Hopefully you read the last column of the Bi-weekly Challenge (if not, please go read it *puppy eyes*) and so you’ve been carefully tallying up your spendings and tracking them. As a result, I hope you have a good idea of where your money’s been disappearing to, but now it’s time to take it to the next level: Let’s start saving some money!
To analyse the way you’re spending your money, I suggest splitting it up into categories. Personally, my spending spreadsheet includes the following: car/travel, groceries, restaurant expenses (i.e. “going out”), clothes, medical, housing (rent, utilities, new furniture), school fees and special (gifts, etc.). I don’t use all of those categories all the time, but by listing them that way, they’re available and I just hide the ones like “school” during the terms that I don’t need them. If you would like a copy of my spreadsheet, just send me an email, or you can also take a look online for other models.
Once you’ve got your spending all nicely categorized, look at the categories in which you’re spending the most money. Are you happy with the idea of spending a lot of money in the “restaurant” category for example? Or do you think you should cut down on the partying a bit? It’s important to reflect on what your long term goals are and decide if your spending really reflects those goals. If you want to travel the world, you should be spending more money in the “travel” category; if your thing is being fit, then perhaps you want to spend more money in the “gym” category. Obviously there are categories where I wouldn’t skimp, such as “medical” and others where the amounts are fixed and you can’t reduce them like “school fees,” but there are definitely ways to cut back in other areas. Don’t go cutting back in areas that are going to be bad for you later. No cutting back on the fruits/veggies. You still need those nutrients. You should also keep buying toothpaste because it will save you dentist money in the long run. I am challenging you to find one thing to cut back on. If you find more, great, but all I’m asking for is one itty bitty tiny thing.
Maybe it’s time to start skipping those daily trips to Tim Hortons and making your own coffee at home or, if you can’t do that, at least get the really cheap coffee from the CnD. Maybe you can stop buying those chips you usually buy during your grocery trips (plus it’s good for your health). If you bought a gym membership at the beginning of the year because this was going to be the year where you finally got fit and you haven’t been using it, maybe it’s time to reconsider the expense. Even if you have been using the gym membership, can you do the equivalent amount of exercise without the gym? Perhaps it might be better to find a friend to go running with. Instead of getting that exclusive (read: expensive) Valentine’s Day restaurant reservation, wouldn’t it be better to splurge on discounted, heart-shaped chocolate the day after Valentine’s? Write your significant other a steamy letter and it can be just as romantic. I’m going to try reducing the amount of gas I use (side note: car = very very very expensive). It’s impossible for me to get around without a car since there’s no public transit in the area (I’m on co-op in the middle of nowhere). I am trying to carpool and at the very least reduce the number of trips I make to the grocery store.
A good way of giving yourself goals in terms of saving your money is to predict before hand how much money you want to spend in each category a month in advance. Once you’ve spent it, you can no longer spend any money in that category until the next month. This works the same way as when you run out of minutes on your phone plan, except with money, you can also carry over your “minutes” to the next month. So if you’ve spent less than the predicted amount, you can spend the extra over the following month. This is a simple and easy way to set goals for yourself.
Remember, when you’re trying to save up money, every little bit helps. Whenever and wherever you make an effort to cut back, you should give yourself a pat on the back. Next issue we will go over the basics of how you can starting making money. The life of a struggling student is hard but it’s not impossible to make ends meet.
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