{"id":717,"date":"2017-02-15T14:38:28","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T14:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/new\/?p=717"},"modified":"2017-02-15T14:38:28","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T14:38:28","slug":"saving-for-a-rainy-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/?p=717","title":{"rendered":"Saving For A Rainy Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOW TO SAVE EFFECTIVELY<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

EDDIE ASKS\u2026<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m a twenty-three-year-old professional single man. Ever since I started working, it seems that my financial life has not quite improved as I thought it would. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s me or not, but I feel that things were once a lot cheaper \u2014 and I don\u2019t think inflation is the only thing to blame.<\/p>\n

Before the current job, I used to take vacations and go out for the usual weekly dinners. But now, I find myself struggling to make the rent payments at the end of the month. Is there any way for me to get out of this financial slump and how do I ensure I save well?<\/p>\n

Yes, inflation does have an effect on the value of your hard-earned dollar. And yes, one dollar back in the day went a lot further than it does today. But people fail to realize that the value of their dollar is relative to the period in which they live. Sure, a dollar bought you more goods thirty years ago, but you also earned a lot less than you do today.
\nI think some saving tips should do you a lot of good for this kind of a problem and I have a few quite effective ones:<\/p>\n

1.Change your habits<\/strong><\/span>
\nThat old clich\u00e9 will never fade: \u201cThings were a lot cheaper back in the day.\u201d but even though things were a lot cheaper back in the day, people also earned a lot less and still had to save money to buy such \u201cinexpensive\u201d goods.
\nRegardless of the period you find yourself in, you still need to know the basic money-saving strategies that your grandparents and parents used in order to help them save for a comfortable lifestyle.<\/p>\n

2. Reality check<\/span><\/strong>
\nBefore making any big purchases, stop and make sure that your emotions are not the ones making the decisions. People tend to make irrational decisions based on their wants rather than their needs. I recommend that you analyze your personal situation and get a grip on reality before making any big purchases.Do you really need the $2500 professional turbo-digital photo deluxe camera, or can you settle for the $600 digital camera that will serve your needs just fine?
\n3. Shop around<\/strong><\/span>
\nBefore committing to a final purchase, I recommend that you shop around. Browsing for alternatives doesn\u2019t take much effort and in the end, it will save you from nasty surprises and can literally save you thousands of shillings.<\/p>\n

If you don\u2019t have the time to shop around, I suggest that you at least get all the details from one merchant and then call others to compare prices. When you get the lowest price, go back to the original merchant and tell him that if he beats the lowest price, you will definitely buy the product from him.<\/p>\n

Bargain<\/strong><\/span>
\nSome people are too proud to bargain down a final price or use coupons to save money. But you\u2019d be surprised to know that it is usually the wealthy people who bargain the most. This would explain why they\u2019re so wealthy; they know the value of their hard-earned money and are not eager to part from it.
\nOther side tips that may help you are:<\/p>\n

1. Don\u2019t spend your whole paycheck<\/strong>
\nStart out by saving small amounts of your income. Try to save between 15 to 18% of every paycheck, but don\u2019t get worried if you see that you cannot save that much. The important thing is to save a little on a consistent basis.<\/p>\n

2. Reduce amount of ATM fees<\/strong>
\nEvery time you make a withdrawal using your debit card, you are charged an extra fixed rate. That fee is even higher if you\u2019re not making the withdrawal at your own bank.<\/p>\n

So instead of making multiple withdrawals, estimate how much cash you\u2019ll need to last you the whole week and make only one withdrawal at your own bank. If you have any money left over at the end of the week, put it into your savings account.<\/p>\n

3. Keep a close eye on your money<\/strong>
\nKeep a weekly and\/or monthly budget and keep track of where you\u2019re spending your money. Those who know where their money\u2019s dispensed tend to spend less and save more. By keeping track of your expenditures, you\u2019ll have a better idea of how much money you\u2019ve already spent this week, for example, which will prevent you from going over your budget.<\/p>\n

4. Pay off all your short-term loans<\/strong>
\nMoney that you\u2019re spending on interest payments is money that you could be saving. Try to reduce or eliminate any short-term debts such as credit card balances, or car and student loans.<\/p>\n

5. Set up an automatic savings plan<\/strong>
\nPeople often get into the nasty habit of procrastinating or poorly performing a task such as saving money on a consistent basis. Arrange to have as little as $30 a month deducted from your bank account and deposited into a savings or better yet, a mutual fund account or a SACCO that requires a constant amount of deposits per month.<\/p>\n

Hope these tips help. Eddie and good luck.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HOW TO SAVE EFFECTIVELY EDDIE ASKS\u2026 I\u2019m a twenty-three-year-old professional single man. Ever since I started working, it seems that my financial life has not quite improved as I thought it would. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s me or not, but I feel that things were once a lot cheaper \u2014 and I don\u2019t think […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=717"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":719,"href":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/717\/revisions\/719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ffifinance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}