The world is slowly returning to pre-pandemic levels. We’re starting to see it in South Africa, with people eagerly waiting to spend on activities and luxuries that had screeched to a halt during the Covid-19 lockdowns.

That said, most of us are still struggling to regain control of our finances. It’s been a tough time and lots of people have sought out better jobs or gained a side hustle to supplement their income. Of course, while you can do your best to address how much money you make, a key way to help your personal financial situation is to look at how you’re spending what you make.

The reality is that you may need to reduce your expenses and find areas in your life where you can save money. It’s all a matter of knowing where to look.

Here are 9 easy ways to cut household expenses and save.

Create a budget

It’s the first step of any plan to reduce your costs, and really, it’s just a simple matter of taking how much you earn, how much you spend, and then creating a plan to spend less than you make so you can save what’s left over.

Check your direct debits to prevent unnecessary spending

Are all the debits you’ve set up strictly necessary? Perhaps there’s an online subscription that goes off every month that you’re not using or a free trial that you forgot to cancel and are now paying for. Track the money leaving your account each month so that you can be on top of what’s going out and why. You’ll quickly find a service you can cancel or pause.

Use a money managing app

We used to call this ‘tracking your spending habits’ but in the digital age, you no longer need to manually monitor how you are using your money. Now, you can use an app to help you budget, track, and save – of which there are plenty around to choose from.

Pay off your debts (especially your credit card)

One of the best strategies to reduce your household debt is to make consistent payments – especially for your credit card. Credit cards in particular carry much higher interest rates than conventional loans, and money you spend on interest is money you can’t spend on something else you need or want.

One way to pay off credit card debt that’s high enough to be a problem is to use a personal loan with lower interest rates. If you want to see what your personal loan repayments would look like, then use the AA Inform Personal Loan Calculator.

Save on entertainment

Eating out, popping to the cinema, and ending the evening with a few drinks. It’s fun, but it’s expensive. Instead of making this the norm, make it the exception and focus on things that you can do for free or at least do on the cheap… like picnics in the park, movie night in, and the occasional takeaway. You’ll end up saving loads on food and drinks alone!

Shop smart, shop online, and save

It’s all about making a shopping list that you can stick to. We’d also go so far as to add that if you shop for your groceries online then you’ll avoid all temptation. Add to cart what’s on your list, check out, and wait for your food to be delivered.

In fact, you’ll even save on the fuel you’d use to drive to the shops – this is according to major retailer, Checkers, whose calculations revealed that the average return trip of 7.5 km would cost a motorist just under R53, while the delivery fee using the Sixty60 app is R35.

Save on water and lights

We’re not actually suggesting that you go without power and water, but there are ways to bring these costs down. Like replacing your light bulbs with LEDs (which last longer and use less electricity), putting your geyser on a timer, lowering the temperature on your geyser, repairing leaky toilets and faucets, unplugging devices that you aren’t using, and turning off lights when leaving a room,

Shop for cheaper car and home insurance

The short-term insurance market is extremely competitive and if you shop around, you’re sure to find cheaper car and home insurance that you can rely on to be there for you if the worst should happen.

We can help you with that right now! Just click here to get leave your details for an agent to call you from the AA Insurance Supermarket with multiple quotes. You can compare costs and levels of cover, and choose the right policy for you.

Start ASAP

The biggest tip we can leave you with is that if you want to reduce your expenses and save money, then don’t wait. Don’t sit and think about it – just get started. Even if you begin with something small, don’t hesitate. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll see a difference in your financial situation.