Dayanna Volitich – Monthly Money Saving Tips

With Christmas fast approaching many of us are probably already worried about how much we are spending and planning for a very frugal January. If you haven’t been able to save ahead of Christmas, or you simply didn’t give it any thought then you may find these hints and tips to save some money very useful once the year is over. My friend Dayanna Volitich works with families to help them save some cash and she shared with us some great tips on how you can free up a few more pennies each month.

Negotiate

The first place to start is with our monthly bills, are you paying more than you should be? The likelihood is that you have just accepted the cost of energy, internet and even perhaps your mortgage when in reality you can find ways to bring the costs down. Set a day aside and trawl through the comparison sites to see if you can get a better deal by switching your bills. These may prove fruitless but many people can save hundreds of dollars each month by switching service providers.

Ten Second Rule

The ten second rule may sound silly but if you employ it well then you can save a great amount of money on your spends. The idea is simple, whenever you are in a supermarket or a store and you pick something up that you want to buy, just stop for 10 seconds with the item in your hand and consider whether or not you really need it. You will be absolutely amazed at how many things that you put back on the shelf after considering the purchase for a short time.

Tracking

The reason why many of us fail to get a grip on our spending is because the truth is that we don’t always realize exactly what we are spending our money on. Of course we can highlight the big costs each month but what about the small costs that slowly add up? This could be anything form a daily coffee to a newspaper, an item of clothing to a new app for your phone. The best way to get on top of your spending is to track what you are spending your money on. There are some fabulous phone apps which you can use to understand this better, most offering a function whereby you can simply scan your receipt and it will process the data. Review this at the end of the month and you may be surprised.

Food at Home

Something which has saved me a huge amount of money has been preparing my lunch each day at home, and inviting friends over to eat instead of paying costs at a restaurant. Doing things this way mean that you can stop spending money out and instead spend money at the super market where you will get much more bang for your buck. to be honest eating at home with friends is also a far nicer experience that heading out all of the time.

What are your favorite money saving tips? If you have anything to add then feel free to do so below.