Ten Tips to Help You Save

By Muhwezi Daraus, Ultraserve Limited

Making smart choices with your money is a lifelong process. The good news: you don’t have to follow a traditional budget to develop better spending habits, and you can start at any age.
Start saving now: Consider the ten tips below and find the ones that work for you.

1. Use Bargains and Benefits
Of course you don’t feel like a senior, don’t look like a senior, and certainly don’t act like a senior. Don’t let that deter you from using age to your, and your pocket book’s advantage. Bargain to your best for discounts and ensure that you have a penny saved.

2. Make it Fun and Generational
Instead of a budget, challenge yourself to a game. The goal: to find new ways to spend less on your everyday purchases. Turning this process into a game puts your subconscious to work, so there will always be a part of you on the lookout for ways to save.
Encourage family members to join your new way of thinking. This budgeting game could be a perfect opportunity to teach grandchildren better spending habits of their own.

3. Allow Choices
The rebel in us makes it hard to stick with a budget that feels like a diet.
Instead, frame your spending habits in terms of choices. For example: you can have both the beans and fried chicken, but perhaps not both on the same day.
You can use an online budget calculator to look at how much you spend and determine what areas may need adjustments.

4. Use Systematic Withdrawals
Don’t give yourself unlimited access to investment funds. Instead, set up direct deposits from your investments into your checking account. This provides a consistent paycheck and helps prevent overspending.

5. Use Organizations
Benefit programs, such as the one offered by Ultraserve Limited allow you to get quality food (information) for half the price. This is not a need based program, so you don’t have to go through any qualification process to use the benefit.

6. Consider Housing Alternatives
Roommates offer companionship and help you both save money. You can find roommates to help you reduce on spending. You can also lower costs by staying in the high maintenance house/yard for flat, in an active living community; somewhere where you can walk to shopping and entertainment.

7. Use Public Transportation
With gas prices on the rise, look for ways to use public transport means when available. Talk to neighbors to see if there are opportunities to carpool. Even better: find local markets within walking or biking distance.

8. Pay less for vacation
Enjoy your vacation from relatively cheap, attractive and good places such as cottage areas, national parks, gardened hotels, etc.

9. Stay Healthy
A gym membership and healthy cooking lessons may be the best investment you’ll ever make. To keep your medical expenses down spend time learning how to stay healthy and fit.

10. Manage Debt
Use debt wisely. A reverse mortgage, for example, may be the right use of debt. If you get too much of the wrong kind of debt, such as high credit balances, talk to a credit counselor.