Jasmine Birtles
Your money-making expert. Financial journalist, TV and radio personality.
5 habits of successful savers
Reading Time: 4 minutesEveryone wants to know the secrets successful savers have to make them rich in life.
But there’s no secret to it – saving is all about living within your means and putting whatever is left over into a high-interest savings account.
It’s simple really – living on less is much easier if your money’s out of reach.
If you want to be a better saver, take a look at these 5 habits you must start living by.
- 1. They start early
- 2. They plan and budget
- 3. They Take advantage of freebies and good deals
- 4. They live within their means
- 5. They find out how to cut costs in all areas
1. They start saving early
Our advice to you… Save early and save often!
Make it a habit to start saving as early as possible and force yourself to live on half your money by putting the other half straight into your savings account as soon as it arrives. Set up a standing order and watch your money grow overtime. Pick the best savings account by checking our free comparison tables here.
If you have children you should start saving now for their future. You can even set up a pension for newborns and take advantage of the decades until the child’s retirement in order to let the pension build itself up.
If you’re looking for ways to save money for your children’s future take a look at these 7 great ways to invest in your children.
2. They plan and budget
Sounds dull, but doing a budget – even a basic one – will help you save and, importantly, help you build up your wealth.
When it comes to savvy saving, the reason why most people fail is because they have no idea what is going into their bank account each month, and even less about what’s flowing out. The easiest way to keep track of what you’re spending is to write it down.
If you don’t know where your money goes each month keep a spending diary for a few weeks and you’ll soon find out! Keeping a spending diary is an excellent way of getting a snapshot of your daily outgoings and seeing where your money’s really going each month. It’s easy enough to do – all you need is a notepad and pen – or just use the Moneymagpie Budget Calculator to give you a quick lowdown on your monthly spending.
3. They take advantage of freebies and good deals
Getting something for nothing is the ideal way to save money and successful savers take advantage of freebies and discounts in all areas of their life… so they can save what they would have spent.
There’s nothing we love more here at Moneymagpie than a freebie. We’ve even written an article about 50 ways you can live for free. You can get free books, free furniture, free haircuts, free food, free cinema tickets, free accommodation and even free dental care.
Talking of freebies, we have 101 ways you can live for free in our FREE eBook. You can save £1,000s using the secrets we’ve found out, and it won’t cost you anything to get them!
Plus successful savers take advantage of all the great money saving schemes, including cashback.
Cashback sites allow you to get money back on everything you buy.
All you have to do is sign-up to a site absolutely free, such as Top CashBack and Quidco, and they’ll pay cashback each time you make a purchase through their portal.
It’s like regular online shopping but you get money back, so why wouldn’t you give it a go?
4. They live within their means
Successful savers learn early that they must live within their means.
Living within your means is about prioritising the important stuff and cutting back on the rest.
Rent, food and bills come first, followed by paying debt, and saving or long-term planning. Luxuries like after work drinks, eating out, and clothes shopping should all be viewed as just that – luxuries.
If you have money left after you’ve used it on the important things, then you can treat yourself.
Stop paying for these 15 things you can get for free.
5. They find out how to cut costs in all areas
You can save money in all aspects of your life, but the biggest savings can be made simply by reviewing and switching your bills every couple of months.
Pour yourself a nice cuppa and settle down with your computer to switch everything using our comparison service. Get the best deal on your gas and electricity, all your insurances, your phone and broadband providers and even your bank. Over the next year you should be able to save around £1,000 by doing this.
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want to get on topof your money?
If you think managing your money effectively is only for the professionals – think again. You can take control of your finances – it’s simple, straightforward and achievable with this guide.
Jasmine has teamed up with learndirect to create a great guide aimed at helping you get to grips with you money in just a few simple steps. And because we like to give you all the very best advice for free, you can download the guide right here and now, without paying a penny.
All good ideas for money savers.