50 Tips to Save Money & Still Be Happy

Mostly people will have less or no money during the end of the month and they may have to borrow money from somebody.Why this happens?Either they don’t know how to save the money or they don’t think about saving money.Strictly we should follow some steps to save money and prevent debt as the cost of living is increasing day by day.

Also read: Save money when buying house.

Saving Money on Electricity

1. Turn off all your equipments like TV,Computer,Fan,light etc when not used.
2. Use lamps which consumes less power like CFL bulbs.
3. Don’t keep your AC switched on through whole night. You can preset it so that it will get switched off after few hours.
4. Avoid switching on the lights during daytime. Instead you can open the windows in your room.
5. Make sure you have switched off everything if you go out.
6. If you are away from your home for more than a week, clean your refrigerator and switch off your mains.
7. If your laptop is fully charged, disconnect it from the power supply and put it back when the power becomes low.
8. Switch the main power button of your TV off instead of doing it with the remote.

Related: How to save money eating out

Saving Money With Banks

9. Open savings account in the bank which offers higher interest rate.
10. Put your unused money as recurring or fixed deposits as it provides more interest.
11. Usually banks will credit the interest for the savings account either quarterly or half yearly or annual. Find out the dates from your bank and make sure you withdraw or transfer a big amount after the interest is credited in your account.
12. Put the fixed deposits in your parent’s name if possible,as most Indian banks offer a higher percentage of interest for senior citizens.
13. Maintain always the prescribed monthly or quarterly balance in your savings account to avoid paying penalty.
14. If you are not using a bank account actively, it is better to close it as many banks will ask charges for reviving the account if becomes dead.

Saving Money With Credit cards

15. Pay the bill for your credit card always on time to avoid late fee.
16. Don’t make any purchase with a credit card if you cannot pay the full amount in quick time as it will increase the interest charges every month.
17. Don’t pay any amount less than the minimum balance to avoid penalty fee.

Saving Money on Phone & Internet

18. Cut your landline and mobile expenses by avoiding unnecessary calls or talking long time.
19. Subscribe to the bundle of mobile & internet if you find a cheaper plan.
20. If you have a limited bandwidth, don’t exceed it as much as possible. You can subscribe to unlimited bandwidth if needed.
21. Higher speed internet costs higher than low speed. So use higher speed option only it is unavoidable.

Saving Money on Entertainment

22. Subscribe to the cheapest service provider in your locality.
23. Don’t subscribe to any paid channel if you are not watching regularly.
24. If you are watching programs in only one language, then subscribe only for that.
25. Opt for annual payment as it may be lesser than monthly one.

Saving Money  on Travel & Transportation

26. Use public transportation as much as possible as it is cheaper than other modes of transportation.
27. Get a monthly or weekly pass in buses and trains if you travel daily.
28. While driving in the car, find the optimum route if you want to go to multiple places for decreasing the fuel consumption.
29. If you planning a tour which involves renting a vehicle, then form a group with your friends or relatives so that the expense will be divided among all.
30. While booking train tickets, avoid last minute cancellation because the refund amount will be reduced.
31. Book the flight tickets using travel sites like tripadvisor, expedia etc in advance to get better deals.
32. Don’t plan any trip during the peak season in that country as the ticket costs are usually twice more than the normal costs.

Saving Money on Health & Medicine

33. Don’t keep a stock of the less used medicines.
34. Check the expiry date of the medicine before buying it to prevent detoriation of your health.
35. Take a medical insurance for all the members in your family and make sure it covers most of the hospitalization expenses.
36. For small illnesses like cough,cold etc try home made medicine before visiting a doctor.
37. Don’t ruin your health by eating uncontrollably or low quality food.

Saving Money with Groceries & other house hold items

38. Always make a list of the items to purchase before going for shopping to avoid buying the existing item.
39. Buy groceries in quality whole sale shops rather than the branded shops to save some money.
40. Buy big packs of grocery items like rice,wheat,dhal,sugar,salt,toilet items like paper tissues,fresheners etc as it is more cheaper than the individual packs.
41. Don’t buy any grocery item which is rarely used by you.
42. Make sure you use the groceries before the expiry date because any leftovers will result in new purchase which in turn increase the expenses.
43. Subscribe to the membership program of the shop to get discounts.
44. If you plan to purchase any house hold item, make sure that it is really needed and will be used. In many homes, the items will be simply kept in the showcase or store room and not used at all.

Saving Money While Buying Vegetables & Fruits

45. Buy only the needed quantity of vegetables and fruits so that wastage is avoided.
46.Buy always the seasonal fruits as other fruits will be costlier.
47. If the price of your favorite vegetable has increased suddenly, wait for a few days so that the price will come down. If you cannot cook food without it (eg.onions) then you can buy.

Saving Money on Food  & Eating Out

48. Cook only the required amount of food and don’t throw the food at any cost.
49. Avoid going to restaurants every week or more than twice per month.
50. Avoid eating desserts like cakes,ice creams etc often as it will not only increase your weight but also affects your health which leads to either a gym or a hospital and both does not provide free service.

Think! Spend! Save!

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