00:00in this video I will share with you some
00:02ways to save money without compromising
00:06lifestyle so if you want to maintain a
00:09healthy savings mindset and cut
00:12unnecessary expenses then watch this
00:14video from start to finish because I'm
00:17sure you will find some tips and
00:19strategies that you haven't thought of
00:22before before we look into all of these
00:25options always remember that saving
00:28money doesn't mean you can't enjoy life
00:31it means being smart about your choices
00:34and priorities so this is essentially in
00:37this week's Wednesday wisdom with parl
00:40hi guys if you are new to my channel my
00:43name is parl and each Wednesday I share
00:45my wisdom about homemaking lifestyle and
00:49healthy mindset I live in Los Angeles
00:52but come from a middle class family in
00:54India so spending consciously and
00:57avoiding wastage is in my nature I enjoy
01:00a comfortable life but both me and my
01:03husband have always prioritized savings
01:05and investing for our family's future by
01:08implementing these tips that I'm going
01:10to share you will not only save money
01:13but also develop a healthy savings
01:15mindset that will benefit you for years
01:18to come so without any further Ado let's
01:31so the most important step is to track
01:34your expenses and create a budget to see
01:37where your money is going if you haven't
01:38done that yet a great habit is to start
01:41keeping track of your expenses in the
01:44note section of your phone nowadays it
01:46is easy because you can have all your
01:49receipts emailed to you you don't have
01:51to carry the paper versions with you and
01:54most of us use credit cards to make
01:57everyday purchases so this way you can
01:59you can see all the monthly expenses
02:01through your credit card statements an
02:04easy way to budget is to use Google
02:06Sheets you can access anywhere within
02:09internet and I have this template right
02:12here that can help you get started as
02:14you can see I have these different
02:17categories for my expenses like mortgage
02:21fuel cost car payment groceries dining
02:25out utilities I can share this with you
02:30I will put the link in the description
02:33below so track your expenses into
02:36different categories add up the actual
02:39total amount spent in each category and
02:42compare that against your projected
02:44column this way you can identify any
02:47patterns or Trends in your spending
02:49habits and you can spot where you need
02:52to cut back I know this could be boring
02:56for some but trust me it will help you
02:58you can also use online tools or apps
03:01going forward that can automatically
03:03track your spending the good thing about
03:05these apps is that they categorize your
03:08expenses for you and provide you A
03:11visual representation like a pie chart
03:14so you can easily see where your money
03:17is going so basically find a system that
03:20is best for you and do it every day so
03:23that you know in the next few months you
03:25will have an idea of how much you spend
03:27in each category it doesn't matter which
03:31tool you use the essential thing is to
03:34find a system that works for you so that
03:36you continue to use it going forward I
03:39feel having a spreadsheet is a free tool
03:41and you can use a pivot table or graph
03:44to see the spending visually now let's
03:48talk about some common ways to save
03:56smartly we can save money by meal
03:59planning and doing grocery shopping
04:01accordingly because then we don't have
04:03to always go for expensive takeouts so
04:06when you make a list before you go to
04:08grocery store try to stick with it and
04:11don't just you know keep buying
04:16there I use my um online apps um of my
04:20grocery stores and this way I don't have
04:23to you know buy impulsively because it
04:27keeps the history of frequently bought
04:29items and I just use it every single
04:32time it's a very convenient way and it
04:35avoids any type of impulse
04:41purchases also if you use specific
04:44frequently uh then try to find any type
04:47of Deals they have most of these
04:50restaurants like sub
04:53Domino's they will have some type of
04:55coupons and Deals so you can make use of
05:02the next tip is about learning which
05:05food items you should buy organic you
05:07don't need to buy everything organic I
05:10used to buy a lot of my produce organic
05:13but foods with thin skins like cucumbers
05:16apples berries tomatoes potatoes and
05:19grapes have higher pesticide content so
05:22we should preferably buy those organic
05:25if possible but there are many others
05:27that you don't need to buy organic make
05:30because they don't offer any additional
05:32advantage that would be melon kiwi
05:36papaya carrots cabbage and some others
05:39but again include produce in your uh
05:43meal planning whether you buy organic or
05:47not so this is a website which list
05:50which produ produce you should buy
05:52organic and which you should
05:58not try to to use up items in your
06:00pantry first before buying more stuff
06:03see which food items are currently
06:06taking space in your pantry your freezer
06:09and refrigerator let's be honest we all
06:12have some grocery items that we forget
06:13to use and they expire and we keep
06:16buying more items without you know
06:18consuming the old stuff so this
06:21challenge will help you save money in
06:22the short run but will also challenge
06:25your recipe creativity at the same time
06:28if you force a yourself to participate
06:30in this challenge every few months it
