tips for saving money
A few months before founding Think Orange, I had to make a balance and figure out if I was spending too much money or actually saving anything.
The big question was “how many months can I go unemployed if I got fired right now?” and the answer wasn’t very good at the time so I changed things around and left my comfort zone. Looking right now, I’m very glad I did, I needed to put my financial situation under control before making plans for a startup or working abroad or whatever I would like to do in the future.
So here’s some tips and advices for saving money:
Don’t use credit cards for your daily day spending, you’ll feel more tempted to spend more because you don’t have the notion of cash on your hands. An alternative would be to have an account with enough money to your daily shopping needs.
As soon as you receive your pay check, take a percentage amount of money (like 10% or 20%) and put it in a savings account or invest it somewhere. Resist the temptation to mess with that money.
Liquidate your credit card debt as soon as possible. A year ago I had around 1500 euros debt in my credit card, by taking a small or bigger amount from my monthly check I was able to eliminate that debt in a few months. If you must use credit cards (for example online), don’t forget to immediately pay off what you buy, don’t let it accumulate.
Use public transportation whenever possible instead of your car, it’s much cheaper and in some cases faster. That’s alot of money saved depending on the price of gasoline and distance.
Bring your own food to work because if you cook at home and use the microwave at work you’ll spend less money eating out. But don’t forget to occasionally eat out with your friends, maintain some social activities. 
Trade all your home light bulbs for energy efficient lights and see if you have the right electrical plan for you, some plans have cheaper electricity hours which you can use to power your most electricity expensive devices (washing machine for example).
Take a look at your internet and cable tv subscription, do you need all those channels? Does the competition offer a better or cheaper service?
Buy less gadgets. At least try to… 
Okay, if you need to buy hardware or gadgets, at least compare prices online and do some research because you might find a better deal somewhere.
If you have to pay hosting for your site, it’s probably alot cheaper to buy a full year than monthly payments.
Know your taxes, learn where you can save money at the end of the year. There’s plenty of information online.
Revise your spending habits, make a list of where you spend your money, see what’s unnecessary and what’s essential. You’ll probably find out you’re spending money in things you didn’t remember.
And that’s it. If you have some advice why don’t you share them on the comments?
Hi Pedro,
This is what I call a KISS post. Simple to the point, in fact to some major points of interest.
I’m happy with you. I hope you can get great results on this new project.
Happy times are comming
Hugs
Francisco
this post takes me back to the fuck you money presentation on barcamp by Bruno Pedro.
yes, that presentation was very good on the subject. with a very nice title too.
Yup, great post Pedro. There is also a good book on that matter: thepowerofless.com
Good luck with everything
One thing that helped me a lot is the 60% rule: http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/SavingandDebt/LearnToBudget/ASimplerWayToSaveThe60Solution.aspx
Basically, if you’ve got more than 60% of your income in committed expenses (fixed expenses plus all those expenses you commit yourself to do), then you’re living above your means.
Another interesting article on this is “Budgeting for Lazy People”: http://www.fool.com/personal-finance/saving/budgeting-for-lazy-people.aspx
Good luck to you. Pedro, do you have an objective on how many months you want to cover?
Those are great advices.
I managed to stay about 4 months without income, which was pretty much what I planned.
As usual, something will come up which you are not expecting (ie: you fall down the stairs, your computer breaks, your bathroom explodes, there’s a financial crisis, etc).
With the company we already received some money but it seems all companies try to delay outside payments as much as they can.
Financial crisis are the best times to start a new business. You learn to be careful with money
.
For those who want to start saving/managing their money, check http://www.getrichslowly.org/
Recipe:
)
* Save €1000 for surprises (expect the unexpected
* Pay off your debt as soon as possible
* Save at least 10% of your income
Nice post, it’s funny how me and some colleagues talked about this just yesterday. I agree for the most part and i’ve doing this for the last 2 years.
Also, I’d like to add the “don’t move out just yet” rule, if i may. Living at your parents’ helps a lot too (though it sucks), you just have to look at it as a trade-off.
Thanks again.
google:”Get Rich Slowly”