How to take the secrets of every successful business, and apply them to yourself, to boost your cash!

We all need more cash, especially at the moment. But what is it that you need to do? After all, there are only so many hours in a week, and if you’re an employee you know exactly how much you get paid, and you know exactly what your outgoings are. Where could there possibly be any flexibility?

Well just like running a business, there are two main ways to ensure you get more cash in your bank! Spend less, or sell more.

In our two part series we will cover these elements.

PART ONE – SPENDING LESS

Let’s look at how we can spend less first. After all this is the easy one. It’s obvious. The less we spend, the more cash we will have left. We reduce our outgoings, and there’s more left in the bank. However, here are a few ways that you might not have considered.

We can spend less by engaging the Time-Happiness-Energy Process. The THE* process! (*Not to be confused with the 1980’s band: The The)

Time

Often we buy something in the instant, and then realise it just isn’t something that will have long-lasting use. We spend so little time thinking about what we are buying, that we end up with what we just don’t want or need.

To engage the time factor:

• Plan your buying – make a shopping list, for groceries and non-groceries
• “Bond” with your potential purchase.If you’re in a shop, walk around with it a while, and see if you still like it. Review the purchase at least once before you get to the checkout. And be OK with changing your mind and putting it back at any point in the purchase. If you’re buying online, click to buy, but don’t process payments for 12 or even 24 hours. By then you may have gone off it.
• Plan ahead - is something going to last? Will you have to replace it sooner if you buy the cheaper option? Or are you buying a long-lasting item that will get lots of use?
• Discount codes and cards– look for ways to get a discount. Voucher codes and/or using a discounted giftcard from Cardyard.co.uk. Once you’ve made a decision to spend a little more time on your purchase, it will take just seconds to check out these options too

Happiness

Happiness is an energy – a very positive one, of course. And it’s something we are all striving for. Whether we are running a marathon or eating an ice cream. We want the happiness boost! Spending money gives us a happiness boost, although usually not for long.
Taking the happiness energy score into account before we buy something can be super-useful.

So ask yourself:

• How much happiness will something give me, and for how long?
• How quickly will I need to buy something new to boost my happiness again?
• And – is there another way we can achieve this happiness? (Ask yourself – if this object was not available, what else would I buy or do?)
• Am I buying this for the fashion branding or the usefulness? Overt fashion branding is often just another happiness factor boost. It’s another way to say, “I’m worth this”. Would you buy this product if it was the same quality but had no brand on it?

Note:a business would rarely buy anything “for happiness sake”. They buy because of need or to re-sell. Take the happiness persuasion out of your buying habits and you’ll save a lot of cash.

Energy

Aside from the Happiness Energy, there’s also the additional energy that sometimes we need to expend to gain a better deal. Sometimes it’s worth expending, sometimes not.For this, ask yourself:

• Is it really cost effective to drive or travel to a shop where I can get something just a little cheaper?
• How much is it actually going to cost me in time, travelling costs, parking etc to buy something? To buy something might only be an hour of your time, but if you equate that to your working time, it may actually be adding £10 (your hourly rate) + mileage + parking onto the cost of an item.

Note: a business would do a cost efficiency analysis on most large purchases. They want to get the best deal, (so long as it’s ethical of course) and they would factor in ALL the costs - getting there, credit arrangements, interest rates, etc.

We'll be posting part 2 soon. In the meantime please head over to our Facebook or Twitter pages to share your hints and tips on saving cash.