Category: Ashish Bhandari

Saving money is a crucial aspect of financial security. After all, savings allow an individual to put money towards their financial goals, ensure that their needs are taken care of in case of an emergency, and allow for purchasing wants as well. Ashish Bhandari realizes that the past year has been financially difficult for many families but, as things start to improve, many are looking to change their financial situations for the better. To do so, Ashish Bhandari recommends looking to ways that you can start to build savings- even if it is a slow burning, incremental process. Here, Ashish Bhandari of Dubai provides a few tips that will help you save money to put towards reaching your financial goals.

Record Expenses and Build a Usable Budget

One of the simplest ways to begin your journey of expanding your savings is to first keep track of how much you spend. Budgets that account for all your expenses will ensure that you can properly determine how much you will need to allocate for all your wants and needs monthly. For example, you will want to account for needs such as housing, food, and gas as well as other bills such as cellphone, internet, cable, etc. It may be daunting to try to estimate everything down to your smallest purchases, but it is crucial that you have an idea of how your expenses compare to your income. Remember that tools such as mobile banking apps can help you track your spending and can even be used to separate your purchases into categories that make budgeting more streamlined.

Cut Unnecessary Spending

Even the most diligent savers may have spending habits that that they are spending exorbitantly on without noticing. If you notice that your expenses are high in relation to your income, you may notice that there are nonessentials that you can cut back on to help you reach your savings goals. For example, if you spend a lot of your monthly income on entertainment or dining out, you may be able to determine ways to cut back on a meal or event to contribute to your savings. Even fixed monthly expenses such as internet, television, and cellphone bills may be higher than they need to be and can be replaced with cheaper plans or services if need be. Experts recommend many different practices for reducing everyday expenses. Community event listings can point out free or very cheap sources of entertainment to save on those expenses and unused subscriptions and memberships can be canceled.

Pay Yourself First

After calculating your expenses and accounting for savings you have made by cutting certain costs, you may find that you have money left over that is not already dedicated to anything. Ashish Bhandari recommends paying yourself first in these instances. This means that, whenever you receive your paycheck, consider putting a small amount into your savings account before you can spend it on anything unnecessary. What you may find is that you do not touch the money because of the extra effort that is required to use it. Financial experts realize that you may need to pull from the money that you have set up for savings if a financial obstacle occurs, but it is always nice to know that money will be there if the need arises. Paying yourself first works because it takes a lot of guesswork out of saving. The simpler you make it to pay yourself, the more likely you are to do it and continue to grow your savings.

As an ex-banker, Ashish Bhandari has had conversations with many people hoping to improve their financial situations through budgeting. He recognizes that creating a budget that can be used to reach financial goals is often the easy part- the hard part is sticking to it! Ashish Bhandari is of the school of thought that the more streamlined a financial plan is, the more likely an individual is to stick with it. For this reason, Ashish Bhandari of Dubai offers several tips that can help people follow their budget.

Keep Your Financial Goals in Mind

We all have different reasons for wanting to improve our financial situations. Maybe you want to build a nest egg, an emergency fund, plan for an expensive vacation, or put money away for your child’s education. Whatever the reason for creating a budget and planning to save, always try to keep it in mind throughout your journey to help you stick to your financial routines. Ashish realizes that you can keep your goals visible and remain motivated to stick to your budget. For example, some visual people enjoy keeping reminders of their financial objectives as well as motivators to inspire them to continue saving. The more important and visible you make your financial goals, the less likely you are to blow your budget on unnecessary spending.

Look into Automated Payments

Money management tools have experienced a boom in popularity in recent years, and for a good reason. Automation can be used to put money into your savings, pay down your debts, and ensure that you pay your bills on time. Late fees are a factor that can negatively impact your budget, and automated payments help to make sure that you are prompt with expenses that you already have accounted for each month. Ashish Bhandari also recognizes that money management tools that help with automated payments can also remind people to check their financials frequently to evaluate their spending. You want to make budgeting as simple as possible if you have difficulties sticking to your financial plans, as it will set you up to follow them as well as possible.

Evaluate Your Budget Often

Even the most well-thought-out budgets can be made null if enough unanticipated expenses arise. Therefore, Ashish recommends revisiting your budget throughout the month to ensure that it is still serving you as needed. For example, if you still have time until you get paid but are beginning to feel financial stress, consider making a mini budget that plans for the rest of your expenses before you get paid next. Remember that there does not need to be an actual problem to revisit your budget, sometimes we just want reassurance that we did all the math right and that we are still in line with our financial goals.

Practice Impulse Control

The biggest enemy to a planned budget is unplanned purchases. For this reason, Ashish Bhandari and several financial experts recommend trying to limit your impulse buys to keep your budget viable. This does not mean that you can not spend your money on entertainment and items that you enjoy, it simply means that you should try to build in a cool off period when you are tempted to make bigger unplanned purchases. One way to practice impulse control to protect your budget is to practice a 48-hour rule. Sleeping on certain purchases for a few days will help you realize if you really want or need the item or can do without it. Financial experts acknowledge that there are other ways to fool ourselves into controlling our purchasing habits as well. You can also limit impulse purchases by not storing payment information on websites that you frequently shop on, meaning that you will not just be able to check out without thinking of the costs.