6 Tips to Save Money In 2023
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Your end of the month is difficult or you intend to realize a personal project soon. To get out of these problems, the solution involves improving your purchasing power and save money.
What is the behavior to adopt to save money? Here are six avenues for reflection that, taken together, offer you interesting perspectives.
Better manage your personal finances
Improving your purchasing power means first of all taking stock of your personal finances. A budget is based on cash inflows and cash outflows.
Income includes wages, salaries, retirement pensions, unemployment benefits, social assistance, and interest on invested capital (shares, rental investments, etc.).
Expenses include housing costs (mainly rents), regular bills (energy consumption, mutual insurance, mobile plan, etc.), and daily living expenses (food, textiles, leisure, etc.).
To gain purchasing power, you have to increase your income or decrease your expenses. In order to see more clearly, be sure, for example, to keep an up-to-date account book that records all your transactions month after month or week after week.
You can also take the help of mobile application tools that facilitate this task by categorizing your expenses with visually speaking graphic illustrations. Make a point each week to have a regular follow-up of your personal finances and prioritize your expenses (essential, optional, or useless).
Reduce bank charges
Bank charges are among the expenses often overlooked by users. However, it is possible to save money, in particular by bringing the competition into play. Account maintenance fees are now generalized in major banking establishments.
To escape it, you can subscribe to an account in an online bank to save money. If you meet the required income conditions, you will not have to pay anything. Moreover, online banks also offer free access to a bank card, no fees on payments and withdrawals in euros, or even free intervention commissions in the event of payment incidents.
And precisely, payment incidents generate the largest proportion of bank charges. According to INSEE, these represent 0.66% of a household’s budget and amount to 194.30 euros per year in France.
Remember to check your account balance to avoid exceeding the authorized bank overdraft amount. Better: favor a card with a systematic authorization that questions your account with each operation. If your balance is insufficiently provisioned, the operation is canceled.
Make your savings grow
390 billion euros is the amount deposited by the French during the first quarter of 2019 in their current account. What does this money do? Well, he is sleeping. In other words, it earns you nothing. If it is recommended to have precautionary savings in order to anticipate unforeseen expenses or in the event of an accident in life, the current account is certainly not the most profitable solution.
Save money on energy costs
Among the unavoidable expenses that can fluctuate, there are expenses related to the consumption of water, electricity, or gas. You can act on two levers to reduce your bills: either by adopting a more virtuous behavior or by playing the competition. And even more certainly, by doing both simultaneously.
The liberalization of the energy market has its virtues such as having the choice of supplier, historical or alternative or being able to compare market offers. It is possible to select indexed offers which allocate a percentage reduction in relation to the regulated tariffs but also offers at fixed prices over a period determined by the contract, or electricity or gas offers favoring renewable energies.
To boost your purchasing power, get used to economical gestures such as preferring the shower to the bath, turning off unnecessary lights, choosing low-energy light bulbs, stopping the standby of electrical appliances, adjusting your heating temperature, etc. Also, consider gasoline by reducing your speed at the wheel: 10 km/h less means 10% less fuel.
Revise and adjust your insurance contracts to save money
Legislation has evolved to facilitate competition between insurers and allow policyholders to terminate their contracts more simply. First, the Lagarde law of 2010 ratified the delegation of insurance, in particular for borrower insurance: the subscriber is not obliged to choose the insurance for his mortgage with his lender. He can opt for an individual contract rather than a group contract.
The Hamon law of 2014 allows the termination of borrower insurance contracts during the first year. However, the new loan insurance must be at least equivalent to the initial loan insurance in terms of guarantees. Finally, the Bourquin amendment authorizes the termination on each anniversary date of the contract with the key to potential savings.
For your home insurance or car insurance, it is recommended to take stock every three years to see if the rates of competing offers for new customers are attracted. If you drive little, opt for “pay as you drive”, your car premium being indexed on the number of kilometers traveled.
Don’t forget to requalify your insurance contracts if your personal, professional, or financial situation changes. Finally, hunt duplicate insurance that weighs on your budget. For example, multi-risk home insurance backed by your bank card already covers you against several risks if you travel.
Optimize your race budget to save money
The food budget is arguably the highest after rent. Here again, more responsible behavior by applying a few tips can reduce the pressure on your personal finances.
For example, favor hard discounters with low-cost prices. Another idea: reduce food waste as much as possible by not systematically throwing what is left on the plate in the trash.
Before going shopping, it is better to empty your fridge to make a good inventory, and make a shopping list so as not to scatter or push the door of the hypermarkets with a full stomach! Then hunt for reductions now accessible from your smartphone or distributor brands, without neglecting products on sale whose consumption limit date is approaching.
To avoid being tempted on the shelves and save money, do your shopping at the drive-thru, which stabilizes your expenses. Finally, for your midday meals, prepare your bowl and save restaurant costs and sandwiches swallowed on the go.
