How to spend less money?

The most common reason for wasteful spending is lack of control. To determine exactly where money is flowing, you need to keep a daily record of expenses and income. Choose a convenient time, for example, in the evening, write down expenses and the arrival of money in a notebook or a special mobile application. Throughout the entire period of my life in Germany, I kept track of my spending on my phone in notes, first of all I divided everything into categories in which the most impressive amounts are obtained. For example, “Food” was divided into “Products”, “Cafes, restaurants”, “Lunch at work”. This made it possible to more accurately determine the source of increased spending and optimize them. By the end of the first month, I learned a lot about myself and my habits. I roughly calculated how much I need to spend every month. An ideal budget is one in which incomes exceed expenses by at least 10%. My curator suggested a great idea - to define a daily or weekly spending limit for each of the expense categories and adhere to it strictly. To cope with the temptation to spend more, you can set a daily spending limit on your bank card. At first it didn't work out very well, I bought a lot of knickknacks and wanted to visit interesting places, but then I got involved, and my colleagues kept it, starting weight control with me. And as a result of this, I can give some tips on how young people living in Europe save.

 There are several ways to get rid of impulsive spending. But this will have to complicate shopping trips. For example, go shopping with a product list and stick to it. Bring a limited amount of cash with you (or a card with a daily limit). Avoid spending on convenient, but unnecessary things, such as coffee to go, home delivery, and so on. You can earn income from informed shopping. Every time you hold yourself back from an impulse purchase, send the cost to a savings account. Every month I find at least 10 items of expenditure that I will give up. It can be as little things (for example, takeaway coffee), and more serious purchases: the tenth shirt in a row. At the end of the month, I calculate how much I managed to save. Set a rule for yourself to wait for sales. Moreover, in Europe, promotions are very often held in stores. Take advantage of the loyalty programs that almost everyone has now. Do not forget discount cards at home (or even better - add them to a special mobile application). Also, if you come as a volunteer, you can visit free exhibitions, events, your curator will definitely tell you everything. Don't forget about cashback. For example, there are cards with cashback miles in the amount of 4% of the purchases made. You can only spend this money on travel. But it will be an additional piggy bank for a specific purpose.

The most important thing is not to spend, but to save all the additional income, plus to the monthly deductions from the salary. If you follow all these rules, your financial situation will improve quite quickly. For example, I postponed for a trip to another city, unfortunately, due to the pandemic, it did not work out my plan, but I bought a laptop.

https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/ways-to-spend-less-and-save-more/

https://www.glamour.com/story/how-to-spend-less-money

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoW4htqrWfI

https://www.agape-volunteers.com/blogs/5-ways-to-save-money-as-a-volunteer

http://www.khayavolunteer.com/news/102-3-steps-to-saving-money-for-volunteering-overseas