Contributed post
Let’s be totally honest; if there’s one thing that dominates most people’s minds on a daily basis, it’s money.
People spend huge amounts of their time worrying about their finances, almost to the point where they can’t think about anything else a lot of the time. It’s a real shame that this should be something that ends up being so crucial to so many people’s lives but that’s just the way of the world that we live in. If you want to get by, you need money, and with the costs of living rising all the time and wages not increasing to meet those costs, it can often feel like you’re trying to plug up holes in a ship that’s sinking too fast for you to stop it.
Well, as much as it might feel that way, that’s not the case. There are always things that you can do in order to get your finances under control. The moment that you start to think of your finances as a lost cause is the moment where you’re likely to end up in some serious trouble.
The important thing is to think carefully about where you need to be cutting back. There’s a strange thing that many people end up doing when they’re worried about their finances, and that’s that they seem to insist on only ever really thinking about the little stuff. It’s almost as if they feel like the big financial commitments are so significant that there’s nothing they can do about them, so they focus on the little things that, while easier to change, aren’t really going to make that much of a difference. The key is to focus on the larger aspects of your finances; once you do that, the little stuff is sure to follow.
Here are some of the large financial commitments in your life that you should be trying to cut back on.
Your home
If there’s one thing in your life that is likely to be more expensive than just about anything else, it’s going to be your home. Rates of rent and mortgages have been increasing in price consistently over the last few decades, and that seems to be showing no real sign of stopping. There was a time when being able to own, or even simply rent; a house didn’t seem like that far-fetched of a notion. However, for many people, it’s either something closer to a fantasy or a constant source of financial worry. However, there are always things that you can do in order to bring the cost of your home down. For one thing, you can try looking at different types of property. You might have your heart set on a house with plenty of outdoor space, but a 4 room flat for sale is going to be far cheaper than a house of equivalent size and quality. Similarly, it’s worth thinking carefully about how much space you really need. Is it possible for you to downsize? Doing that can save you huge amounts of money without you having to sacrifice that much at all.
Your car
After your home, there are few things in life more expensive to deal with than you car. From the actual cost of the vehicle to the insurance and tax that you have to pay for it. Not to mention all of the potential maintenance and repairs that it might need. The reality of owning a care often comes down to striking the right balance between these different things. A cheaper car might save you money in the beginning, but the amount of maintenance that it needs might cause problems there. However, a newer car might be more reliable, but it can also have higher insurance premiums that will drive up your monthly costs pretty significantly if you can’t pay the insurance in one go. The key is to figure out which option works out best for you financially.
Groceries
Let’s face it; you’ve got to eat. If there’s one thing about your life that is certainly not optional, it’s that. However, just because you have to spend money on food, doesn’t mean that you have to empty your bank account every time you go for your weekly shop. There are plenty of simple things that you can do in order to save money when buying groceries. For one thing, buying non-perishable items means that you’re much less likely to have to buy large quantities of things all that often. Similarly, don’t be fooled by the name brand stuff, most non-brand items are just as good, and if you’re cooking with them, you simply aren’t going to be able to tell the difference. These might not seem like big changes, but by the time you reach the checkout, you’ll find that your weekly shopping budget has plummeted.
Insurance
Insurance is one of those things in life that nobody likes having to deal with, but we’ve all basically come to terms with the fact that we can’t do anything about it and just have to live with it. But that doesn’t mean that you’ve got to put up with high premiums that you can barely afford. Make sure that, every time any policy renewal comes up, that you shop around as much as possible. Insurance companies rely on the fact that renewing can be frustrating, so they take it out of your hands for you. However, that also means that they can slowly increase the price of your insurance over time, almost so slowly that you don’t notice how much more you’re paying. It pays to shop around, and often you’ll find that if your insurer thinks you’re leaving, they’ll offer you a much better deal overall anyway.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make the effort to try and cut back on some of the little expenses that you have. After all, little bits of money here and there can add up surprisingly quickly over time. However, if you only focus on those things because they’re easy to fix, you’re never going to get the root of why you’re having financial difficulties in the first place.