I was watching Martin Lewis’ Extreme Savers the other day. Watching people forage in the wild for herbs and berries made me realise something… I’m terrible at saving money.
Yes, I put money away each month into savings and investments. But, I’m awful at shopping around for deals or getting discounts on shopping, bills, and social activities. Imagine how much more I could put away each month if I got better at this!
As a money blogger, this feels like something I really shouldn’t admit. At the very least, I need to rectify it quickly.
That’s what this blog post is about. I’m going to change my habits and stop being terrible at saving money. I’m setting myself a new challenge to keep myself on track and I’d love you to join me.
- The benefits of saving money
- Do I spend too much money?
- How am I going to save more money
- My new challenge
- Join in!
The benefits of saving money
The benefits of saving money are largely self-explanatory.
It can help give you financial security and keep you comfortable in the event something bad or unexpected happens.
More positively, saving money can allow you to do things like buy a house or a car, or even go on a fancy holiday – if Covid restrictions ever allow!
Saving more money can be easier than increasing your income and can give you the same benefits. If nothing else, it’s something you have more control over.
Do I spend too much money?
I don’t class myself as extravagant, but I’m certainly not frugal.
Normally, I enjoy going out for food and/or drinks with friends and I like to buy the odd nice item of clothing or jewellery from time to time too.
This may not amount to thousands each month, but it can definitely be cut down.
I’m aware I’m very privileged that my income covers my expenses, and I don’t have to worry too much about how much I spend each month.
However, due to personal events, my expenses are likely to increase significantly in the near future. So, I want to get on top of my spending now and put myself in the best financial position possible when this happens.
How I’ll stop being terrible at saving money
Firstly, I’m going to start tracking my spending more closely. It’s hard to know whether I’m saving money if I don’t know how much I’m spending.
I’m also going to try and get cashback where possible. This is a really easy way of saving money because you don’t have to do anything special to get the cashback. If you’re interested in using cashback you can sign up to Quidco here and we’ll both get money back!
My next step is to start looking for more discounts and deals, particularly for socialising as this seems to be where a lot of my money goes. 2 for 1 cocktails anyone?
Being more organised will help with this. Planning ahead will give me time to source discounts and plan my spending, rather than making last minute decisions that inevitably cost more.
My new challenge
To kickstart my money saving journey I’ve set myself a new challenge.
Living up to the blog’s name, I’m going to try to save 20 percent of all my expenditure each month. This might be a steep challenge, but I like to push myself, so I’m going to give it a go.
My main rule is that these must be genuine savings. Simply saying no to drinks or not buying something I need won’t count in this challenge.
This might get tricky, so please let me know if you have any top money saving tips that will help!
Join in!
Maybe you’re not as terrible at saving money as me, but you’d still like to save a bit more. Whether you’re a money saving expert or a newbie like me, I’d love to have you on board.
I’ll be sharing my successes – and failures too – on social media.
To get involved all you need to do is post your money saving wins on social media. Tag me – @Katie20Percent – in your posts and use the hashtag #20PercentChallenge and I’ll share as many as possible.
I’m also planning on running some giveaways as the challenge gets going – so make sure you get involved early so you don’t miss out.
It would also be good if you could share any of your saving tips using the same hashtag. That way everyone can benefit and hopefully we’ll all save more money!
If you found this post interesting, please like it and share across social media or send it to your friends. I’d also love to hear your thoughts and experiences. Are you terrible at saving money too or are you a money saving fiend? What are your top tips for saving more money? Do you want to join my challenge? I’d love to have you onboard! Share your thoughts below!
Don’t forget to follow me on social media @Katie20Percent to keep up to date with all my latest posts and content!
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