Habits That Save You Money

Much like getting into better shape, saving money is the product of a lot of small effective habits practiced regularly. We asked our readers and compiled information from all around the web to find the best practices you can adopt that will help you save money.
A lot of us tend to unconsciously scale our spending habits with our income, and the result is that even when we're earning significantly more money than we used to, it doesn't feel that way. Doing an overhaul of your financial hygiene is the simplest way to make whatever you're earning today go a lot further, and it will have a serious impact on your long-term financial future. So what are you waiting for? Let's take a look at the most effective habits you can practice.

Thinking In Terms Of Hourly Pay

A lot of the time, when we're evaluating a potential purchase, we make the mistake of assessing the cost against our total available funds at the moment. This is a practice that leads to overspending, and is the quickest way to unwittingly see your bank account drain down to nothing. Instead of thinking, "Can I afford this right now?" when making a non-essential purchase, try asking yourself, "How many hours would I have to work to pay for this?" This will help put into perspective the real cost to you of a purchasing decision. That cab ride home at night or those new Bluetooth speakers might not seem too significant, but when you consider how long you would have to work to pay for them, you might change your tune. Get in the habit of doing this regularly and you'll be more likely to make prudent financial decisions.

Tracking & Budgeting Your Spending.

It's hard to make good financial decisions when you don't even have a clue where your money is really going. One of the best things you will ever do to save yourself money is to start tracking where your money is going, and then decide where you can start to reign in spending. We recommend as an easy and free tool to help you do this. It makes it easy to track spending across credit cards and checking accounts so that you can more easily spot the holes in your sinking financial ship. Oftentimes, the biggest drains to our bank accounts aren't the obvious big-ticket items, but the small, frequent spending habits that add up over time. Perhaps you're spending way more on cab rides, restaurants, or at the bar then you are actually comfortable with, and the only way to find out just how severe the impact really is means finding out how much each of those categories add up to. Start tracking your spending first, and then once you've figured out where it's going, create budgets for yourself to help you get your spending under control.

Negotiating

Learning to negotiate is an incredibly valuable skill, and a habit that when practiced at the right times will have an unimaginable impact on your financial future. It might not seem like negotiating plays a large part in the average 21st-century man's life, but the few times when it does just happen to be the most important times of all. When you're buying a new car, a house or getting a new job, negotiating will play a huge role. If your negotiation skills are a bit rusty, start by checking out the 8 Tips To Negotiate A Higher Starting Salary. In some industries, the difference between poor and fantastic negotiation skills could mean a 50% difference in pay.