8. Save money on your Bank Account
Another way to save money is to check our bank account, because it, like so many other things, has its costs. Every bank has its offers, its types of saving programs, but sometimes there are expenses that we don’t calculate in our budget and we should pay attention to. So another advice is to check the expenses of our bank account and inform about what we can reduce, or to investigate to change type or bank, on the base on market offers.
For example we can control how much our credit card costs annually, constantly check the conditions that the bank proposes to those who have our type of bank account and start using the ATM instead of a credit card to avoid unnecessary fees. We could then use the bank’s online service, making bank transfers from home or other types of transactions, so that the service does not have the cost that would have at bank. Finally, instead of withdrawing anywhere it would be better to get cash from our bank ATMs so as not to run into exaggerated commissions, paying to withdraw our money and affecting our savings.
Saving on the bank account, therefore, can be something not to be overlooked because often bank commissions are high, and greatly reduces our assets in the long run. The home banking service is becoming increasingly popular and the banks are trying to adapt by making online services available at a much lower cost than they usually have in their physical structure. There are several economic plans to open a bank account online instead of that we currently use, saving money. This should however be done carefully, without the risk of possible scams with websites that we do not know. We should try to turn to banks whose background we know well.
There are free online accounts, which means that you have not to pay when you open it, and that are exempted from monthly fees, but let’s remember that this type of account allows free transactions only online, while you have instead to pay at the counter. However in this case you would have available credit and debit cards. Considering that the average annual amount of a bank account in Italy is € 80, opening an online account will allow you to save your money.
THIS ADVICE WILL ALLOW YOU TO SAVE ABOUT € 80 PER YEAR.
If you are not used to the Internet, instead, there are many ready-to-use solutions. These packages provide a monthly fee but give access to many banking and extra banking operations. The savings will be less than an online bank account, but it is better than nothing. Usually these services cost an average of € 30 a year.
It is therefore advisable to do a search to compare your bank account with those on the market choosing the one that best suits you, even evaluating the options available at the post office.
THIS ADVICE WILL ALLOW YOU TO SAVE € 50 PER YEAR.
9. Save money on your free time
After having worked all week, having done physical activity, having suffered stress from external situations, we need to go out and get some fresh air, perhaps in the company of a friend or of our partner. On Saturday afternoons or evenings it is almost mandatory to go out and have fun, perhaps having a drink, taking a trip out of town, going to a club or having two beers in a pub. Unfortunately, even our free time considerably affects our wallets. Surely this type of expenses, compared to paying bills, are made lightly, and often we do not realize how much we actually spend for an evening with friends.
Certainly free time is just a moment to stop thinking and to have fun, but we could consider the idea that you can have fun even spending less or maybe not spending anything.
In winter it is a bit difficult to organize something that is not indoors, but even in this case you could do activities that you may never have considered. Bars and clubs cost, an evening at home with friends does not.
Possible Saturday afternoon and Saturday evening activities are: go to city centre to have a drink with friends, this has an average cost of € 10; cinema, for example, is another super popular activity of Saturday afternoon and has an average cost of € 10. For dinner you can go to a fancy little place that will cost you about € 40 and finally an evening at the disco or in a place where to enter and / or have a drink you will spend about € 20. Considering a Saturday afternoon-evening with all these activities we will spend about € 80, but consider that all this is done every 15 days and not every week. The cost will be of € 160 monthly.
Now let’s look at some activities that we could do instead without spending absolutely nothing. By checking the social networks or the websites of your favourite places, you can find some free or discounted events, that will allow you to do something new without spending much at the same time. For example, in summer it is very common to find concerts, festivals or fests that ensure fun and allow you to do something different from usual programs.
In winter the situation is a little more difficult, but even here the solutions can be found, for example organizing a cinema evening at home, buying only some crap for your friends, with a minimum expense of € 10, or a dinner where you cook or everyone brings something to eat. In addition to this it is possible to search for events such as “Free Sundays at the Museum”, book presentations in bookstores, to look for places where entry is free and where you have never been, for example an art gallery or a castle.
If you need to save money, even paying attention to how to distribute money during leisure time can help your pockets.
THIS ADVICE WILL ALLOW YOU TO SAVE FROM € 100 TO € 160 PER MONTH.
