Reducing costs/saving tips

After the saving tips, it’s now time to list some tips on how best to reduce expenses (which you can then, of course, save again nicely ;))) to reduce spending overall. There can be several reasons for wanting to save some money for a time, but I think the fact that you came to us on Wanderlustig says it all. Bring on that next trip! Read the 5 best saving tips below.

1. Pay attention to deals at the supermarket

This is the number one saving tip to keep doing the same thing but save money. At your supermarket, take a good look at the deals, is it a product you normally buy and has a long shelf life? Then purchase some of these products right away. But also be critical: is this a product you wouldn’t normally buy? Then determine if you can use it well in meals, in this case do buy it, or if you would buy it as an “extra” (soda, chocolate, chips) leave the product out. You won’t save anything on this but only spend extra on it even if you buy it when it’s cheaper than normal. At times like this, be really critical. You will soon find that this is going to make a difference in your wallet.

2. Cook multiple servings and don’t throw food away

When you cook several servings at once, you are less likely to pick up food or choose an easy but expensive ready meal from the supermarket. Because you still have a full serving lying around, prepared and all, you are more likely to choose this and resist the temptation of the more expensive, and usually unhealthier, options.

Never throwing anything away I think speaks for itself. Even if you only have 4 bites of lettuce left, put it in a container and you’ll have a few bites of salad tomorrow in addition to your lunch. Every product can be used for something else the next day so please never throw away food. Not only does this save money, you are also doing good and sustainable work for the environment.

3. Take a close look at your subscriptions

Your Netflix subscription, spotify, a newspaper on your doormat every day, phone subscription, magazines; nowadays there is a subscription for everything. It seems like a cheap way to get a subscription but do you really need all this? Take a critical look at all your current subscriptions, for which money is deducted monthly or annually, do you really need this subscription? Do you use it a lot? If so, is there any way to get this done cheaper somewhere else? Or do several people use this subscription but you are the only one paying? Eliminating some fixed subscriptions can already save you a lot of money each year.

4. Check discount sites

If you regularly take a look at coupon sites or news letters, you will see that you actually pay “too much” money for a lot of activities by default. You often get around 50% off an activity or dinner. For this, you get exactly the same as someone who does pay the full amount for it. So it’s a shame not to check if you see your planned getaway listed on one of these sites at a big discount.

5. Schedule an evening at home more often

With the covid pandemic, most people have become a lot more creative in coming up with fun outings, but at home. For example, when you want to organize a date night with your partner, it is of course super cozy to do it out of doors: first eating out together, then going to the movies with snacks, drinks or some other activity for which you still put down a lot of money.

Now I am the last person who will say that you shouldn’t do this at all anymore but of course you can look at how often you do this and whether you really still find it special if you do this often. When you think to yourself: nice that we are going out tonight but we did this last week too, you can ask yourself if you are really still very much looking forward to this and if it adds much. In that case, it might be even cozier to get lots of delicious things in the house yourself and cook elaborately (or order, then you will still be cheaper than in a restaurant). Fine side note: drinks in the supermarket are also not nearly as expensive as in a restaurant or bar. This will easily save you several tens of dollars when you organize an entire evening at home.

With girlfriends, of course, this is also easy to do: instead of going to a lunchroom to catch up and then having a few more drinks, you can meet at someone’s house for a nice lunch with a fresh sandwich and juice. That way it’s cozy for a while but still saves you some.

What will probably give you the best motivation to actually start saving on these things is to set aside the money saved. Are you saving for a nice trip? Or for new furniture in your home? Create a separate account for your savings goal and deposit your saved money into this account each time. You will naturally begin to see it as a challenge to save as much as possible!