem anymore, you can often find such things on discount aggregate websites. Of course, if you can, try to pay in cash as much as possible. Holding your cash in your wallet helps to avoid impulsive purchases, and you will be more self-aware about spending when real banknotes are slipping through your fingers.

Time is your treasure: Time is a very valuable and unfortunately also an irretrievable resource. Time is money. Don’t waste a single minute. Sometimes, when you can do something more valuable instead of, let’s say, regularly purchasing food, you can shop online and order home delivery, meanwhile you can spend your time more productively and even earn some money. Just compare how much you gain or how much you lose with each hour of your daily routine, and decide appropriately.

Travel cheaply – see more: During travelling, analyze carefully what is more important to you: to save money or time? If the answer is money – visit ticket comparison websites, which can direct you to your destination for the lowest price. Generally, the bus is one of the cheapest means of transport, but don’t limit yourself to it. When travelling for long distances you can often choose between direct connections or those with transfers. You can adjust your transfer time to maximize it and visit another city or place along the way, and almost for free. Among the services offering accommodation abroad you can use not only the well-known com or trivago.com sites, but also such services as couchsurfing.com, the main principle of which is that you can stay at someone’s home for free! In return, you offer your home to someone who is also registered in the couchsurfing social network.

Say NO to boredom: You can save money and spend your free time avoiding boredom by doing interesting things. Here are some recommendations: use parks as a meeting place. Taking in fresh air and walking around the city will lift your spirits more than sitting in cafés. Or you can spend your time more usefully – go to a library. There is no need to buy an expensive medical handbook, and a further benefit could be the opportunity to make a good contact there. There are websites which aggregate all happenings, concerts, and events in your city. Visit them, and find something free of charge. By the way, instead of eating out while you are at the library or at work, you can take a home-made lunch, which could be cheaper, healthier, and with the exact ingredients you like.

Keep only what you need: Our life today changes so quickly: two weeks ago you bought a new book, which you have now read. If you don’t need it anymore, simply sell it! There is no need to keep unnecessary stuff, because it could be exactly what someone else is looking for. You will get money while getting rid of needless stuff. Isn’t that cool?

Plan your life: It is useful to have life strategy which includes long-term goals and a current plan. Make sure that the goals are achievable for you. Prioritize what to buy first and what next. Use the available programs or applications to keep your budget under control. This will simplify managing your cash flow. Record your expenses carefully and then analyze what you have and where you can cut, to save in the long term while allowing you to spend even more in the short term. Avoid situations where you are at low-water mark, try not to borrow money or have any debts. Also avoid wasting your money on “luxury” services or things that you may not need. Do you really need that mobile internet on your phone when there are plenty of free Wi-Fi spots in the city?

Now you finally know how to save and be smart about spending money. Good luck!

This article was originally published in Youth Time print edition, 35th issue. Subscribe here, purchase one issue here.

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