Save During Tough Financial Times TRAIN YOUR BRAIN TO IMPLEMENT MONEY-SAVING TACTICS, EVEN DURING DIFFICULT FINANCIAL TIMES!
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hat a difficult and emotional time it has been these past few months. Not to even mention the FINANCIAL challenges you’ve had to endure (and most likely still are dealing with). On a positive note: with 2020’s ‘financial lemons’ you might not be able to make lemonade yet, but in the meantime, you can at least try your best to put some tangy zest to good use (metaphorically speaking of course). It may be a challenging time for your financials but there are ways to still try and save money even when it feels
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impossible. If you have not been able to get your head around saving money during financially tough times, now is the time to ‘train your brain’, test this concept and set forth money-saving habits for years to come. “The key to saving money is in ‘small’ actions. Perhaps insignificant for some, but with every action or reaction it is important to think before you ‘do’,” says Carla Oberholzer (debt adviser at DebtSafe). The possibility to save money during tough times comes in when you think about the outcome of your
action before you implement it. Yes, train that brain of yours. “What does this mean exactly,” you may ask. Well, before you do anything (even the ‘smallest act’ possible) think of the financial implication(s) of your action and see if you can save some money with your action (or, in many cases, NON-action) instead. Take the following example into account: Before you start that washing machine or dishwasher for the third or fourth time this week – think of how you can save on the electricity bill this month. Remind yourself that you should limit an energy-hungry appliance to once a week. So, before pressing the ‘start cycle’, start planning your ‘wash schedule’ a bit better and implement a frugal, moneysaving habit instead. Here are another few ideas to help you gather certain thrifty thoughts and implement savvy-saving actions even while being in or facing a financial pinch: • Try PENNY-PINCHING HABITS while shopping and avoid unnecessary buys during your outings. Groceries and personal care items are indeed expensive. You, therefore, have to train your brain to look out for good prices and be unwilling to spend any extra money on things you do not need. Take your list with you when going
