It’s out with the splurging and in with the savings. Here are 5 saving tips to save your money like your filthy rich distant uncle.
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22 Feb 2022
4 Min Read
Sandra Goh (Guest Contributor), Josephine Serena (Editor)
It’s out with the splurging and in with the savings. Here are 5 saving tips to save your money like your filthy rich distant uncle.
Keeping to a student budget could be tough, especially when you’ve big dreams to pursue or when you need to buy a new laptop, or when forking out money for unexpected bills. Paying for all these could be a nightmare if you don’t have a backup plan. Hence, it’s important to save up for those in case moments.
If you’re finding it hard to save your money or the recent festive celebrations are calling for a budget check, here are some tips for you to save as you go!
The first and ultimate step of saving is to set a goal. A goal is important to measure your success throughout your financial journey and motivate you when done properly! Everyone’s goals may differ accordingly as there are many different factors that could affect your savings such as your income, your expenses, and so on.
Don’t fret tho! One of the greatest ways to set an optimum goal is to follow the 50-20-30 rule. By following the 50-20-30 rule, you can divide your income or allowance into 3 different categories: 50% for the essentials, 20% for savings, and 30% for others, where essentials could include rentals, phone bills, groceries, and so on, while others could be for shopping, entertainment, and outings.
And of course, your savings in the bank or somewhere vault-safe! With that, you could decide on how much you should save monthly and work towards it.
In order to save up and achieve your desired goal, I’ve got a few saving systems for you to try! What if I told you, you could save up to RM66,795 a year? It’s not impossible with the 365-day savings method! To do this, start with RM1 on the first day of the year and add another Ringgit each day, and do this for 365 days. So, Day 1 = RM1, Day 2 = RM2, Day 365 = RM365. The cumulative total of your daily savings should amount to RM66,795.
BUT… what if your income isn’t as high as RM66,795 annually? Don’t worry you could start as little as RM0.10 till RM36.5 until the end of the year and you could save up as much as RM6,700 by the end of the year! That’s not too bad for a start, right?
Okay, perhaps a daily savings is too much of a hassle for you. Then, try saving up weekly instead! The 52-week savings system is somewhat similar to the 365-daily savings, the only difference is the frequency. So, instead of doing it daily, with the 52-week savings system, you can save RM10 on the first week of the year, RM20 on the second, RM30 on the third week, and so on. If you were to keep the momentum going, you’ll find yourself with RM13,780! Ain’t that great?! Of course, you can adjust the amount you save according to your allowance or income.
If saving up systematically isn’t your cup of tea then you could probably save as you like by rounding up and saving a portion of the change you received as you pay for stuff.
For example, if you’ve RM100 with you and you spent RM63, you’ll be left with RM37. Instead of spending the remaining RM37, try saving the extra RM7.
Saving a few bucks works just as well! Remember, even a small amount of savings can go a long way. As time passes, you could find yourself with a huge pile of money.
This is probably often disregarded but it’s still the easiest way to save up and you’ve probably done this as a child. If you’ve tried saving your pocket money, especially coins in your lovely piggy banks when you were young, why not try it again?
All you have to do is keep the coins you have with you daily in a piggy bank or jar. You’ll never know how much you’d saved after some time.
PS: Saving every single coin can be a hassle later when you plan to put it in the bank as you’ll have to group different coins separately. Try saving up the bigger pieces like 20 or 50 cents instead or keep them in separate jars from the start so you don’t have to split them up later!
If your new year resolution is to save as much as you can, try to stick with this challenge throughout the year and see how much you can make!
The Monday-Blues Challenge is very self-explanatory, in which you save every RM1 note you have every Monday.
I bet you’ll be surprised with the amount you’d have saved every Monday at the end of the year. And if you don’t like Mondays, you can literally just pick any other day to do this!
The main point of saving isn’t about which type of saving systems or habits you adopt, it doesn’t matter how you do it, the only thing that matters is the consistency. So just try your best to save as much as you can throughout the year and impress us with the amount you’ve got!
Sandra Goh pursues a Bachelor of Business (Hons) Finance & Economics at Taylor's University. She’s also the Vice President of Taylor’s Le French Club, Event Director of Taylor’s Business School Society (TBSS) & the Research Department Junior Executive of the Association of Malaysian Economics Undergraduate (AMEU).