How to save money in 2011 - Tips to avoid extravagant spending in 2011
The New Year 2011 is coming near and 2010 is going to get over. On January 1st , the year-end excitement will be over and we will get hurt in the pocket for the costs of the Christmas and New Year holidays, so I am sharing with you five simple tips to avoid extravagant spending and save some money. This is for people who spend extravagantly and for them, the idea is to create conditions that it should become hard to spend their money. With this, I am not trying to say that you should put a chain and padlock to your wallet, but I mean that we must apply some methods that make it difficult for us to spend extravagantly or lavishly.
How to save money in 2011 - Tip #1: Monitoring and keeping track of every penny spent
If you have a tight budget and at the same time you are extravagant, the first tip is to purchase a notebook and write in details about each and every penny you have spend or you are going to spend in the coming days. By doing this, you will keep a track of every penny spent and you will spend on items, which are really needed, and not on other useless items that are not really needed and those that you purchase when you have cash in your pocket. I have been doing this now for six months and it has helped me a lot. Some people will find this as a strange strategy because this requires a lot of balance and discipline. You have to create a sense of discipline to keep track of your expenses.
How to save money in 2011 - Tip # 2: Hiding your credit cards
I had five credit cards around one year back and now I only have one and that also I have kept for emergency situations. I am spending every penny in cash or with debit cards that means whatever I have spent is I have spent and there are no liabilities on me. I have learned a lot lessons from my past life where I was using all my credit cards and there was a huge debt on my shoulders every year. I have taken home loans, personal loans, and car loans and paid personal and car loans easily but paying off my credit card dues was a nightmare for me. Credit cards are like casino chips and are also called plastic money because it is the money, which does not even feel that it is being spent because a person has to not pay out of the pocket at the time of transaction and the person keeps on using it unless and until the person accumulates a huge amount of debt. Actually, we want to buy everything and that sense of buying everything is fulfilled by credit cards that’s why we become greedy about using them more and more, so my tip #2 for avoiding extravagant spending is by hiding your cards and using them only in emergency situations.
How to save money in 2011 - Tip #3: Consulting friends and relatives about your expenses and before spending again
If you want to keep within budget and remain moderate in your spending and you are finding it hard to do on your own, consult and talk with your close relatives and friends about your expenses and spending habits. Come together and share ideas with like-minded people. I guarantee that after doing this, you will be able to get many new ideas on how to do this without problem. Sharing information about big purchases you have done and you are thinking doing in the future can also help. Because some of your friends or relatives can come up with better deals and discounts with the purchases they have done and in this way, you can utilize their information while doing your purchases and save some money.
How to save money in 2011 - Tip # 4: Play it like you are playing a game
It is for sure that you can buy a 300-dollar digital camera, but why not get that same camera for 280 dollars? You can do this by spending some time hunting for better deals. You can also find some good deals online like free digital memory with the camera; just some research is needed. In this way, saving money will become a real fun.
Saving money in 2011 - Tip # 5: I was an extravagant fool. You don’t need to become one
When I was a bachelor, I used to purchase things without any consulting and without bargaining, but now I think I was a fool at that time because I would have used my brain at that time, I would have saved some money for me and my family. For example, in November 2005, I purchased a new flat and I thought it would be better to remove all my old furniture and buy new ones. I will give you example of only one furniture item and that is my soft set, my old sofa set was old and torn and I purchased a new one of around 500 dollars (approximately 23000 Indian rupees). I was very happy because it was new and shining. Now in November 2010, after only 5 years, that new safe sofa has worn out and I do not have money to buy a new one again, so I went ahead and visited a nearby furniture showroom asking what I can do to make it look new again. The person there told me that the best option is to reupholster your sofa and you have to spend around 250 dollars for doing that. He also told me that the best material will be utilized and the new reupholstered sofa will go on for another 10 years. After getting the rate for soft reupholstering and after having a look on some reupholstered sofas there, I thought that I was a fool when I purchased that new sofa in 2005 because time has changed and the quality of material used in new sofas has also changed that’s why my new sofa has worn out so early. If I would have REUPHOLSTERED MY OLD SOFA in November 2005, I would HAVE SAVED AROUND 250 DOLLARS plus I would have used very good quality material at the time of reupholstering that sofa. I have learned a lesson and I will not do it again and think over twice before spending money like this. This is just one stupid thing I have done in the past. There are many others which I will publish in my upcoming hubs.
The above are 5 tips I am using in my personal life. I think there are many other ways to save money but I have written them because I am applying them in my life. I think after reading these tips, you must have some idea on how to save your hard earned money by reducing some of your irrelevant expenses in 2011.
