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Spending money has always been easier than saving money, and this is something that has become even more prominent in recent times. As people head towards a cost of living crisis, and the possibility of a looming recession, the importance of saving money has never been greater. But the rub of the green is that saving money can be more difficult than it might first appear.

Indeed, people have spent years trying to improve their capacity to save money rather than spending it, yet so many people still find this difficult. Whilst it is true that the difficulties with saving money can often be psychological, there are a lot of factors at play here. Coming up with solutions to help improve how you can save money is vital, and these are some of the best approaches you can take starting right now.

Only buy essentials

Yes, this might sound obvious, and it might also sound boring, but the reality is this is one of the simplest and most effective ways of making savings. Stop those impulse purchases, those treat you reward yourself with, and those flashy “statement” buys. Instead, you should focus on buying only that which you need. Now, this doesn’t mean you have to take this approach forever, and it could only be for a few months or maybe a couple of years. But, there is little doubt that only buying what you need, and reducing unnecessary spending, can make a monumental difference to your financial well-being, and your capacity to save.

Monitor the condition of your financial health

When you’re trying to get better at saving money, one of the best things you can do to aid with this is to monitor your financial health. This means, monitoring your bank balance as well as incomings and outgoings, and making use of things like the best credit monitoring apps. These are some of the most effective ways of understanding the current condition of your finances, and being able to plan for a better and healthier financial future.

Try the 52-week challenge

One of the best things you can do that is going to help you when it comes to saving your money better is to try out the 52-week challenge. This is a money-saving challenge whereby you look to save $1 in week 1, $2 in week 2, $3 in week 3, and so on for 52 weeks. This is a useful and effective challenge because of the fact that it helps you to be able to save a decent amount of money (more than $1,300 by the end of the year), and the maximum weekly amount you will ever have to put aside will be $52.

As you can see, there are loads of excellent ideas that will play a part in helping you to get better at saving, and this is so important. There are loads of great ideas you can use that are going to help you get better with this, and be able to get better at saving starting right now. This is something that plays a role in this, and you need to try to come up with some of the key elements of the process that play a role in this right now.