Contributed post
You may have been reading up on how to invest, or how to make extra money. However, most of the time you need to have money in order to make money, but you just don’t have any to spare. Well not to worry, because below are some simple way to save yourself some extra money so that you have enough to put into other projects.
Make do and mend
It was a favourite wartime saying in Britain, and it should become your favourite saying now. This can be a difficult one to transition to, especially when you acknowledge the fact that we have become a disposable society. Nobody likes fixing the old, broken thing when the new thing can be had for not much more, and most importantly, it’s new. We are obsessed with having everything brand new. Even our retro style gadgets and accessories have to be new. You don’t have to go so far as darning your socks (unless you really want to), but be conscious of what you decide to throw away that could easily be fixed. Quite often it could be something as simple as regular maintenance that keeps your gadgets and machinery operating at peak performance for longer. Every product around your home will doubtless have specific information like this maintenance guide for air compressors to help you keep everything running perfectly. The internet is a fantastic resource to help you find out how to best service all manner of home appliances. Learn to change the oil in your car yourself, make your own shelving, whatever you are planning on spending money on, chances are there is information to help you accomplish your goal.
Invest in quality
There is a popular saying that goes “buy cheap; buy twice”. Whilst there are some things which are not worth you spending the extra money on (do you really need to spend £40 on a plain t-shirt just because it was made by a designer brand?), there are some things that are definitely worth investing in quality. Anything that is electrical or mechanical that you want to last a long time should be bought with longevity in mind. The cheap washing machine may cost half the price of the fancy Hotpoint one, but if you’re having to replace it every two years because it’s broken, then you might have been better off paying double for something that will last you five times longer.
Consider every purchase
Every time you are going to spend money on something that is not an essential (like food, petrol, or bills), ask yourself if it is something you want, or something you need. If it is something you want, put it back. If you still want it in a few days time, then feel free to buy it. This is a fantastic way of curbing those small impulse purchases that can eat away at your funds. Another trick is to measure every purchase, not in money, but in time worked to afford it. You may feel tempted to splurge on a new set of trainers even though your current ones are in a perfectly acceptable condition. However, when you work out that your new trainers are worth almost an entire day’s wages, you may reconsider.
Hopefully, these simple tricks to reign in your overzealous spending should help free up some much-needed funds to begin investing for your future. It’s very easy to have a big outcome on your lifestyle by making very minor changes that will not impact your day to day living.