06:33can lead you to create better spending
06:36habits will reduce food wastage and you
06:38will be able to save
06:43more now let's talk about how to cut
06:46back on memberships and subscriptions
06:49take a look at the stored credit cards
06:51and memberships evaluate if you even
06:54regularly use them compared to what you
06:57have to pay yearly on these membership
06:59ship fees the common ones are Costco
07:03Target Walmart plus Macy's Kohl's and
07:06evaluate if you even need all of them or
07:09can you just cancel a few and keep uh
07:13some similarly for streaming services
07:15like Hulu Netflix Prime do you watch all
07:19of them at the same time or can you
07:21choose and pick a few that you really
07:24like to watch so you know be mindful of
07:28that most of us do not get that much
07:30time to watch TV all day so try to see
07:35which ones are more important for you
07:37and if there are some that you can cut
07:39back on that would be
07:43nice I'm all about fitness and health
07:48and I think there are some ways you can
07:51achieve that for free so unless you're
07:54using gym you know two to three times a
07:57week I don't know if it's worth paying
07:59that much every month on gym membership
08:03just by simply walking you know 30
08:06minutes a day and doing 10 minutes of
08:09yoga and some you know maybe weights you
08:12can achieve a very well rounded and a
08:16fit and strong body so make use of free
08:25resources when uh shopping for clothes
08:28try to buy discounted items or when
08:31things go on sale usually after
08:34Thanksgiving there would be great
08:36discounts on winter items so make use of
08:40those things but be aware of one thing
08:43sometimes these discounts can work
08:45against us we end up spending way more
08:48than what we originally thought so be
08:50careful about that again sticking to a
08:53budget will help you with
08:59to save money on utilities you can
09:02reduce your energy usage by unplugging
09:05Electronics but not in use and turning
09:07off lights you can check this
09:10information on your energy uh provider
09:12website to see which ones are there off
09:15peak hours so try running the big
09:17appliances during that
09:18time recently I had a fault in my
09:21dishwasher and it ended up running
09:23through the entire night for about 8 n
09:26hours and I felt really bad next morning
09:30when I saw it was still running there
09:32was some issue with the drainage so now
09:34what I do is that I run it at 9:00 p.m.
09:37so by 10: p.m. it's done and I make sure
09:40to check it before I go to
09:45bed you can also try negotiating bills
09:49and compare prices for services like
09:52internet insurance and phone plans or if
09:56you want to make a big purchase try to
09:58do horor research before making any big
10:02financial decision make sure to read
10:04reviews and compare prices to find the
10:06best deal just by installing this um
10:09extension called Capital One it will
10:12help you find prices from different
10:16retailers so make sure to download this
10:19on your web browser it can save you a
10:22lot of money this is completely free and
10:24you don't have to have a capital 1
10:31next I want to talk about impulse
10:33purchases so these are spontaneous
10:35decisions to buy something an example of
10:39this would be purchasing last minute
10:41concert tickets at a very high price
10:43because your friends are going and you
10:45don't want to have four more so how do
10:48you control those shopping Cravings the
10:51first step is to understand your
10:54triggers these triggers could be due to
10:57emotional factors deals and sales and
11:00external PR pressures to fit in take a
11:02moment to think about what emotions or
11:06situations lead you to make those
11:08impulsive purchases once you have
11:11identified your triggers you can create
11:13a plan to avoid or minimize exposure to
11:17them you can start by unsubscribing from
11:20promotional emails or unfollowing
11:23shopping related accounts on social
11:25media in the book Atomic habits James
11:28Clear mentioned that to break a habit we
11:31have to make it hard and create
11:33frictions in it so what one way to do is
11:38to log out of those websites or those
11:41apps on your phone where you normally go
11:45to buy things so this way there is going
11:48to be an additional step of always
11:51logging in and you might not do it all
11:54the time so try to uh you know do this
11:57step if you find your yourself again and
12:00again going to that website or app to
12:02buy things that you normally don't need
12:05and it is just based on a strong impulse
12:08sometimes what I do is that if I think I
12:11need to buy something uh impulsively
12:14then I try to wait for a week and see if
12:18that impulse goes away if you find
12:20you're spending too much on impulse
12:23purchases try to implement a spending
12:26freeze where you consciously set a limit
12:29on discretionary spending for a certain
12:32period let's say for a week or two weeks
12:35and spend only on essential time uh
12:42time the next very important habit that
12:46you must adopt to have a control on your
12:48spending is to follow this simple 50
12:513020 rule where you put 50% of your
12:54after tax income on your needs such as
12:58housing food food transportation and
13:00debt payments 30% on uh your wands uh
13:04like dining out vacations and hobes and
13:0720% on you know savings and Investments
13:11and paying down debt such as Retirement
13:14contribution and credit card payments so
13:17here's how you need to do it when you
13:20get your paycheck before you spend
