How to reduce expenses and save money

There are a few broad categories of expenses for most households. We will review each category and give some tips on how to reduce the costs. Create your wealth by saving more, and letting the money work for you.

Housing – renting

Rent or move into a cheaper house / different neighborhood / get a room mate

Get energy-efficient light bulbs. Use energy star high efficiency appliances and products.

Turn off the lights when you leave a room. If you are building a house, design it to take advantage of natural light.

Use solar power like solar water heating, Solar lighting or solar water pumps. Though the initial investment in solar may be intimidation, the lifelong saving is huge. 

Transport

Take public transport.

Schedule all the shopping and bill payments on the same day so that you don’t have to travel frequently to buy supplies/ pay bills.

Carpool. With your neighbors, friends, colleague at work or relative.

Use Uber or Little cab OR more peer-to-peer car sharing is now possible due to technology.

If you intend to own a car, go for a reliable, fuel efficient car. Keep your car in good shape. Clean the air filter, check the tyre/tire pressure Take the car for minor service every 5000km and major service after 20,000 km. Check the water, fluid level, tyre/tire alignment, wheel balancing and tyre/tire inflation pressure.

Take excess fee protection / excess insurance with your car insurance. As your insurance agent how this can help you in time of claim.

Food /Grocery

Buy in bulk and cook at home. It is cheaper and healthy than going to a fancy restaurant. You can treat yourself to a dinner out with friends or spouse or a mentor from time to time as you fancy.

Pack and carry lunch to work if you commute to work. Save the money you would have otherwise

 

Communication and Entertainment

Go for bundled offers e.g. a TV subscriptions that comes the Internet access e.g. ZUKU

Go for monthly subscriptions from phone companies. Airtel currently offer unlimiNET that gives you minutes, SMS and bundle that can cover a month making your expense predictable and discounted.

Use less data on your computer by using the mobile websites eg instead of www.facebook.com, go to m.facebook.com. You can do this by changing the browser agent to “trick” the browser

Use Opera Turbo Mode, a feature in Opera 10 Browser that allows a page to load much faster by compressing the image

Shop online for your electronic gadgets. Check out Jumia for electronics

Unsubscribe from those premier rate SMS e.g. news updates / horoscope / love quotes

Vacation and travel

We have an informative article on how to travel on the cheap. Check out how to book a cheap hotel or how to book a cheap flight. 

Clothing

You can buy used clothes. Take care of the clothes by following the recommended

Financial Expenses

Withdraw money of the week or two. This reduces the ATM bank charges or bank to MPESA transaction costs that can go to over KES 500 a month. Use the KES 500 to buy Old Mutual Unit trusts!

Pay or refinance a loans to enjoy a lower interest. Look for a bank or SACCO that can ‘buy’ your loans and are willing to give you a lower interest rate. Ensure that you are getting an actual reduction in interest rate after the consolidation.

If you come short every month, avoid shy-locks, who charge over 15% interest. Get a credit card that you can repay within the month at zero interest or go for Sacco loans that are cheaper.

Health and fitness

Go for a jog. You can do this first thing in the morning, or in the evening after work. It is free. Buy a skipping rope or do push-ups and pull ups at home. Routine and consistence make a difference, not how much you pay for gym membership

Sign up for health insurance, at the very least have NHIF. This can help you when you are sick or have health issues.

** Airtel have a FREE insurance policy for subscribers who use  KES 300 and above a month. With Airtel insurance, you can claim cash reimbursement any time you are hospitalized for 3 days or more, in case of death you and your family is compensated.

Finally, obey the law.

Breaking the law comes with penalties. Pay your taxes, pay your bills on time, and be pro-actively looking out for risk and how to mitigate them.