Saving money is your best bet when it comes to building a buffer. Of course, a job that pays really well would also help, but you would still need to take care of the balance between your income and spendings.
With take care of the balance I mean you want to maximise your income and minimize your spendings. Sure it can be fun to go shopping for stuff that is really cool, or fluffy, or cute, or delicious, but it will be less cool, fluffy, cute or delicious when halfway the month you can't pay that bill that unexpectedly arrived, or have the washing machine repaired.
That is why you should always put aside a certain percentage of your net income for unexpected expenses. And once that buffer is built you can go on setting money aside for REALLY cool stuff (like that car you always wanted, especially when it's a good investment at the same time ;) ). Saving 10% is a good average, so say you make 1,500 net a month, then be sure to put 150 on a savings account.
In order to indeed do this, make sure this will be automatically transferred monthly from your payment to your savings account right after you receive your salary. When your salary isn't paid per month but instead per four weeks or per week, you can choose to also save weekly or choose one date each month to have money transferred to your savings account.
10% doesn't sound like a lot, yet when you are spending more than you are earning (and not saving any money), or when you really have a hard time to make ends meet, then saving money sounds like a luxury rather than a necessity. This is where a small list with inspiration could spark ideas to save money, even though you were positive this would never be possible.
Saving Money by Saving Energy
The first field where you can save quite a bit of money is energy. The usage of gas and electricity adds up hour after hour, day after day, and year after year. Of course in the ideal world we would all have solar panels and even make money with the energy we collect but don't use ourselves, but this would mean investing and in order to invest you first need to save money. So when it is cold outside, don't just turn on the heating even more but instead put on a sweater (or two) and nestle yourself in a warm blanket on the couch with a nice cup of tea and a good book. Yes you can also watch tv but realise this would add up to the electricity bill, not to mention what will be discussed in the following tip.
Saving Money by cancelling Subscriptions
Do you really need tv? Do you really want to pay 30, 40, or 50 Euros every month to watch a film from ten years ago, which is interrupted every five minutes in order to expose you to ten minutes of commercials (see the next tip ... ), or to go braindead by looking at 'famous people' who are trying to dance/sing/(ice)skate/cook? It's a rhetorical question of course; get rid of tv, seriously, do yourself a favour. Get rid of it, save money every month, and use the time you don't waste on watching tv to figure out even more ways to save or make money, f.e. by also getting rid of that magazine that you receive every week but hardly ever read. Or by comparing various insurance companies and choosing one with better terms and lower rates. Or by starting writing awesome online content here on Steemit :)
Saving Money by Avoiding Temptation
Commercials are created to tempt you into buying products or services that you don't need and would never want if you hadn't learned of the existence of it in the first place. I still find it weird when I hear colleagues discussing some funny commercial they saw on TV the other day. I haven't watched TV in years and have no clue what is marketed on there these days. Do I care? Absolutely not. Do I miss out on anything? I don't think so. Do I feel jealous because I don't understand why my colleagues are laughing? Nope, because I'm the one who's laughing when I see them consuming expensive brand products simply because they've allowed clever marketing people to influence their thinking - meaning they can't seem to think clear anymore. When you need a new T-shirt, buy one that has a good price-quality ratio, not one that has a logo on it and therefor costs 30 Euros more. Put those € 30,- on your savings account. When it's lunchtime and you feel hungry, don't go to the canteen and buy a pre-packed sandwich thinking 'oh, it's just 2 Euro'. Instead, bring your own lunch, and buy groceries consciously.
Saving Money on Groceries
Setting a budget for your grocery shopping (and sticking to it) will be a HUGE money saving tip for many people. When you already need to pinch your pennies this probably won't be the case, but hopefully you can still learn something new here. What works for me is buying basics in bulk, buying only what I need, and preparing my own meals (yes, every now and then I cheat but the aim is to prepare every single meal I eat from scratch). Don't think in products but rather in categories, so proteins, fruits & vegetables, etc. Of course you buy the latter only in season, or not fresh but rather deep frozen (which is just as good). For proteins you also look at what's on sale. Eggs make awesome protein bombs, and canned tuna is delicious in a pasta sauce. By the way, products such as pasta, rice, oatmeal, flour, potatoes etc are (or can be bought) really cheap and unless you have a gluten intolerance, these products make an awesome base for a delicious, healthy and satisfying meal.
As I am typing I realise there is so much more to share, so more tips will follow. Feel free to follow me to stay updated.
Please also leave a comment when any of these tips have inspired you to start saving money, or to taking saving money to the next level. I would also love to hear your money saving - as well as your money making - tips.
And now I'm going to shut down my laptop because I've used up enough energy for today :)
