Who doesn’t love to save money? The internet is full with ways you can save money on your shopping, your daily habits, and even on your monthly expenses. The options are limitless, but sometimes the best way to save money is to make a few simple lifestyle changes. It’s nowhere near as intimidating as it sounds, and it also helps every aspect of your life to become more organized. When you do get organized, you alleviate some of your stress, you save time, and you save money.
– Avoid last minute shopping trips that cost a lot more than you want to spend
– Buy gifts for people in advance
– Keep specific items on hand at all times
– Schedule payments to avoid costly late fees
– Organize what you have so you’re not buying multiples
You Save Money Avoiding Last Minute Shopping Traps
It’s a big budget-buster to need something at the last minute. It’s someone’s birthday, and you forgot to pick up a gift. Buying gifts ahead of time is easy when you create an organized list of birthdays for all the people in your life. This allows you to shop ahead of time, which is a big money saver. You have more time to shop sales, and you aren’t forced to buy what you can find even if it’s too much.
There’s no need to go out and spend a lot of money on gifts for people you might not use, but you can make a list of birthdays so you know every month for whom and when you need a gift. When you have a little time to shop around, you save money. The added perk is not needing to use the overnight shipping option to get what you need in time.
You Don’t Pay Late Fees
Organized people have a list of their expenses, their due dates, and they schedule their payments in advance. When you take the time to do this, you’re not going to pay any late fees. It’s easy to forget to submit a payment to the credit card company on Tuesday when it’s due, but you’re already charged a late fee when you pay that bill on Wednesday. Get organized and you’ll save on late fees.
You Don’t Overspend Buying Things You Already Have
You know you have a 9×9 baking dish somewhere, but you can’t remember where you put it when you moved it. It’s easier to just buy a new one, and you do that a lot. When you take the time to get organized, you’re able to find what you need and avoiding spending money on things you know you have but just can’t find.
You Make Fewer Trips to the Store
You forgot to pick up an onion to go with dinner tonight, and now you’re headed back to the store to buy that. The problem isn’t that you forgot an onion. It’s that now you’re going back into the store and you’re going to buy a lot more than just that one onion. It might be another $20 worth of groceries, or it might be another $50 worth. Either way, you know this happens several times a week, and it costs you a lot to forget one item.
You Get to Use Discounts and Coupons
When you take the time to get organized, make lists, and shop ahead, you also have time to shop for price comparisons, to find the best deals, and to find coupons to use on your next purchase. If that’s not something that helps with your budget, nothing is. You can download apps that compare prices at your favorite stores. You can find online discount codes and coupon codes to apply toward online orders you want to use for things you need around the house. If you’re organized enough to make lists for future shopping trips, you know what coupons and discounts you need to look for.
You Waste Nothing
Getting organized means getting rid of the clutter and mess in your house. That doesn’t sound particularly budget-friendly, but it can be a big money saver. When you spend time cleaning out the clutter, you might find you have all you need to host a yard sale or to make a big donation worth a nice tax break come tax time.
You’re not leaving things tucked away in the attic or lost in a closet. You’re finding what you don’t need, selling it, and making some money. It’s not money-saving, but it’s money making and that’s just as good as saving money. Go through what you don’t need and see if you can profit off of it.
You Never Have to Settle
No one likes to settle, yet so many people do it every day. Unorganized people sometimes have to settle for things you don’t want. You forgot to shop ahead of time for a gift for their best friend, and now you’re stuck shopping at the last minute for something you don’t love so much but have to get because you’re out of time and options.
When you get organized, you never have to settle. You have time to shop around, to compare prices, and even to save money for the things you want the most. It’s a great way to save money on everyday items as well as things you know you want in advance.
Getting organized is a little intimidating for some people, especially those who aren’t organized by nature. It’s best to take things a day at a time to ensure it’s possible to get everything organized perfectly. Start with one room in your home, and move on a little at a time. Start with one app and download others as you get more organized. Baby steps are helpful, and it’s going to save you a lot of money to start taking those steps now.
As I stated above, saving money can be considered earning money, from a certain point of view. If you want more reasons to want to save money, try projecting yourself 3-6 months from now with a decent sum of money that you can invest.