Almost one in five French people are discovered at least once a month. Low salary, lack of organization, runaway inflation … There are many reasons why it is difficult to save every day.
However, by implementing some good practices, you can save money. Especially since, contrary to popular belief, it is not so much the amount saved that matters as the regularity.
How to save? Here are our tips.
This is a key step for identifying your priorities, but also for better understanding and achieving your financial goals. To calculate your budget, take into account your income. Then, we calculate your fixed expenses (rent, grocery, bills, etc.) and finally your current expenses (free time, clothing, etc.). Once fixed and variable expenses have been deducted from your income, you should have a residual amount to save.
We then use the following formula:
| Total Resources – Total Expenses = Available Balance (what’s left after paying all expenses). |
In principle, we recommend that you save between 10% and 30% of your income, but this percentage obviously varies depending on the situation.
To remember : A controlled budget is above all a balanced distribution of expenditure items. Here is a classic example:
- 40% of the budget is allocated to incompressible expenses (rent or repayment of the loan, various season tickets, bills, transport, etc.);
- 30% of the budget is allocated to variable expenses;
- 20% is dedicated to savings;
- 10% is dedicated to free time and holidays.
If you want to save, what is the best way to save? Pay yourself first. This means that instead of saving from time to time, depending on what’s left in your bank account, you set aside a percentage of your income from the day you receive it.
For this, we recommend configuring a regular transfer, from your checking account to your life insurance (or any other means of saving). The goal is to separate this money from the account where all day-to-day transactions are carried out and thus make it unavailable.
ON Lendopolirenewable energy investment platform, it is possible to make scheduled transfers.
What matters is not the amount saved, but regularity.
Payment by credit card is certainly practical, but it has the disadvantage of being dematerialized and favoring spending. To safeguard your finances, it is therefore advisable to define a withdrawal or payment threshold not to be exceeded in a given period. Credit card limits are typically standardized, but you can customize them. For example, you can limit your withdrawal limit to € 200 per week. Beyond this amount, your card will be automatically blocked.
Meal deliveries, takeaway coffee, unused subscriptions, impulse purchases… Unnecessary expenses weigh on our budget. To reduce them as much as possible, establish the following rules:
- Learn to differentiate need from desire and compulsion;
- Always allow 24 to 48 hours to pass between the time you want to make a purchase and the time you take out your credit card;
- Unsubscribe from all promotional newsletters;
- Cook more and plan your meals. This avoids expenses such as meal deliveries or restaurant outings, which weigh heavily on the budget;
- Get in the habit of using online comparators before making a purchase. Whether it’s a plane ticket, a mobile phone offer or even insurance.
Electricity, Internet, telephone, streaming platforms, public transport … Subscriptions can be expensive in the long run, especially if you’re not careful. In addition to canceling the subscriptions you don’t use or use very little, the best way to reduce costs is to do so watch the competitionusing online comparators, and to renegotiate their subscriptions every year.
The most favorable period is the beginning of the school year in September, when many Internet providers and telephone operators launch offers to attract new customers. Also, do not forget that the Hamon law since 2015 allows you to withdraw from the insurance contract (car, motorbike, home, etc.) after 1 year of membership, without justification or payment of penalties.
43% of the French have accounts in several banks. And, very often, the cards that accompany it. If paying by credit card has revolutionized our life, it also tends to “trivialize” expenses. Hence the importance of favoring the use of cash, at least in the periods in which you want to reduce expenses and have financial security.
For example, you can set a weekly spending threshold and put the money in an envelope designed for that purpose. The goal: don’t spend more than you have on cash.
There is a application (or almost) for all financial matters. It’s up to you to find the one that meets your needs!
For example, we can mention the applications that allow you to manage your budget thanks to an overview of your bank accounts (Banking, Linxo…), save money ad hoc or planned (Birdycent, Cashbee, Moka…), or even investing in the stock market for the more daring (e-Toro, Degiro…).
Cashback (literally “return of money”) is a marketing technique that consists in paying a buyer a commission proportional to the amount of his purchase. It is generally used for online purchases (sites Igraal and Octopus are the best known), but some bank cards allow you to use them for in-store purchases. Of course, the larger the purchase amount, the higher the commission received. Cashback is therefore particularly attractive for large purchases (airline tickets, household appliances, etc.).