Independent from the family home and living in one’s own home is a logical aspiration of any young person, although sometimes the lack of funds prevents it from being carried out. However, sometimes it is not so complicated if expenses are adjusted and money is used rationally. Read on if you want to know how to save to live alone.
Steps to follow:
1. First of all, make a list of all your expenses in a typical month. If you don’t have the tickets or receipts, try to make an estimate as close and realistic as possible. And if you have to round, try to do it up and not down. If you can, assign a limit amount for each item and try not to spend more each month than what is assigned to each one. If you cannot make an expense in that month and it is not something urgent, wait for the next one.
2. Order the concepts that make you spend the most money per month or you think they can if you have not yet taken the step. Choose the ones that are absolutely essential and decide if with your current salary you can allow yourself to live independently. For example, if the mortgage or rent expenses are excessive, you can consider sharing a flat, and in this way, you also share other fixed expenses such as electricity, water, community, Internet.
3. How much do you usually spend a month on food? Maybe you can save more than you think if you change the brands of some products. Instead of precooked food, more convenient to prepare but more expensive and often less healthy, you can switch to a more traditional diet, in which there is more vegetables and less meat. For example, you can dedicate one day a week to cooking various dishes such as stews, sauces and stews that you can keep in the freezer and ration for a long time, then heating in the microwave.
4. The electricity bill is going up more and more, so you have to control expenses very well. If the water heater is electric, make your showers shorter; turn off the light every time you leave a room; do not have the TV in the background if you are not paying attention; turn off the router when you leave home if you are not using the Internet; use energy-saving light bulbs; disconnect the charger from the mobile or tablet when it has finished charging… There are many small gestures that it is not difficult to incorporate into the daily routine and they end up saving good money.
5. Ration your leisure. Sometimes going out on a weekend ends up costing an arm and a leg, and we don’t realize it until we count the next day. You can alternate outings to entertainment venues and street events with meetings with friends at home. You can watch a movie, organize a dinner, play a video game console or board games, and much more.
6. Choose your means of transport well. Do you really need a car? Maintaining a private vehicle has many associated expenses, apart from gasoline: taxes, repairs, insurance, spare parts, etc. If you live in a city with a good public transport network, you can go almost anywhere by bus, suburban train or metro, or if you can afford it, on foot or by bike (much cheaper and better for your health). If you use public transport, find out about the different bonuses and discounts that you can benefit from.
7. Check your phone rates. Do you really have the cheapest company hired? Do you use your mobile enough to pay that bill every month? Assess whether it is worth changing the company or the rate, depending on your needs.
8. Control compulsive purchases. If you really weren’t planning on buying something and you don’t need it, stop before drawing your wallet. If you see a product with a big sale in a shop window it can be very attractive, but if you don’t buy it, you are actually getting a 100 percent discount.
9. Count all the commissions you pay. Do you need to keep a credit card with a high commission? If your bank charges you more commissions than you would like, consider other financial options. If they charge you for concepts such as making money transfers online, you can do them in person at their offices to save that money.
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