Do you often struggle to save? You’re not alone. With the cost of living steadily rising, it’s become increasingly difficult to save. Fortunately, making a few lifestyle tweaks could maximise your savings!

1. Unsubscribe, unsubscribe, unsubscribe!

Ever see a newsletter from your favourite store in your inbox and later find yourself checking out an online cart? Regularly seeing sales and discount notifications makes mindless shopping even more tempting!

To manage this, take a few minutes to unsubscribe from newsletters and other store emails. Next, type ‘unsubscribe’ in your email search bar to call up subscriptions. Select all and hit the delete button!

You may have subscribed to gaming, music or other apps that you haven’t used in months! Browse through your phone and unsubscribe from and delete apps you no longer use. They may have small deductions, but it all adds up!

2. Start a no-junk-food challenge

Buying fast food now and then may not seem like a big deal, but in the long run, it can amount to a lot of money! Save more by buying groceries and cooking at home instead. The best way to wean yourself off takeaways? Turn it into a no-junk-food challenge!

• Stop buying takeaways for a set period of time – maybe a week, or even up to a month.
• Ask your friends and family to join you! Make it fun by sending snaps of your daily home-cooked meals to a WhatsApp group.
• Use your leftovers to create new dishes if you need to mix it up, and experiment with new recipes.
• Make some of your takeaway favourites (e.g. pizza or stir-fry) at home. You’ll save cash and satisfy your cravings!

Note: This doesn’t mean you should deprive yourself of treats. After the challenge, only buy takeaways that you’ve budgeted for. You could do this once or twice a month.

3. Follow the 30-day purchasing rule

The best way to deal with impulse spending? Use the 30-day purchasing rule! It works like this:

• When you find an item you love, instead of buying it, write it down. Note the name of the product, the store and the price. If it’s online, add it to your wishlist.
• Sleep on it for 30 days.
• Once the 30 days are up, you can make the purchase if you still really want the item!

4. Visit the library

When was the last time you used your library card? If the answer is ‘It’s been years’, it’s time to dust it off! Whether it’s for pleasure or research, the library is a cost-effective way to entertain yourself, with free access to books, movies, music and more. Best of all, it’s an affordable way to keep kids entertained and makes a fun outing too!

5. Get creative with home entertainment

Entertaining at home should be more affordable than outings, but you can probably still save more (always!). Cut down on certain kinds of entertainment and make your existing ones work for you:

• Downgrade or cut your satellite streaming services.
• Use more affordable online streaming services like Netflix, Showmax and Amazon Prime, etc. YouTube is also great for free content. Don’t subscribe to all of them, though. Only pay for services you’re really going to use.
• Skip the arcade at the mall and bring out (or say "play") board games instead – Monopoly and 30 Seconds are household favourites. And charades never get old. Find more fun ideas here.
• Use the internet to its full capacity. Go on virtual reality tours, take free cooking classes, and more.

Find more tips to help you save more in these blog articles:

• How to Make the Most of a Salary Increase
• 10 Common Budgeting Mistakes