5 Tips For Saving On Low Income

Saving on low income may seem challenging when you don’t have an end goal. However, you can meet your savings, retirement, and lifestyle goals with proper planning regardless of your wages, but it will take a consistent and conscious effort.

First, you’ll need to be creative and identify several money-saving tips for low-income earners. Later you can use this advice to develop solutions that work for you to save money.

Tips for Saving Money on Low Income

It is always best to think about your current and future financial situation when planning your personal finances. You need to save and plan accordingly, even if you’re a minimum wage earner. Here are five tips for saving money on a small income.

1. Allocate Funds to a Savings Account

Every cent counts when you have a low income. Organizing your savings in one central or several savings accounts can provide you with better insight into how much you are saving after every paycheck.

You can have a primary bank account where your employer deposits your paycheque and use it to disburse funds to your savings account. You need to pay yourself first by allocating a percentage to your savings account. After that, you can determine how much you can save per month by analyzing your expenditure.

With modern banking, you can instruct your bank to conduct recurrent automatic transfers from your primary bank account to your savings account. This way, you can automatically save some money every month regardless of a low income.

2. Create a Budget and Stick to It

Spending money without proper planning and budgeting can leave you with little or no money to save, especially if you’re in a low-paying job. Budgeting is an efficient way of boosting your savings as it allows you to keep track of your expenditures.

Creating a budget allows you to plan your income and helps you make savings goals that you can include in your budget. You can achieve your savings goals every month by sticking to a budget.

3. Diversify your Income by Getting a Side Hustle

A side hustle refers to a method of making money outside your full-time job. Side hustles allow you to pursue your passions while also enabling you to make more money on top of your wage.

Popular side hustles include drop shipping, freelancing, affiliate marketing, and blogging. Once your side hustle begins bringing in some extra income, you can have more disposable income, meaning you can save more on a low income.

4. Reduce Your Living Costs

Living costs such as transport, clothing, and food tend to be among the most recurrent expenses employed young people face. When looking to save money on a low income, you can start by decreasing your transport expenses by using public transport and carpooling with your workmates.

Secondly, you can reduce your clothing expenditure by avoiding “pay later” purchases and tempting emails from clothing companies. Also, ensure you only buy clothes when you need them and steer clear of impulse buying. Understand your needs vs. wants.

Finally, you can lower your food costs by eating more at home than eating out. Creating a meal plan and stocking your pantry adequately, without overstocking it, can also help you reduce food expenses.

Cutting down on all these expenses will significantly increase the amount of disposable income you’ll have after settling the bills. You can then use these funds to increase your savings.

5. Get Rid of Debts

It is very hard to save funds when you have loans or credit card debts. Loans with high-interest rates are particularly detrimental to your savings plan so it’s best to tackle high-interest loans first.

Once you’ve settled your high-interest debts, consider developing a plan to pay the rest of your loans. Also, try to create a habit of paying high-interest loans as soon as possible to avoid large interest payments. This allows you to save more money on your income.

Don’t Be Discouraged

Knowing how to save money on a small income can help you achieve your saving goals. It may seem daunting, but you can make the best of your low income and have more money to save at the end of every month with proper financial planning and execution.

By: Robert Puharich | December 28, 2021 |