13:23anything automate 20% of your after tax
13:27income straight by um moving your money
13:30from um checking to a high yield savings
13:33account so this way you're not touching
13:36that money and then whatever is
13:39remaining you can spend on your
13:42requirements needs like bills you know
13:45housing cost food Etc and then the
13:48remaining uh 30% on your wants if you
13:53cannot start saving 20% yet start with
13:5710% or maybe 5 5% but make sure to keep
14:00aside some money that is purely for
14:06savings the next tip is to try to resist
14:10the temptation to overspend to match
14:14lifestyle this is more of a case for
14:17people who are younger let's say if
14:19they're in 20s and 30s they just try to
14:22copy others without looking at their
14:24financial situation you need to
14:27understand that if some someone is
14:29enjoying a certain lifestyle it usually
14:32is not attained in one day they must
14:34have worked hard towards it and are
14:37continuing to do so there is no harm in
14:39wanting that but understand that
14:42everyone has a different Financial
14:44Journey just comparing our lives with
14:47others who appear richer than us and
14:50trying to match that can lead to immense
14:53pressure on our finances and our future
14:56so make sure that you know the financial
14:59your own financial situation and you
15:01have saved and invested for your future
15:04before trying to match anyone's
15:06lifestyle I feel a lot of young people
15:09just believe in showing off and go in
15:12debt easily to enjoy a specific
15:15lifestyle when they can't even afford it
15:18so this is a very unhealthy habit and
15:20try to avoid it as much as possible you
15:23don't need to look a specific way to be
15:32another important tip is uh if we have a
15:37specific clear goal for saving then just
15:41you know vaguely saving money will help
15:43us save more and stay focused so for
15:47example if you want to save for a
15:49specific bucket let's say for your house
15:52down payment or for a vacation or for a
15:54wedding and you have those categories
15:58this way way you can easily track where
16:01your savings is going by having specific
16:03goals will give you a clear mindset and
16:07focus a lot of online Savings Banks
16:10actually have this feature where you can
16:13allocate your money into different
16:15saving buckets I use this online H
16:18savings account from Ali bank so this
16:22automatically lets me save for different
16:26categories you can check out my other
16:28channel where I talk more about personal
16:33investing um and there are so many
16:35videos I have made for you know money
16:38management and retirement saving so
16:41please um check that channel out I have
16:44put the link in the description
16:50below this next tip could be difficult
16:56and I saw it while growing up and it is
17:02gratification I always saw my parents
17:04saved for um big purchase rather than
17:08just going in debt so and this is
17:11something that's inbuilt in me I think
17:13because of my upbringing so rather than
17:16just buying something immediately you
17:18know by taking a loan I try to save for
17:21it and then I finally purchase it so yes
17:24don't make plans to travel to that dream
17:27holiday destination just because
17:29everyone else in your social media feed
17:31is doing it if you cannot afford it yet
17:35instead save for it and once you're able
17:36to afford it you will feel really great
17:39about it so always say for big purchases
17:44and you know having your money in a high
17:46yeld savings account will give you more
17:48interest rate than just putting it in a
17:51traditional savings bank account and
17:53again you can check my other YouTube
17:55channel for more Finance related content
17:59there is tons of uh important useful
18:02information on that channel so please
18:05make use of it work hard towards your
18:07saving goal and then only spend money on
18:10your desires and hobbies when you can
18:12actually afford it all of this takes
18:15discipline and it can't be done in one
18:17day so don't skip the hard work and stay
18:24persistent another important tip to save
18:27money is to learn basic home repairs to
18:29save on maintenance in my house my
18:32husband has done a lot of
18:34DIYs and you can learn those by simply
18:42videos this one is interesting and I
18:45make this mistake all the time we humans
18:47tend to be people Pleasers and often
18:50times we say yes to a lot of things it's
18:53okay to decline invitations or events
18:55that may strain your budget or tempt you
18:58to spend unnecessarily you have to
19:00remind yourself of the larger goal of
19:03saving and investing for your
19:09future I think this next tip is very
19:12useful for a lot of us try to avoid
19:16retail therapy for Stress Management you
19:19need to find some other healthier ways
19:21to address those feelings such as maybe
19:23talking to a friend or practicing other
19:25type of self-care like meditation you
19:28can join online forums or support groups
19:31where you can interact with others going
19:39challenges another tip for this year is
19:42to set reminders for bill payments if
19:44you often miss your payments try to put
19:48reminders on your phone like a week in
19:50advance so that you don't incur any late
19:55fees this is a simple uh thing you can
19:59do and this way you will avoid any late
20:02charges which could be very high
20:04especially when the credit card rate
20:06right now is so high it's as high as 25%
20:10so try and avoid you know uh getting
20:13into that Trap by just setting up
