People are sharing their money-saving tips and some of them are pure genius.
With New Year's right around the corner, many of you might be turning your attention to those annual resolutions.
But rather than doing Dry January or promising to make use of that gym membership, many will be turning their focus towards saving cash amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.
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Soaring energy and food prices over the past 12 months has left millions of us counting the pennies.
And with December being the most expensive month of the year, it might help to take on board some money-saving strategies to get through 2023.
Thankfully, the Reddit community was on hand with some useful ideas after one user started a thread titled: "Share ONE budgeting tip."
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Some of these are absolutely genius, and while they might take a little more organisation than usual, they'll pay dividends in the long run - literally.
First up, we all know that making shopping lists can certainly help you to save money on the weekly supermarket shop. But have you ever included a 'not' section?
As said by one Redditor: "On my shopping list, I include a 'not' section too, to remind me of things I commonly buy but don't need this week (generally butter/cheese, carrots/onions/potatoes, beans/pulses, herbs/spices).
"It helps stop some 'just in case' purchases."
Speaking of lists, you can use the same sort of tactic when it comes to items other than food, such as clothes, home goods or beauty products.
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Take, for example, this commenter who said they've recently started making a list of all the purchases they intend to make and waiting for a month before doing so.
"It really led to more conscious spending," they explained. "Even when I thought I needed stuff, I don’t like buying a lot at once so I think a lot about the purchases on the list.
"And after a month I have a great idea about what a good price is, how badly I need it and less guilt when I actually make the purchase."
There were numerous variations of this idea, and yes, it does include keeping a spreadsheet. But if it means you can keep your finances in check then it's well worth it.
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"I spend every Saturday or Sunday morning inputting every single purchase into my budget spreadsheet," said one. "It’s soooo satisfying."
A second wrote: "Keep track of everything you spend. From pricy to cheap. Add it all up at the end of the month. It’s scary how much unnecessary spending goes on!"
In response to this comment, another user brought up Mint, the online budget planner and tracker.
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"Agreed," they said. "Mine was to actually dedicate 30 minutes at the end of the month to look at Mint and look at your spending categories.
"I use Mint to input data into my own personal spreadsheet of monthly spending and I think about how it’ll feel to update it when I make an unnecessary purchase."
Speaking about being more conscious when spending, here's another helpful philosophy when in comes to making those bigger purchases:
"I'm by no means a minimalist, but I do like to think of my purchases through Marie Kondo's 'What gives you joy?' lens.
"If it's a purchase, however frivolous, that truly makes you happy – it is probably worth it (if you can afford it/make it worth saving for).
"I was able to cut so many things (and spend more on higher quality things) when I looked at things through the 'does it bring me joy' lens.
"Whatever those things are is going to be different from person to person, but this idea has really helped me cut back without feeling deprived."
From the philosophical to the practical, one person recommended this simple yet effective method - deleting your shopping apps. The same can be said for food delivery apps such as Just Eat and Deliveroo.
Although they make life easier, they also make it easier to spend money. The same goes for marketing emails.
"Unsubscribe from marketing emails," said one Redditor, while another suggested, "Use a spam email account for any purchases you make so that the marketing emails go to that account instead of the account you use for everything else.
"No more impulse shopping when 'deals' come through in your email."
Here's hoping these tips will help you stick to those New Year's resolutions and make 2023 a financially comfortable one.
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