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Hey guys, happy Sunday here and welcome to my blog.
In our post last week on 'Saving money vs Investing money', we defined spending, saving and investing as well as the telling the differences and similarities that exist between them. I think I'll just gloss through it.

Basically, when you spend money, you trade it for a proportional value so you can get whatever need it is met. So you transfer ownership of that money and get something else of value. It's basic trade by barter.

When you're saving money, it's literally what it's named. You keep aside part of your income or earnings for an intended use later on.

By Investing, you're staking a part of your savings on something with the hopes of it yielding much more than what you put in at first. Investment takes time, and there are no 100% guarantees that you'll ever get your money back.

As seen above, saving money is the sweet spot because your cash stays with you, and you don't have to shoulder the risks of losing an investment. But, saving cash has its cons too. For what it's worth, fiat currency might just continue to depreciate in value as time goes on. Also, you risk theft and destruction.

However, the circulation of money drives an economy and one cannot really do without spending, especially when we have responsibilities we must tend to. Money is a tool and there's so much to do with it. There are times when we feel the urge to spend on things that aren't at all necessary to us at the time being. It might be an expensive dinner or a week-long vacation. It might be buying another accessory to add to your inventory just for the sake of it. Whatever the reason, if spending is not moderated, things could go wrong pretty fast and you'll be outta cash. For that purpose, here are some tips for saving money that we really could apply to lives.

• Pay yourself.

Before you do anything at all after receiving your paycheck, be sure to take out your predetermined savings and throw it into the piggy. Pay yourself first, and then you can think about the rest.

• Start saving early.

If you've got a major project you'd like to take on later, you might have to start saving very early for it. Heck, even though you have nothing to do with it, it can never hurt to keep aside some cash for later. By all means, throw it in the piggy.

• Design a budget.

A budget helps you compare your income to your expenditure and savings. Working with a budget gives you clarity on just how much you're keeping aside and how much you're using up every day. Draw up a plan that best suits your lifestyle and save away!

• Understand that time and work yields money.

When you realize that every minute spent on the right thing takes energy while it adds value to you, you would be watchful on how much you let slip each day.

• Make savings visible.

Sometimes when we save, it's hard to keep up with the excitement that existed when we first started. Humans are natural competitors and once in a while, you might feel that familiar pressure to break the piggy and have a look at your achievement over time or to simply scrap the idea when it gets boring, or when you see your neighbour showing off. Somehow, you need to see what you're saving to assure yourself that you're on the right track apart from checks, balances and a budget. Setting up physical ways to serve as a reminder as well as measure your progress you would help renew the enthusiasm again. Little things like taking a special meal or driving a nail through a wood each time you drop another sum of money would just suffice.

• Think relatively before spending.

This method works by frugality and opportunity cost. It's got more to do with the mind than the cash itself and it helps you save up some money rather than spend it all. The next time you fancy a pretty but un-needed stuff at the store, think about the many other important things you could use that money for that might cost less and still make you happy. It works, every time.

I plan on keeping my articles short and simple so as not to bore the readers. In that light, we shall continue in the next article.

Thank you for reading

Reference.

_{[Ref 1: Wikihow -- Effective and sensible ways to save money]
[Ref 2: GPA -- 8 simple ways to save money.]}