Whenever anyone talks about saving money, the first advice every expert offers is to live a “Frugal Life”. Well, I do not believe in that, I mean do the rich people in the world really become rich by “living a frugal life”?
But on the other hand, I strongly believe that spending money on purchasing unnecessary items is really a waste. Saving money is something that most Indians think about at least fourteen times a day because money is playing such a huge role in this world nowadays.
Plus, scientifically, if you have enough money saved up in your bank or anywhere else then it makes you feel secure and comfortable and also gives you happiness.
If you are raised in Indian community then you must have heard this phrase over and over again that “Money can’t buy happiness”, to those person, just ask “And Poverty can”?
Anyways, just thinking about saving money is not enough because our schools and society never taught us how to actually save money.
In this article, I will share 7 simple ways that I have been using effectively to save more than Rs 11,483 per month. And most importantly, I do not really compromise on not eating pizza and burgers outside. 🙂
Now before I start mentioning the techniques I use to save money, first you will have to know why saving money is important.
Why Saving Money is Important?
Well, let me put this way that if you only put Rs 50 aside everyday and keep investing them in Stock Market or a Good Mutual Funds for the next 30 year with a 15% return then, do you know how much would that turn into?
Rs 84,47,545 !!!
Here, check out the math yourself.
Invested Amount
Wealth Gain
Expected Amount
That was the power of just putting Rs 50 aside per day. Now, if you can scale this amount up then sky is the limit to earn.
Number #7: Limit booking from Ola/Uber
As we know, couple years back Ola/Uber were introduced in India through mobile app and surely, many people started using them especially, because Ola and Uber were providing a lot of free rides and discounts back that time. However, over the time it started reducing those discounts and started to increase ride prices if you guys notice but what really happened? We became addicted to it.
Believe it or not, if you like to travel within your cities a lot like me then there’s a high chance that you guys are using these apps a lot more frequently than you guys have realized. My lovely wife pointed this out to me, that we are spending a lot of money in Ola and Uber.
Surely, when I checked our monthly budgets for past few months, I was SHOCKED! Because I was literally spending somewhere between Rs 8,000 to 11,000 per month on Ola and Uber. That’s almost like Rs 300 per day. I was taking Ola/Uber to go to the malls, restaurants, sightseeing and so on.
If you are young then just using the public bus or metro could drastically help you to save at least half of the money you are spending on Ola & Uber. However, I am not saying to totally stop using it. Obviously, if your parents are with you then give them the comfort of traveling and on the other hand, if you have some friends then share the ride equally, that helps to bring down the cost significantly as well.
After cutting my cost on Ola and Uber, I have been able to save at least around Rs 4,000 – Rs 5,000 a month. Although, I didn’t completely eliminated Ola/Uber from my life, just couple time a week did the magic for me.
Trust me; this does make a lot of difference in my bank balance over the time because Rs 4,000 times 12 months are equal to Rs 48,000 per year. This will alone pay you for a good vacation trip or if you invest them wisely then it could worth a lot in the future.
And like I mentioned, you are not stopping Ola and Uber completely but just using some alternates once or twice a week, that shouldn’t really make a huge impact in your life since it didn’t in mine.
Number #6: Carry a Water Bottle
This sounds silly, right? But if I were to ask you how many times do you go outside, get thirsty after walking some time then buy a water bottle from a retail shop? The answer is more frequently than you realize.
You will be amazed how carrying a water bottle could help you save money. I want you to create a monthly budget and keep a section empty for just buying water bottles.
When I started doing that, I saw I was buying around 10-12 water bottle per month. The minimum cost of a water bottle is Rs 15 in India and if you buy them in shopping malls then SURPRISE! It will cost you at least Rs 50-100.
We do not realize this cost because most of the time when we eat in fast food restaurants or in malls, the water bottles are sides and we think, we are spending so much then how can a water bottle affect our budget?
Well, it DOES! 10-12 water bottles will cost you at least Rs 150-180 per month and like I mentioned, if you are buying them in shopping malls or any other places where water bottles costs more then it will be around Rs 300.
