Just out of curiosity… How much do you save on a monthly basis? Five, Ten, Fifteen percent?
The average European saves around 10-12%, which is pretty darn good. But I believe you can do better than that. Why so?
Well, you have the best foundation! We all started this year with our set of goals (BTW, how is the progress?). Some are going for that million in the bank account, others are dying to be debt-free (except for me and I am excited about it… something might have gone wrong in my head). It all leads us to our aligned budgets. If we’ve been true to ourselves, our wants and needs then we’ve squeezed all our juices to reach our goals.
We are also strategically prepared for the future shopping sprees and ready to bring home only stuff that brings joy, are affordable and necessary.
Yet, there is one thing the internet is silent about. And it’s telling us how to save more without the pain. And I see why so (can ‘no pain, no gain’ be the reason?). If you’ve prepared your budget, you’ve limited expenses enough not to deep dive into scarcity mindset. And… if the budget does not cut it, you simply HAVE TO EARN MORE!
However, I am here to tell you there are a few sneaky ways how to optimize your savings painlessly! Follow my lead!
Three Ways to Save More Without Selling Your Kidney
1. Round it up
You know how it is impossible to find anything that costs precisely EUR 15 but it will always be 14.99? This is your chance to leave the marketing tricks behind your back and use them to your benefit!
In addition, this is an easy way how to clear out your wallet. The basic idea is that whenever you make a purchase you round it to the closest dollar amount. The trick here is that you can choose any increments you want! EUR 1, 2 or 5 – it does not matter!
For example, let’s assume you’ve chosen to round up to the closest EUR 5. After grocery shopping, your total is EUR 13.49. In this case, you’d assume you’ve paid EUR 15 and EUR 1.51 would go straight into your separate savings pouch at home!
You see, saving does not have to be hard!
Even though it’s easy to do it with cash, fintech companies won’t let you down. Saving programs like Keep the change at Bank of America will do the same for you automatically. Yet, they will round up to the closest dollar.
In Europe, a great alternative is offered by the start-up unicorn Revolut. Revolut Vault will automatically round up every transaction you make and store your spare change into your personalized savings Vault. A similar option is also offered by one of the Scandinavian banks- SEB.
If you haven’t checked out Revolut yet, you are seriously missing out! Great for accountability, budgeting, and traveling! Saves you money wherever you go!
2. “Get yourself that coffee machine” savings
Do you love your morning and post-lunch coffee? Is it the only thing that gets your juices running? In our fast-paced and busy society, coffee is one of the saviors for many. However, it might seem like one Costa or Starbucks won’t hurt your wallet, let’s look at the math!
Let’s be prudent and assume that you are spoiling yourself with having a specialty coffee 3 times per week. On average, an average latte or cappuccino would cost EUR 3.40. Assuming 52 weeks per year, your total coins spent on coffee alone comes up to EUR 530.40. In a household of 2, the total would be EUR 1 060.80. Are you starting to rethink your “My blood type is coffee” mantra?
Investing in a coffee machine will ramp up your saving speed unbelievably! It was the case for me, and by this day has been one of the best financial decisions in my life!
3. The 2 euro-coin trick
How often does a EUR 2 coin pop in your wallet? If you are like me and don’t really use cash that often, it’s very rarely. Celebrate by moving this coin to your special savings wallet! As we created a special savings pouch for “round up” coins, the same would apply in this case. You’d save only when a specific denomination coin would fall into your hands. You’ll see, by the end of the year, those few times might just get you to the finish line!
By budgeting, you’ve already cut out your most obvious unnecessary expenses as subscription costs or excessive dining out costs, though there are a few sneaky ways how you can save more without noticing.
Hope these tips gave you a few ideas that you could implement in your daily life to just give you that necessary boost for your savings account!
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