How to save with a small salary? We draw up a budget for people with low incomes and a savings plan
Many simply do not start to keep their budget due to the fact that they earn little. Like, what's the point of counting money if there are not enough of them. Let the millionaires count.
I recently learned statistics from the Higher School of Economics: the largest number of people who manage their budget are just wealthy people; the smallest number is among the poorest segments of the population. And here there is a certain pattern, don't you think?
Before saving, you need to sort out your finances
- Find out where the money goes each month. Just get a notebook or app to record all expenses by category.
- Analyze your finances. Look at which categories are spending the most money.
- Optimize costs. Hard saving, as everyone advises, is not necessary. It's enough to be smart about it.
For example, do not refuse a glass of coffee on the way to work, but buy a thermo mug and make coffee at home. So you can save more than 10,000 per year.
4 Start allocating the budget for the next month. So much for food, so much for an apartment, so much for a car .. Try to make sure that you get a free balance.
Without these four steps, the ice won't move. Have you seen at least one business that would work and make money without accounting? I did not see. Since you're going to get your finances in order, if you don't do your money…
Let's move on to savings
First, you need to define a goal. You can also save money for no reason. But when there is a goal, there is also motivation. The goal can be anything, as long as there is specificity (what, how much it costs, how long).
Example: a new washing machine (brand) for 20,000 in 12 months.
If there is no goal yet, then save up a financial pillow. At the lecture of the Higher School of Economics, it is recommended to create a pillow in the amount of 3-6 average monthly expenses. That's a great goal too!
Secondly, you need to decide on the amount that you will save each month. Surely everyone has heard about 10% of income. And for many, the figure seems quite large. Indeed, with a salary of 15,000 per month or with a pension of 9,000, every hundred counts.
However, it's worth getting started. At least with 5%. Most importantly, set aside on the same day as the money came. It is easier to postpone 750 conventional units from 15000 at the beginning of the month than to postpone them from the last 1000 conventional units at the end of the month. Well, cost optimization will happen by itself. Next month, you can set aside already 6%, then 7%, and so reach 10%.
I started saving 3500 every month with a salary of 25000 – 27000 per month. But I didn't feel the lack of money. Because I quit smoking. Specially to save this money. If you have an expense item that you can cross out, do so.
In 2019, the Perspektiva Scientific and Technical Center conducted a survey in which it found that the most comfortable salaries for saving money are 25,000 – 55,000 conventional units per month:
From this, the well-known to everyone can be traced: “Now, if I had earned for … thousands more, I would have put it off without problems. " But the truth is next. Recently, a friend of mine with a salary of 25,000 said that he earns too little to start saving money. After 2 weeks, I heard the same thing from a person with a salary of 55,000 conditional units per month. I think you can draw your own conclusions.
What to do in the end?
- Control all your expenses and incomes, optimize them.
- Start planning your budget for the next month. The first time may not work. But you didn't learn to ride a bike on the first try, right?
- Set yourself a specific financial goal. Walk towards it slowly but surely. The main thing is regularity!
- No matter how high the salary is, it will be difficult to start saving. So start now.