Automated Ways To Save Money

Do you find saving money takes too much time, too many decisions and a lot of will power? If so, this post could be exactly what you need. Fortunately there are ways to save money that avoid all of these drawbacks. Saving money automatically and reducing the amount of decisions you have to make increases your chance of actually saving money – every decision is an opportunity to not save money and no one is perfect so at least some of those opportunities to save will slip by. However with these automated saving tips you can reduce your costs and increase your savings with a hands off approach.

Compare Financial Products

Comparing your options when it comes to financial products can be one of the easiest ways to make more saving whether from spending less on fees or making more from interest. The point of this post is to highlight “set it and forget it” ways to increase what is left in your bank account and comparing financial products does this in two ways; firstly by comparing you can find the best option to avoid fees and high interest rates on credit cards and loans meaning it costs you less and secondly with products such as current accounts and savings accounts you can find the best interest options meaning you earn more. Both are valid ways of having more money to put into your bank account and the effects are exaggerated with even bigger products such as insurance where overpaying could be very expensive. The one off commitment to comparing options can mean long term savings which add up over time.

Coupon Code Finders

Money back every time I shop online? Yes please. Coupon codes are a wonderful things, a simple code that you put in at check out for savings. The only problem is finding the coupon codes. You can spend ages looking for one worth using and then it doesn’t even work. Thankfully some savvy tech people out there recognised this problem and now there are several coupon browser extensions which automatically apply coupons at checkout. Once you set them up which can be as simple as a few clicks you have automatic savings for your online shopping. Some of the top options work across a variety of popular websites including Amazon so your automated savings can stack up quickly.  Look into these extensions and find the ones that appeal to you.

Loyalty Cards

Most major stores have a loyalty card and whilst the reward to spend ratios vary free savings are free savings. The savings on loyalty cards can add up and the whole thing is very hands off, simply sign-up for a loyalty card and make sure to have the cashier scan it every time you make a purchase. It is that simple, although if you want to maximise your loyalty points you can pay attention to special offers that give you extra points but don’t go making purchases just for the points that is going to leave you worse off, if you were going to buy the promotional items anyway however you may as well take the extra loyalty points.

Automate Savings

Saving money isn’t just about paying a little less for something, it can be about not buying it in the first place. However, having the will power to constantly second guess a purchase can be tough and before you know it you give in and reach the end of the month with no money left to put in your savings account. The solution? Save first. Deposit your savings from your paycheque directly into a savings account at the beginning of the month (or whenever you are paid) and work with the remaining budget. You will be amazed how much you can actually save and how much you were actually spending just because you had the money to spend. And of course this post is about automated savings so make sure you set up for your savings to go directly into your savings account automatically every month, don’t give yourself the option to change your mind or put a little less in your savings account by manually depositing into your savings account.

Saving can seem daunting and we often envisage sitting down with spreadsheets getting lost in numbers and budgets before ultimately giving up and going back to our old spending habits which can leave the savings account looking a little small. Fortunately by implementing these tips you can start to change that. Of course, coupon extensions and loyalty cards are not going build your nest egg alone but the biggest takeaway from this post should be the principles – saving doesn’t need to be difficult and time consuming, by using automation and limiting the decisions you need to make you can set about an effective saving strategy which will build your savings.