4 Simple Saving tips for 2020

Saving money is one of the priorities in most people’s resolution lists. However, we always end up coming back to the same routines and habits. In today’s post, I am going to share 4 simple saving tips that I applied recently and have helped me make my life more simple whilst saving a few extra bucks.

1. Stick to one nutritious dish and prepare it 3 times a week

This one comes in handy for those who feel a bit overwhelmed over the number of options that a regular supermarket offers. Even though we aren’t always aware of it, the effect can push us to go back to our comfort zones and eat the same or very similar dishes every day.

The problem is, are those dishes nutritious enough? Even the most attractive looking sandwiches and ready to eat dishes have been processed and include a huge amount of preservatives and other nasties that won’t help us in the long term.

Check some cooking Youtube Channels and choose 1 dish that has enough ingredients to cover most of your nutritional needs and is also easy to prepare. The dish should have vitamins, proteins and of course, it has to be delicious!

Decide the day of the week you are going to prepare it and buy enough ingredients to cook it multiple times.

And make sure to plan the days you will have those meals! Maybe you want to eat it for dinner on Monday, Thursday and Saturday. Perhaps you prefer to cook it only once but make enough to eat it for lunch and dinner for two days straight. It’s completely up to you how to prepare it in advance.

You will feel more relaxed when it comes to doing your grocery shopping. You will also be faster and 10 times more effective when walking around the store thinking about possible meal plans to create with the foods that come in your way.

2. Finish something before buying something different

Instead of having 2 pounds of pasta, 2 pounds of lentils, 2 pounds of rice and 4 cans of chickpeas in your cabinet, try having only two of those grains and decide which dishes you are going to prepare with them.
If you buy rice, try to have it for lunch every day until you have finished the bag. You don’t need to eat “Rice with eggs” every day. You will need to change the sauce and toppings in your dish. That way, you can have different delicious dishes with the same healthy grain.

This means that you can enjoy a juicy risotto on Monday, rice with veggies and tomato on Tuesday, rice with smoked salmon on Wednesday and “3-cheese rice” on Thursday.

The combination is up to you! And because you will have something different for dinner, you won’t get sick of the grain you choose to exploit.

3. Control portions and sizes!

Did you know that 90%of people use more toothpaste than they need?

The optimal chunk of toothpaste you are meant to use is exactly the amount of a small pea! Most people cover the whole toothbrush as they do in TV Commercials. If you use decent toothpaste, the amount of money that you spend will add up a lot in the long term.

The same happens with lotions, night creams, hand creams and every other product of everyday use. It’s great to invest in yourself and take care of your body, but you can save a lot by simply using the right amount of product.

I remember when a coworker told me how she wouldn’t buy expensive night creams because she finishes them every 3 months and that would be a huge amount of money at the end of the year. I was shocked!

My night cream lasts at least for 7 months, usually making it up to the 11th month! Bear in mind, is not about the amount of product that’s going to make a difference in your skin, it’s about using the right product for your skin type.

Do you want to get rid of acne and you happen to also suffer from oily skin? In that case, you may want to get a good moisturizer for oily skin types instead of using a full tablespoon of Nivea cream every night.

4. Transport

If you want to save money with transport, one effective technique you can apply to your routine is the “strategic commute”. ¿What’s this about?
Let’s say, during this week, you are going to visit a friend in a different city, plus going grocery shopping, plus visiting the shopping centre to buy a new mattress and fix your watch in some jewellery store. Busy week!

In that case, you may want to make a commute strategy and try to cover several things on the same day or area.
Instead of organizing it so you only meet 1 task every day, try to plan your days in a way that, the day you are going to buy a new mattress, you will find a jewelry shop nearby and get your watch fixed. Also, many shopping centres have a supermarket, meaning that you could even try to do grocery shopping on the same day in the same shopping centre.

Are you implementing any new techniques to save money this year? Let me know your thoughts and progress on the matter!