Money saved is money earned

I used to earn x and spend 2x earlier. But recently, I have been hit hard by reality. Reality was all like "aukat dekh apni". Everything kept getting pricey and my salary stayed stagnant. So I started to live as per my aukat and started saving. I have listed here almost everything about saving money.

1. Strategy

• Save before spending. 25% of my salary is my budget per month. Rest of my salary goes to savings. This transfer to savings happens immediately after my salary is credited. 
• Track expenses-There are lot of apps which will help you in tracking income and expenses. For Android, Andromoney is the best. For IOS, you can use My Wallet. Revise at the end of month and check which categories are consuming all your income. You can then try minimizing expenses in those categories. 
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  My Wallet app for IOS
  Click on pics to enlarge.

• Choose your groups carefully. It's better to avoid going out with people who spend lavishly.
• Plan taxes before hand and invest accordingly. To understand tax and payslip components, click here.
• Keep less money in wallet. I only maintain about 200 rupees everyday in my wallet.
• Stay away from borrowers. If you are lending huge enough money, get it written in paper.
• Have a budget and set limits to every category. For example, you can set a limit of 3K on shopping.

2. Coupons & deals

• Use coupons and deals everywhere. A little research beforehand saves a lot.
• Use paytm or freecharge and get better deals and cashbacks.

3. Food & Water

• Cook often and avoid eating outside.
• Grow your food like tomato, chillies, coriander, aloevera etc. Even if you live in an apartment, you can grow plants hanging the plant pots. You can easily do this by macrame.
• Always carry water bottle whenever you go outside. Buying lot of those overpriced mineral water bottles is a waste of money. Also, regular water is just fine at any restaurant.
• Don't go to a place just for namesake even though it's food/drink is just okay. Example is Starbucks which is highly overrated and overpriced.
• Most of the times, we just want to taste something nice, not actually have an entire portion/plate of it. So eat outside with friends so that you can share the bill and also satisfy your cravings for food.
• Little app is great to find coupons. Pay bill prior to visiting through little app. For example, Tim Tai was just 900 for two people through little app, where as the original cost was 1700 for two people. 
• Don't buy food in multiplexes. Multiplexes main business comes from the overpriced food and drinks and not from the movie tickets.
• Pack food for road trips.
• Quitting alcohol and smoking is a great way to save health and money.

4. Bills

• Cut down cable connection. You can watch almost everything on internet these days. This saves time and money and your brain from just watching every other stupid thing on TV.
• Do you really need mobile internet? I used to think that I can't live without internet and used to spend 250 per month for data plan. But then I realized that most of the times, I am just using my data to browse 9gag or other silly cat pictures. It's been several months that I don't have any mobile data plan and I am happy. If you are so addicted to phone, then download ebooks or some puzzle apps like sudoku.
• Call using data- Whatsapp or Skype instead of using regular phone balance. Do this at home so that you can use wifi.
• Get medical and LTA bills reimbursed completely. I have seen many people neglecting it.
• Find out what are all the bills your company reimburses. Most of the companies reimburse internet and shift allowance bills.
• Save on electricity bill. You can refer to this blog post where I have mentioned tips to save electricity.
• Do you need paid gym membership? Running and floor exercises are enough to stay fit. Buy some dumbbells and you are done. But if you still want to go to gym, then you can use your office gym. 
• Read newspapers online. Save trees and money.
• If you are renting a house, but plan to settle in the same city, it's better to buy off a house as soon as possible. 
• Pay all bills in time to avoid fine.

5. Health

• Stay healthy. Am I sounding like your manager who asks you "why did you fall sick again?"?. Sometimes, not falling sick is really in our hands like not having that icecream or soda in winter when you clearly know that you have a tendency to get cold. 
• Get a proper insurance. Compare policies online and make a good choice. 
• Buy generic medicine. They are far cheaper than the branded medicine which we buy.

Satyamev Jayate video on generic medicine

6. Shopping

• Branded clothes are overrated and overpriced.
• Don't buy to impress others.
• Don't buy on impulse or for some instant gratification. Wait for a week before buying.
• Compare prices  online. There are several tools that do this like buyhatke plugin.
• Don't buy latest gadgets, wait for the price to drop.
• Buy on sale.
• Buy durable things that need to last long. Don't be a miser in buying a good mattress and good footwear. You spend lot of your lifetime in walking and sleeping.
• List out all the things you want to buy at home and stick to the list. This will avoid shopping spree.
• Make a list of all unused things- if you can't sell them, then never ever buy them again. For example, makeup things which you are too lazy to use.

5. Groceries

• Cut down on unhealthy foods and drinks(soda).
• Buy groceries in deals and in stores which offer best prices like Dmart.
• Make a list of groceries you want to buy and stick to it. 
• Buy vegetable and fruits from market instead of those departmental stores. You can buy them for cheap and you will also be helping farmers who earn very little. Don't haggle with them.
• Carry a cloth bag always. You will save on that 5 rupees plastic cover and avoiding plastic.

6. Jugaad(hack)

• Stop using soap and shampoo which are full of chemicals.Switch to natural alternatives like this.
• Learn how to groom by yourself instead of spending so much in salon. Buy an epilator  (or this new one) and epilate instead of spending about 500 every month in parlour. Pedicure can be done just with listerine and pumice stone at home. There are a million natural face mask DIYs online. 
• Use camphor as a car freshener. Yep, it really works.
• Use your hobbies to replace buying. For example, gift DIY cards instead of buying Archies cards. This is a great way to show that you care enough to put some effort and time for people.You can check how to do easy DIY cards here.

6. Repair and re-invent

• Repair instead of throwing away things.
• Use all excess clothes first before shopping. Bring all those old and ugly clothes to the front of your shelf so that you can see them and use them more.
• Re-invent your old clothes by some or the other DIY. For example, you can paint on a plain cloth or stitch some embroidery.

7. Avoid things that will violate your strategy

• No credit card
• No debt
• No loan if you can avoid it. If not, then try to save as much as possible every year and get the principal amount reduced at the end of every year.

8. Transport

• If you don't own a vehicle, then go by shared public transport-bus,auto or convenient cabs-Uber pool/Ola share.
• If you own a car, try carpooling with others who own cars, so that a group of people can go in one car on rotation basis. If they don't own a car, they can contribute to the fuel costs. This will drastically reduce traffic and pollution.
• If you can ride a cycle, then buy it. Fitness, environment and money.
• Walk whenever you can.
• For visiting tourist places, check if your city has any travel meetups. Find them and join them. This will reduce the travelling cost a lot. For example, in Hyderabad, we have GHAC.
• Plan vacation early so that tickets are cheaper.
• Too expensive cars are overrated and finding maintenance and service centers for them is difficult.

10. Rent

• Rent whenever and whatever(one time or short term use) you can. For example, books. 

11. Movies

• You don't have to watch every single movie in a theater and especially in a multiplex. If  you can't cut down on cable, then you know that any movie is on TV in about a month.
• And you don't have to watch it on the first day first show by paying 1000 rupees.

12. Don't be too miserly:

Live a little while you can. Don't compromise too much on everything. Spend money on experiences rather than on materialistic things. 

And donate for charity, at least one percent of what you earn. Do you know that charity is exempted from tax under section 80G?

Finally, have faith in yourself. Trust me, if I can change, you can too.