When it comes to managing your personal finances, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Instead, it entails careful planning, charting out long term goals, identifying essential expenses, and making conscious changes to your lifestyle. In fact, a recent survey conducted by Young NTUC found that daily expenses, family obligations, and lifestyle expenses are the key financial concerns faced by youths after graduating from ITE, Polytechnic or university.
So, how can you slay your financial status? Here are a few saving hacks:
1) The Importance of Budgeting
Budgeting is key. Why? Because if you plan a budget, it will help you keep track of how much you can or cannot spend and on what items.
One model experts suggest is the 50/30/20 rule.
The 50/30/20 rule suggest for your income or allowance to be apportioned like this:
- 50% spent on essential needs (food, groceries, utilities, transportation, etc.)
- 30% spent on wants (luxury or other lifestyle perks, etc.)
- 20% set aside for savings or investment
2) Keeping Your Money Flow in Full View
Know where your money is going. The best way to keep your finances on track and to track it through your spending habits. Today, many bank apps offer the convenience of how you can monitor what are your spending habits within a month. Here are few tips:
Real-time Transaction Tracking
Most banks have transactions recorded in real time, which allows owners to have a record of all their purchases easily accessed through apps on phones or online banking websites. This makes it much easier to keep track of spending, with users being able to see their spending over periods of different time frames, such as daily, weekly, monthly and more.
Categorisation and Budgeting
Some banking apps are able to automatically categorise expenses. This helps users to have a better understanding of how their spending is distributed and notice their peak spends on non-essential categories. Users can also set budgets for specific categories, making it easier to do budgeting as the budgeting and tracking is all in one app. This could be helpful as your plan to apportion your pay using the 50/30/20 saving model.
Alerts and Notifications
Bank apps can be set up to provide alerts every time transactions are made using them, allowing users to be aware should there be any unauthorised transactions happening. They also can be setup to have reminders, which can alert users when they need to pay for things on time, avoiding fines or extra fees.
3) Stretching the Dollar with Deals
Finding good deals and discounts can help you stretch your budget further. Reward apps are a popular way, providing benefits for using them in conjunction when you pay. Some of these benefits could involve cashback perks or other offers depending on the provider.
Seamless Redemption
Loyalty programmes today are a world away from their tedious versions of yesteryears, providing users with a more flexible and convenient way to redeem rewards with typically many merchants participating under a common umbrella to provide even more ease of access to consumers.
Cashback Perks
Cashback essentially means that with any money you spend, you get a small amount of it back. This is a straightforward system that allows for consumers to directly see the money that they are saving directly. There are also many types of cashback programs that include personalised offers based on customers’ location and purchase history.
As you begin your work journey, knowing how to save can help you build a tidy nest egg for your future. We hope this article has helped you plan how to kickstart and manage your finances better. Remember, financial independence is a marathon not a race!
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