Easy Ways to Maintain The Lifestyle You Love Without Breaking The Bank*

This post was written by Alli Clark on behalf of Violetdaffodils Blog. I want to give a special thank you to Alli for sharing her brilliant savings advice (god knows I need it!) and choosing my platform in order to do so, I hope you all find the information as useful as I have. Enjoy and thank you for reading! Let's begin: 

Everyone cultivates their own unique lifestyle in order to maximise the amount of joy and satisfaction in their everyday lives. Some find this joy through their material possessions, like fashionable clothing, high-quality beauty products, chic home decor, or the latest exercise equipment. Others find that experiences, like eating out at restaurants, going to the movies, getting a massage, or seeing a concert, are their source of enhanced happiness. However, maintaining your ideal lifestyle and remaining responsible with your money at the same time can be a bit tricky. While these purchases might have a positive impact on your physical and emotional wellbeing, they can also do some damage to your financial wellbeing if you aren’t careful. Fortunately, though, there are several ways to establish balance in your life so that you’re able to enjoy the things you spend your money on without going completely broke. 

Establish Your Priorities 

If you had to cut some things out of your life to save money, what could you live without? What are the things you could occasionally treat yourself to, but otherwise remove from your everyday expenditures without trouble? What are the things you couldn’t possibly part ways with? It’s useful to know what elements of your current lifestyle are the most important to you so that, if you’re looking to get more serious about saving money, you know the areas where it’s realistic for you to be able to cut back on spending without making it feel like you’re depriving yourself of things that add significant happiness to your life.

Become a Boss at Budgeting 

This is an important life skill to develop no matter what, but it’s especially important if you want to be able to save money, pay your bills, and have a good bit leftover to spend on yourself. Start keeping a handwritten ledger of your expenses, or make a digital spreadsheet to hold yourself accountable for your purchases. Take a hard look at your current finances and see where you can improve on or automate a few things. Set up your bill payments so they’re withdrawn automatically on specific days each month; look into refinancing your student loans if you attended college and took some out; research different providers for your home utilities and see if there are more affordable options than the ones you’re currently using. There are plenty of steps you can take to make sure you’re accurately keeping track of where your money is going, and when you can see how much you’re actually working with at any given time, it’ll be far easier to see how much you can realistically allocate each week, month, or year toward the things you love as well as the things you need. 

Install Money-Saving Services in Your Web Browser 

Let’s be honest: online shopping can be a total trap if you don’t watch out. You go on ASOS looking for one dress, and the next thing you know, your digital cart contains six other items you  definitely didn’t need. A super easy way to save a few bucks when this happens is to install free plugins like Honey, which compiles and applies any active coupon codes available on the online store, or Ebates and TopCashback, which offer varying percentages of cash back on participating websites. If you’ve succumbed to mobile online shopping as well, you could also download apps to your phone like Drop, through which you can earn points on purchases made with specific companies and apply those points toward digital gift cards for a variety of those same companies.  

Become a Brand Ambassador or an Affiliate 

If you’re active on social media these days, it’s likely that you’re following at least one person who occasionally promotes a brand or two in their posts. In many cases, these influencers receive a discount code from the brand to use on their own purchases, or they receive an affiliate link to the brand’s website through which they can earn small commissions on purchases made by their followers through the link. Some of them even receive free products from time to time! If you see that a company you love offers brand ambassadorships or affiliate programs, apply to them so that you can share your love of their products with your own social media followers while also getting to save a little bit of money on those products. 

Sell the Stuff You Want to Get Rid Of 

In order to make sure you’re keeping your wardrobe full of the items you love and wear most, you may find it necessary to do the occasional clear-out of things you no longer need or want. While you’re getting rid of this old stuff, do yourself a favor and sell some of the things that are still in good condition. Bring a bag of clothes to an in-person clothing exchange shop, or set up an account on secondhand websites like ThredUp or Poshmark, and make a little bit of money back by sharing your old favorites with new shoppers! That way, you can feel good about giving your clothes a second life while giving yourself greater financial means to bring more of what you currently love into your own closet. 

Happy saving!

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*This post is a collaboration with Alli Clark and may include affiliate links