Saving money is becoming more and more difficult as the cost of living seems to keep on rising.
Here are five smart hacks that can help you start saving money right now, shared by Keletso Mpisane, head of MiWay Blink:
Switch off vampire devices
There are many devices in your home that can suck energy even when they are not in use. Your TV, for example, or phone charger – and that energy-hungry laptop charger – all consume energy even when you are not using them.
By unplugging these devices when they are not in use, you can save money on your electricity bill – not to mention protecting them from energy surges when your load shedding shift ends and the power comes back on.
Drive less and slower
When you need to get out and about on the weekend, try and consolidate all the things you need to do into one trip – and take it easy on the road.
“When you drive faster, your car’s fuel consumption increases to power the engine to drive at higher speeds,” shares Mpisane. “Add in more air resistance the faster you go, and you are burning rands as fast as you are burning fuel. Take it slow – leave earlier if you need to – and you will be surprised at how much money you can save!”
Leave online items in the cart for a few days
Online shopping is convenient. It saves time as you do not have to go out to the shop, and it can consequently save you money, too. But the challenge with online shopping is that you will often end up buying more than you intended to, on impulse.
A nifty trick here is to leave the items in your online shopping cart for a day or two. This will give your brain (and emotions) time to decide whether all the additional items are really needed and worth the money.
Review your subscriptions
Most of us will have moments when we sign up for an app because we were working on something specific and need a particular feature, or we hosted an event and needed uninterrupted streaming music. We then signed up for a premium account and completely forgot about it when the urgency of the situation had passed.
But the monthly renewals continue – and so does the drip-depletion of your bank account.
Make a point of it to check in on your app subscriptions monthly – remember that even a small amount taken off every month can add up to a large amount in the end.
Make lunch at home
Mornings can be a rush, and it is so easy to forget to pack a lunch bag for yourself to keep you sustained during the day. Easy then, too, to pop out to the shop to buy lunch (and usually additional snacks and drinks while you are at it), or order from a food delivery service if you are too busy to step out – which can be even more expensive.
Consider packing your lunch the night before. Cooking a bit extra for dinner and then packing the leftovers for the next day’s lunch makes it even easier. If you add up the money saved over the course of a month, you will be surprised that something as simple as this can be so effective.
