If you’re in a long distance relationship, then you know first hand that it can cost you quite a bit of money… (This can also be the case for regular relationships!)
Making money is easy, but saving it can be hard! I’ll be honest, I’m a big spender… I mostly just spend my money on food, but that’s besides the point (lol). When you’re in a LDR, you need to budget your money more, so you can afford to travel to see your partner. To help you figure out your money situation,
Here are some tips on how to save money!
Give yourself a spending limit
Be honest, are you one of those people who when they get their paycheck you say, “FINALLY!” and then proceed to text your friends about going on a crazy night out? If so, that has to change! Just because you get paid, doesn’t mean you have to spend it right away. Limiting the amount of money that you spend – whether it be weekly, or monthly – will benefit you in the long run.
Check your credit card statements
Something that helped me cut down my monthly costs was checking my credit card statements. You’d be surprised on how many things you’re paying for that you forgot about! For example, if you used to have Netflix, but don’t use it anymore – maybe you forgot to cancel your subscription. Or, another example – perhaps, you signed up for a free 1 month trial of an app, or a service, and after that one month you forgot that you’d start to get charged. This stuff really happens! It sounds crazy because really, how could you forget these things?? Well, it happens! So, make sure to check your monthly statements – you never know what you might find!
Budget your paycheck
Next time you get your paycheck, think about how much of that money you’ll need to survive for the week. So, if your weekly paycheck is $500, then take 20% of that ($100) and put that away in a savings account. Over the course of a year, you will have saved $1,200! Your savings will start to add up, and before you know it ,you will have saved up a decent amount of money.
Figure out your priorities
Ask yourself, “where do my priorities lie?”. If you’re tight on money, then maybe it’s not the best idea for you to go out every night with friends or buy new clothes every other week. Try and limit the amount of spending you do on unnecessary items. Until you’re not stressed about money, hold back from buying those expensive shoes you liked, or going out to an expensive restaurant a few times a week. Your main priorities should be along the lines of groceries, rent, car expenses, etc.
Invest your money
Depending on how much money you have to play with, it’s definitely worth looking into different investment opportunities. Whether it’s in stocks, property, or something else, you can potentially make a lot of money. This is definitely risky, so if you’re going to invest money, make sure to either get advice from a professional, or take time to really educate yourself on different kind of investment strategies.
Set a goal
One of the best pieces of advice we can give you on how to save money is ‘set a goal’! Figure out how much money you want to have in 5 years time. There’s no wrong answer here. It could be anything – $10,000, $50,000, $100,000, or more! Whatever your goal is, work your hardest to achieve it. If you want to push yourself to have $50k within the next 5 years, try and figure out how much you need to make, and how you can budget your money to achieve it. Work towards that goal… Anything is possible if you work hard!
We hope these tips on how to save money can help you!
Let us know if you have any more questions, or if you have any advice that you think would help others, too.
We also did a blog on a bunch of different ways you can make money in order to afford a long distance relationship. Check it out here!