14 most effective ways to save money in day to day life.

In this very hard time, there are many easy ways to cut costs without giving away any of the services we are availing. Actually, following tips are very simple, easy to do and will tell us that, a smart little work can save us thousands.

1. Credit Card : Make the most of interest free period. Get petrol, gas, pay bills through it but remember to pay back on time, avoid late payments at all cost. It will give you some cash back and reward points too. Control yourself, and shop only what you can pay from your pocket. Setup a monthly standing payment order or direct debit that will cover your minimum payment.


2. Don't buy Ulips, instead buy mutual funds and get insured separately. Ulips are Mutual Fund + Insurance. So, buy a good mutual fund and get insured from a govt. insurance company separately. Govt. companies will ensure your return, even in bad times. Also, ulips comes with the limitations of spending a fixed amount again and again for three years. Such limitations will not be there, if you buy Mutual Funds and Insurance separately.


3. Invest your 70% of savings in govt. FDs and RDs. This will ensure a fixed guarantee return for at least 70% of your savings. This percentage can be reduced to 50%, if markets are at their lows, and there are good signs for recovery. Mutual funds of good companies are better option than to buy shares of one or two companies. Company's share can fall badly in a day but mutual fund can't fall that bad in a day.


4. Don't spend too much on songs, movies, softwares. They are freely available on internet. If you have a good internet connection, download them. Don't care too much of words like piracy etc. In this mean and imperfect world, some things can be ignored.


5. If you can, take your lunch from home to your work. Avoid eating outside, prepare and eat meal at home only. Believe me, it will save you a lot of money at the end of the month. Use this money to buy fruits, juice etc.


6. Try to have some of your clothes from budget shop etc. It sounds cheap but sometimes you get the best deals in these kind of shops. It will save you a lots of money. Don't overbuy, wear your same cloth at least thrice or four a month. Do the little sewing or fixing jobs by your own, don't make habit of visiting a tailor for every little work. If your t-shirt has teared off a bit, then buy a fancy patch from market and fix it on the teared portion, believe me, it will look nice and trendy more than before.
   


7. Buy energy efficient certified and power saving electrical appliances. Try to use solar appliances in your home. This will cost more at start but proves to be money saving in the long run. Make a habit of turning off lights when not used. Completely switch off your computers, TVs etc. instead of putting them on standby mode. In standby mode, appliances still consumes lots of electricity. Use solar heaters, solar bulbs on roof etc.


8. If you are a good magazine reader and used to buy editions from bookshop, then instead subscribe magazines with 3 to 5 years subscription offers. It will cost you much less and along with you will get some free gifts.


9. Get a phone card to make international calls. Use services like yahoo messenger, skype, vonage, VOIP etc. to call your friends or family, they are free / very cheap and easy to use. Use emails, as they are free and instant.


10. If you have colleagues at work who live nearby then setup a car pool. Turn off your car at every Traffic Light, drive at an economy speed of 45 - 60 km/hr.


11. If you are in good MNC, then look for employee referral schemes, if you can bring good skill people to your company then it can bring some good amount to your pocket too.


12. Try to increase your source of incomes like giving tutions, garage sales, selling product on ebay, become agent of some insurance company, have some part time agency, try for visiting faculty job in a good educational institute, look for some freelance projects, make blogs or forums online and earn through google adsense etc. There are many educational sites online. Join them as a tutor or teacher or mentor, and help others in solving their problems. This can be a good pocket money.


13. Always remain involved in any part time or distance educational course, the more certification or vocational training courses you do, the more chances are there for your promotions in your career. There are very cheap but effective courses available from different universities. These value additions will help you in job switching too.


14. One must teach his/her children too, the importance of money. Stop them from being over demanding, don't let them to build the habit of over spending, don't fulfill their every unnecessary demands etc. Also if their school is near to house, buy them bicycles instead of availing of school bus. This will also create a feeling of independence in them. College guys/gals must earn their pocket money in summer vacations by their own.
    

I think following above simple and easy to implement ways, one can wisely save, generate and invest money. This will prove to be a good protection from the danger of being in situations like of money, out of control bills etc. Hope this points help someone to schedule their money related activities.....

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