20:15automatic reminders in fact paying your
20:17bills early needs discipline but has big
20:20rewards there are no late fees or
20:22service issues when you pay ahead you
20:25can also opt for autopay if that's
20:27offered set automatic withdrawals few
20:30days before the due date it's easy and
20:33keeps your accounts in good standing
20:36also when you make on Time payments it
20:46score my next tip is for parents or
20:49future parents set spending limits on
20:55desires what you need to do is that give
20:58them some allowance based on you know
21:00the type of chores they are able to do
21:02for their specific age this will give
21:05them a valuable life skill so they will
21:08know that they have to earn money to get
21:11something in fact this is the best thing
21:13you can teach them as money management
21:16is not taught at most schools I like to
21:19teach my kids the importance of saving
21:21an investment early because of the
21:25compounding returns you can get when you
21:27start early so what I'm doing right now
21:30is that I have this chores tracker for
21:34each of my kid and I give them money
21:37based on what they're doing so this way
21:40they can see how much they have earned
21:42in one month so they get to spend 70% of
21:4730% goes straight in the custodial
21:50account and my son loves to see how much
21:54his money will grow over time and I use
21:57this calc calculator to help him see
21:59that and he's very thrilled about this
22:02whole concept of starting early saving
22:05early and investing for your
22:10future lastly look for ways to increase
22:14your income sources if you have time and
22:17you're not able to cut down on your
22:19spending as much as you're trying to if
22:22you're a native English speaker you can
22:24teach English to people in China online
22:28and this is a easy way of you know just
22:31generating few extra dollars there's
22:33many other passive um income sources
22:37that you can look into I have a video on
22:41it on my other channel so make sure to
22:43check that out I will put the link of it
22:46in the description below of course uh
22:49like starting a YouTube channel or
22:53has like long-term benefits they don't
22:56come very easy but if you enjoy content
22:59creation of course that's a one way to
23:02eventually you know gain some extra
23:05money on the side so you can also look
23:08into that option if you are interested
23:10in writing or maybe creating content it
23:14will not pay you immediately but you
23:16know if you have patience then in few
23:21years you you'll be able to generate
23:23some secondary income on top of whatever
23:28also some people try doing freelance
23:30work on weekends and there are some
23:33other ways of increasing your income by
23:36taking some surveys Etc if you have time
23:39but again you know you have to look at
23:41your schedule if that is even a
23:48you but if your income increases please
23:52avoid lifestyle inflation which means
23:54that you should not keep increasing your
23:58expenses more than your income okay a
24:02lot of us get into that trap even people
24:05with decent income sometimes don't know
24:08how to manage their money wisely and we
24:11tend to increase our discretionary
24:13expenses when our salaries increase and
24:17this is called lifestyle inflation it's
24:20okay to have you know occasional
24:22splurges but as long as you earn more
24:26and save more and have at least 20% of
24:31income for savings and investment then
24:34you're allowed to splurge extra but keep
24:42aside this one might be a simple one but
24:46it's surprising how many people don't
24:48know about it I'm talking about leaving
24:50your extra cash in your house or in your
24:53checking account or in a traditional
24:55savings account the value of this money
24:58will decrease over time because of
25:01inflation so this extra cash you should
25:05put in a high savings account if you
25:08have covered you know savings for about
25:126 to 12 months of expenses and then you
25:14have met your savings goal for you know
25:17your house and you know you know for a
25:19wedding or whatever then start investing
25:22that money after you make use of the
25:24401K through your employer and you still
25:27have extra cash left you can invest in
25:30some type of um Index Fund like a
25:32broad-based index fund and again I have
25:35a lot of videos on this specific topic
25:38on my other channel so make sure to
25:40check that out I have explained
25:42everything in a lot more detail there so
25:45make sure to educate yourself um
25:48financially by reading good books and
25:52checking out my YouTube
25:54channel it does take time to develop new
25:57habits and break your old ones so be
26:00patient with yourself it's better to
26:02start late than never it's okay if
26:05sometimes you go over budget especially
26:08when you're stressed so the key is to
26:10restart after a financial mistake
26:13instead of B making these big changes
26:16start small even if you can apply one or
26:18two tips from this video uh and
26:21concentrate on them you will be able to
26:23save much more the basic idea is to
26:26change your mindset and you can create
26:29this lasting habits that will help you
26:31have a more peaceful life when it comes
26:33to managing your money regardless of any
26:36external challenges I hope you like this
26:39video and we'll start implementing some
26:41of these tips right away if you like
26:43today's video please don't forget to hit
26:45the like button and please don't forget
26:48to subscribe to my channel and I'll see
26:50you in my next one take care bye