You could avoid this cost just by carrying a water bottle with you. Plus, refill them whenever it’s empty from metros, shopping malls, religious places and so on. Free water is everywhere in India, why do you have to pay for it?
Now, you must be thinking, how could Rs. 300 help us to grow our savings account? Well, let me do the math for you then.
If you invest Rs 300 per month in a good mutual fund for 40 years with 15% return then do you know how much that money you will have?
Rs 69,13,873 !!!! ( Sixty Nine Lakh Thirteen Thousand & Seventy Three Rupees)
You read it right, that’s how compounding effect works. Check out the above example to understand this number.
You can read how little investments can change your life in my Cigarettes Money Investment Journey.
#5: Stop having expensive Tea or Coffee outside
I wouldn’t disagree that I am a fellow “Chai Lover”. I have it at least twice per day. Now, drinking tea or coffee is not really the problem here but drinking Tea or Coffee in expensive restaurants or cafes really makes the difference. How much does it cost to drink a cup of coffee or tea in cafes or restaurants in India? Well, it’s not less than Rs 100 per cup, at least in New Delhi, India.
It won’t be wrong to say that it’s a shame that one has to spend this much money on Tea or Coffee especially because it’s INDIA. A normal road side tea stall costs hardly around Rs 5 or Rs 10 per cup and that’s more or less tastes the same as café or restaurants. However, I would say that it’s best to make your own in home because no one makes better Chai or Coffee than our Mothers and Wives in India.
So, how much could you save by just not drinking Tea or Coffee in cafes outside? Let’s say you drink one cup of coffee or tea per day outside and it costs you Rs 100 and if you do it for only 20 times per month then it will alone save you Rs 2,000 per month, and Rs 4,000 per month if you drink twice per day.
Trust me; it is an issue in the world where people are consuming more tea and coffee outside. No wonder its a billion dollar industry now.
However, I am not telling to completely stop it. Having coffee/tea outside once or twice a week is no issue but try to consume more in home or choose a cheaper option. It will directly impact in your budget.
#4: Learn to Bargain
Bargaining is an important skill that you should learn. And it’s not news that Indian Mothers are kind of self taught experts in this field. How many times did you go for shopping with your Mother when the shopkeeper says “Madam, Total Rs 3,000 for these 2 suits” and your Mother replied “Bhaiya, Rs 800, dena hai toh do warna mai jaa rahi hu” and she ends up getting both of them at Rs. 1000? Quite often, I would say.
Well, it could be embarrassing for you as a kid but that actually did save her Rs 2,000. Do it 100 more times and you will save Rs 2 Lakh, quite impressive, right?
Well, bargaining is actually one of the most important skills that every Indian must learn. It not only helps you to shop for less but if you are in business and entrepreneurship then it would also help you with clients.
But how about shopping in Malls? Or in branded stores where the prices are non-negotiable? Well, hold on. I have a way for that too.
Let me tell a short story quickly –
“This one time, me and my friend went to am Rolex showroom where my friend wanted to buy a watch. He liked one and went for billing. The cost of the watch was Rs 150,000. I told my friend if I could get the price down a bit, would you buy me a pizza? He said please don’t. Your bargaining trick won’t work with them. I said alright, let me just try it once. He literally couldn’t look at me when I was going to do it. He thought it would be embarrassing. But all I did was ask the registrar, “Hey, how much discount are you guys running on Rolex watches today? I saw some online ads where it said 30% discounts will be offered today.” The shopkeeper gently said “Let me quickly look it up for you”. He just typed something on his computer screen and said “Sir, I could get you 15% discount on that watch”. That’s a solid Rs 30,000 discount. We accepted it, came outside and laughed like mad boys.”
See, how easy it was? You just have to ask for discounts and 80 out of 100 times, you will get some. I have tried the same with Dominos, Pizza Hut, Woodland, and Lifestyle and so on. I mean how hard it is just to say “Hey, what kind of discounts are you guys running today?” And most times they will come up with something.
This technique alone saves me at least Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000 per month. Especially, when the holidays are around the corner and you have to do a lot of shopping, this simple trick can save you thousands of rupees.
#3: You don’t need all the online Paid Subscriptions.
