Making ends meet has become a challenge for thousands of people. In recent years, we have seen a trend of fairly stable salaries with little growth, while the cost of living did not stop growing. Specifically, in terms of housing costs. Rental prices in large cities such as Madrid and Barcelona are very high. The downward impact generated by the confinement of the coronavirus was very punctual and seasonal, but in general terms, the cost of rent or mortgage is one of those that represent a higher percentage of our income.
I can’t make ends meet. What can I do?
The expression reaching the end of the month refers to getting to finish the month by spending only the level of income we have, that is, not spending more than what we earn.
In some cases, the situation is even more complicated, since not reaching the end of the month implies that there are no savings and you have to go into debt with financing options such as credit cards or consumer loans to get it.
In order to make ends meet, it is important that you make an annual budget, taking into account seasonality since we do not spend the same money every month.
A month in which you have to spend money for a friend’s birthday, or a vacation in the summer, can make your monthly expenses higher than the average and make it almost impossible to make ends meet.
The correct planning, looking for additional sources of income, as well as having the costs controlled at all times, are some of the keys so that you do not pronounce the dreaded phrase again, I do not make ends meet. Here are 5 keys to making ends meet.
Tricks To Make Ends Meet
In a borderline situation where income is almost equal to expenses, we have to focus on finding additional avenues of income and cutting all expenses that are not essential in our day today.
In this article, we focus on 5 keys that will allow you to increase income and cut expenses, so that in this way, making ends meet is not an impossible challenge to achieve.
1. Increase Your Income By Working Weekends
If you work from Monday to Friday, finding a complementary job on the weekends can help you in 2 ways. On the one hand, you will increase your income and on the other, when you are working, you will not spend as much money on leisure as you did before.
Jobs as a camp monitor, food delivery person or waiter, can help you get a good additional income as a complement to your usual source of income.
2. Look For A Better Paying Job
If you see that you cannot make ends meet with your current income, another option is to ask for a raise in your current job or look for a better paying job, which allows you to manage your personal finances in a better way and give you a break.
3. Use Savings Apps To Cut Expenses
Banks usually already have a categorization of expenses, but as a compliment, you can use mobile apps aimed at savings that allow you to identify where you are wasting your money.
Sometimes we are surprised at the things we can spend large sums of money on. For example, if you eat breakfast or eat out every day, you can replace it by preparing your own cheaper food at home.
4. Plan Taking Into Account Specific Expenses And Possible Unforeseen Events
If you spend an average of € 1,000 each month but in July you go on vacation and spend € 1,500, spread that additional expense over 12 months, not just in July, so that if you save about € 50 each month, you will be able to cope without so many difficulties to that one-time additional expense of summer vacations, which if you have to pay it at once without having savings.
5. Don’t Underestimate The Power Of Saving, No Matter How Small
A frequent mistake when we have a small income is the fact that “what I am going to save for, I prefer to spend it”. This means that you do not have any type of cheap mattress and you enter a spiral that makes it increasingly difficult for you to make ends meet.
On the other hand, if you save € 50 or € 100 per month, per year it is € 600 – € 1,200, which will allow you to have an oxygen balloon and not have to repeat month after month, that you cannot make ends meet.
In order to make ends meet, the important thing is to develop habits aimed at increasing income, reducing expenses, saving culture, and avoiding wasting on things that we do not need.
Remember that the goal is not to look rich, but to be rich. It makes no sense to carry a € 300 wallet when you don’t have that amount in the bank.
