Struggling to save on outgoings? It is an all too common occurrence that most students, graduates and young professionals face. Especially when you’ve just graduated, or if you’re in between jobs.
 
Making your budget stretch from month to month can sometimes appear to be an impossible task, but all is not lost! By taking control and budgeting your expenses effectively, you will find it easier to live within your means (without giving up all luxuries) and stress less about finances.

Smarter Choices

By making smarter choices and carefully considering where and how you spend your money, you will be able to identify possible ways of saving money.For instance, small (but daily) purchases of coffee for the price of £3 may not seem significant every morning before work. However, when you calculate this overall, you are spending £60 a month on coffee! This is a considerable amount you could be saving by making your coffee at home and taking a vacuum flask to work or uni – like this one. With easy savings like this, you can spend your money on activities you would enjoy.
 
Changing such habits is often easier said than done, so here is a simple tip to make it work…

Use a Budget Planner

Saving money starts by creating an overview of your income and expenses.
 
This is easily achieved by using a digital budget planner. It takes a few minutes to fill in your budget planner every week and will help you to identify hidden / unnecessary expenses which you haven’t accounted for.
 
The budget planner allows you to utilise creative thinking to find possible savings and to save on outgoings further, without foregoing too many luxuries. You can then budget your income into categories such as travel expenses, food shopping, etc. – to prevent careless spending.
 
To get the best out of your budget planner, you must actively enter your expenses to get an accurate insight into your spending. Regularly updating and using a budget planner properly involves some degree of discipline, so try to set aside some time to update your planner. You can make this a daily or weekly routine, depending on what suits you. Word of caution: Do not wait too long in between entries because you may not be able to remember all of your smaller daily expenses, or casual spending (especially cash!).
 

So get planning, save on those unnecessary expenses, and before you know it you will saving for a holiday!

For more on budgeting:

Grad Bites: Managing your Money
Bruce, Tamsin & Alessandra share helpful tips to manage your money effectively
 
The Truth About Budgeting
From campus to city living – a lighthearted look at how one graduate got to grips with budgeting
 
How to Plan your Budget
Record an analyse all your income and outgoings

Daniel de Vries

Young entrepreneur from the Netherlands.

Owner of an SEO agency and a multinational discount coupon website

He likes to travel, plays football and enjoys writing about a variety of topics