With all the online streaming apps popping up every day, it’s hard to resist not subscribing some of them. But, you will have to know the limits. Buying subscriptions to every online streaming app is simply non-sense and most of all – it’s unproductive.
I am not denying the fact that we need some leisure time for ourselves and what could be better than watching TV, eating a Pizza with some Coke or Pepsi, right? But, here’s the problem, I saw it with my friends that most of them are subscribed to more than 5 streaming platforms. Whether it’s Amazon Prime, Netflix, Hotstar, Hulu etc. you name it and they have it.
Sadly, if you are one of them too then it makes no sense to have subscription for all of them. I mean one or two is enough, don’t you think?
Honestly, I also had a lot of them but now, I only have Amazon Prime and that’s enough for me. First of all, I don’t get enough watch time anymore since I found many new hobbies to keep me occupied. And secondly, I realized, I can only watch one or two web series a month, so what’s the point of keeping the others.
Seriously guys, if you have multiple subscriptions then I would say just cancel one of them. Only One. That shouldn’t make a lot of difference in your life and at the end of month you will realize you didn’t need it at the first place either.
This technique saves me at least Rs 400-Rs 500 per month. But still it has huge impact because these are recurring subscriptions and most probably, you will keep on paying for years which would cost you around Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000 per year.
I will say it again, invest them wisely and they will be worth a fortune in the future.
#2: Keep your change money in a Deposit Box ( or Gullak as they say in Hindi)
There’s a famous saying that says “Little drops of water makes the mighty Ocean”.
The same thing applies when you start saving a very little amount money every day. This method also works very effectively if you follow the below rules with proper discipline.
- Buy a Deposit Box (or Gullak) today. It will hardly cost you Rs. 50.
- Whenever you go to market and purchase anything, round that up to the nearest possible number and put the change in your deposit box. For example, if your bill is Rs 96 then come home and immediately put the remaining Rs 4 in your Gullak, no questions asked.
- In occasions, put Rs 10, 20, 50, 100, 500 or even Rs 2,000 in your deposit box for fun. Once in a while is enough. May be, you received a bonus from your company or perhaps you just have some spare cash that you are not using. Put them directly in your safety deposit box.
That’s all the rules you will have to follow. Even if you put Rs. 20 in an average per day then it will become Rs 600 per month and Rs 7200 per year. Now, remember I didn’t count the occasional money that you are going to put in your safety box here, that would bring another Rs 6,000 if you just put Rs. 500 per month extra in your Gullak.
My first Gullak had Rs. 17,000 in just after 11 months. Now, here’s the final thought about what to do with the money. It’s best if you can just invest the money somewhere safe every year. Then go back to buying 1 more deposit box and keep repeating the same.
#1: Create a Monthly Budget.
All of my above money saving tips has no point if you do not have a monthly budget at all. Knowing where you money is coming from and where you are actually spending them is a game changer. If you track each and every expense of your life then the following things will definitely happen and it will change your financial life –
- You will stop over spending money.
- It will help you save a lot of money.
- It will help you to discipline your life.
- And finally, you will realize you actually have enough money to live your simple life
Now, I will be showing you my monthly budget excel sheet so that you can get an idea on how to create one. Basically, I have an Excel sheet on my computer and I manually track all the expenses.
Also, I keep a Money Spending Tracking App in my Android phone (There are lots of free apps available in Google Play Store) because it helps me to write down the expenses on my phone when I shop in the market. Then again, I come back to home and write them down in my Excel sheet.
Here are my last month’s expenses. You can make something similar to this.
You can download this Monthly Budget Google Spreadsheet that we have created for our visitors for free.
Now, before I end this article, I must tell you that saving money alone won’t make you rich, for that you will have to learn how to invest these saved up money so that they can grow exponentially. What’s good going to happen if you save money for months and then blow up on an item that you don’t even want?
All efforts will go in vain and that’s why I would recommend reading my other article on how to invest money so that not only you can save money but learn how to multiply them as well.
I really hope, this article brought some motivation for you and you will adapt few of the methods if not all mentioned in this article. Also, remember expenses are different for every single person on this planet, deal with them accordingly.
