Lifestyle Resolutions – Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
New Year, new lifestyle resolutions, and new goals. Most resolutions are geared towards personal and career growth but financial wellness also falls at the top of the 2023 New Year’s Lifestyle Resolutions. This year can prove to be both challenging and exciting as we all come out of our covid experience with new perspectives. For some financial priorities have shifted to health and wellness while others prefer to cultivate financial growth. Whatever plans you may have for the year it is essential that you save money not just for a rainy day but for your 2023 goals.
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Ready, Set, Go
Get ready for lifestyle resolutions that can help you achieve your financial goals. It doesn’t have to be big or drastic, a small change or shift in your choices can go a long way for your savings. Before you get going you’ll have to set your financial goals and stick to one that’s doable given your current finances. This is basically a look at your regular income vs fixed expenses and planned expenses. Then apply the 50-20-30 rule to save money. Once you’ve crunched your numbers then it’s time to implement changes that can help you with your financial resolutions this 2023.
Lifestyle Resolution 1: Cut Down to Save Up
Find ways to cut down on costs for your living expenses. Spending less on your purchases and expenses translates to savings too. Don’t worry because you don’t have to give up anything or at least anything significant to do this. Cutting down on costs simply means making practical choices and planning your daily activities.
Plan Ahead. Scheduling your day efficiently can easily help you cut costs. For example, instead of taking separate trips to the mall for bank errands, salon day, or shopping, you can simply schedule it all on the same day. This way you don’t just save on travel time but also on your gas or transportation expenses.
Go Online. One of the gains that we had during the pandemic is the improvement of online services and this is also an area you can exploit to cut down on costs and save money. You can do your bank transactions, bills payment, and shop online to save on gas and transportation costs. Even with delivery fees online shopping can be a more practical choice compared to going to the mall yourself. In some cases, you can even have delivery fees waived.
Save on energy. Aside from gas, electricity is another area where you can cut costs and help save the environment too. There are two ways to do this, one is to start a green habit of saving on electricity. Remember to turn the lights off when no one is in the room. Another is to choose wisely when buying new appliances. Don’t just look at the price tag when buying appliances because you might end up paying more in the long run. Cheaper appliances can consume more energy compared to others with higher energy efficiency ratings. Thus you pay less on your purchase but more on your electricity bill. Go for appliances with higher energy efficiency ratings so you can cut down on your electricity bills and save money in the long run.
Lifestyle Resolution 2: Keep an eye out for savings opportunities and grab them
Check your pockets. Collecting loose change is one of the easiest ways to save money. How many times have you checked pockets during laundry and found a loose change in them? You might be surprised at how much money you can save by collecting them all in a jar or a coin bank. You can double your savings opportunity by having a money jar by the kitchen for spare change every time you come home. Be notified. Discount deals and promo purchases are also great tools to save money. By now most people have their favorite shopping sites with promos and deals going year-round. Turn on your notifications for your preferred sites so you don’t miss out on any savings opportunities.
Save Money – Photo by Alexander Mils on Unsplash
Join a community. Saving money is more fun if you’ve got friends rooting for you. Join a community with people who are into savings too. This way you’ll get more creative and doable savings ideas and get dibs on the latest savings opportunity around.
Lifestyle Resolution 3: Make the most out of what you have
Going back to the 50-20-30 rule, 20% of your income should be allotted to your savings. You can save much more than that if you make the most out of your 20%. This can be done by putting your savings into high-yield Investment products that guarantee returns. But aside from your income you can also make the most out of the things that you already have and add them to your savings.
Use credit cards to your advantage. Some people cringe at the mention of credit cards because it’s associated with debt. But if you use them to your advantage then they can help you save money. For instance, most credit cards have perks and rewards that give out freebies and discounts. There are also some that offer 0% installment deals for your purchases. As long as you stick to your budget and pay your bills in full then this could work for you.
Use apps to add money. If you want to save more then having extra income can help you. There are plenty of side hustles that you can get online to make this easy and convenient. In fact, you can use apps to make money and add it to your savings. Sometimes this can be as simple as answering surveys but it can also be as big as having a second job. But whatever hustle you choose just remember that sometimes it takes patience to save money.
