Written By: Haley Berg
With the new year coming up it is the perfect opportunity to make changes to your old financial habits and start saving more money. Instead of just doing the basic ordinary new year's resolutions it might benefit you to make resolutions that deal with saving more money. Everyone has spending habits they wish they could break and 2020 is the perfect time to do so. There are many ways that you can turn 2020 into a year of savings and create beneficial financial habits.
Before you can do anything about changing your habits it's important to reflect on your spending in 2019. Look back on all your spending and how much you were using on wants rather than needs. Think about the things that you bought that you didn’t need while also looking at the purchases that you thought were necessary. It's important to look at the negatives and positives of your habits so you know what you need to change, and what you can keep the same.
84% of Americans are completely unaware of how much they are spending on subscriptions. Along with that 75% are spending at least $150 a month on the subscriptions. The first way that you can start to save in the new year is by canceling all the subscriptions you don't need. It's a good idea to sit down and look at all the subscriptions you have and think about how much you are really using those services. For example, do you really need 4 show streaming services or can you get by with the 2 you use most? By cutting the services you don’t use you can end up saving a ton of money that can be used for retirement or any other necessary costs.
Another easy way to make a little more money in the new year is by getting rid of things you don’t need anymore. Go through your closet and pull out clothes or other items you never use. After you find things you are willing to get rid of you can resell them to gain some of the money you spent back. If you get rid of nice clothing you can gain back a lot of money that will add up over time. This is a very easy way for us High School kids to gain some cash to save for our futures. I'm sure many of us have piles of clothes that we never wear that are just sitting in our closets taking up space. Another small thing that can be done is to start cooking meals more often at home. The average American household spends an average of $3,008 per year on eating out. If you spend more nights cooking at home you can save that money and use it for something much more worthwhile. Another benefit of eating at home is you can make meals that are healthy to achieve other new years' goals along with saving money.
The last piece of advice for saving in the new year is to give yourself a small saving challenge. Breaking all your habits right away can be very challenging, starting with something small can get you started with the entire process. This could be as simple as putting away change and cash in a jar every week, doing this can really add up. Something else you could even try is the 52-week saving challenge. The 52-week savings challenge starts with saving $1 the first week, $2 the second week, $3 the third week and so on. By the end of the 52 weeks of the year if you follow the plan accordingly you should end up saving $1,378. At the end of the 52 weeks, this will feel like free money. This money that you probably didn’t even think about can go into buying something important, also it will make you feel super successful at the end of the year.
In the end, the new year is a fresh start for everyone and the perfect time to start saving. I would strongly encourage that everyone makes a financial saving resolution this new year, it will end up helping you financially in the long run.
Works Cited
“52 Week Money Challenge.” FORUM Credit Union, 1 Nov. 2019, www.forumcu.com/moneychallenge.“6 Ways to Save More Money in the New Year.” News Tips, www.heritagecu.org/news-and-tips/6-ways-to-save-more-money-in-the-new-year/.
Black, Michelle L. “11 New Year's Resolutions That Will Actually Save You Money.” Reader's Digest, www.rd.com/advice/saving-money/new-years-resolutions-save-money/.
Burnett, Jane. “Survey: 84% of Americans Unaware of How Much They Spend on Subscription Services.” Ladders, 30 July 2018, www.theladders.com/career-advice/survey-84-of-americans-unaware-of-how-much-they-spend-on-subscription-services.
I agree with the simple but also effective ways to easily save a little bit of money for either a trip, an emergency fund, towards investing, etc. I know that for a high school student like myself, it can be tempting to blow off all of my money in one shopping trip because I have the money. But, this information can be even beneficial to consider right now as a majority of us are deciding to attend college in either less than a year or in around a year around from now. We can start saving money today and in the future, we do not have to pay as much money later on towards tuition, books, extras. Which means that you end up saving money and having to pay less later down the line towards our student loans.
ReplyDeleteI like this topic because more people should be aware of this, I like how you did simple ways because most people don't stay with what they think they are going to do for New Years, but because this is easier and simpler it makes it more relatable. Saving money is always hard if you are young because everyone just wants to spend it but saving it can really help in the long run for college, bills and etc. I think with saving it really help with the future, and starting now will be very beneficial.
ReplyDeleteI like this whole idea of new year new me in terms of finances. I think it's beneficial to start having a savings plan in the new year and planning a budget at the beginning of the year. Furthermore, I really liked the 52 week challenge I thought that was a great savings method that wasn't as overwhelming as putting a lump sum of money from your paycheck into your savings account. Additionally, evaluating past subscriptions and possibly cancelling a few subscriptions may be financially beneficial to you in the new year because like the article says many Americans are unaware of how much they are spending on subscriptions. Overall, I really enjoyed these tips and may look into implementing them in my life!
ReplyDeleteI like find this post to be very accurate, many people have so many subscriptions that are unnecessary and sure their subscription might be 8$ a month but now u add in your other 3 subscriptions and at the end of the year you lost 400 dollars. One thing you didn't touch on that I see as an issue that can relate to this post is how many credit cars people open through different companies and stores and then always forget to use them when they shop there. Having so many different credit cards can also lead to issues because you can put your self into debt, loose the cards, or forget to pay for one of them and then have a high interest rate. Overall many people don't realize how much money they can save and people should just take a few hours over the holiday season to see where they can save because in some cases it can be well over a couple thousand dollars.
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