Due to the holidays, January can mean a longer period between pay checks compared to other months of the year. On top of this, a lot of us make New Year’s resolutions to budget or manage our money better.

So, here at Qmee, we’ve come up with a couple of ideas that might help you to make your money stretch that little bit further each month.

Budgeting

On the day of getting paid, I think most of us have been guilty of acting like our money won’t run out: takeaways, online shopping, going out with friends. So, the first step to making your money last throughout the month is by knowing how much you’re going to get paid and how much your outgoings are.

Make a list of all the ‘non-negotiable’ outgoings, like bills, rent, food, gas. Things that cannot be changed and come out routinely. By doing this you can see what is left over. But, don’t get too excited yet – it’s now time to look into specifics. 

Each month there will be a different number of other outgoings. One month you might need to take your car to a mechanic. In another month, you might need to buy a birthday gift. Note down these outgoings too. 

With all these spends noted down, you should now be able to see what you have left over, or your ‘expendable’ income. Budget this money so that you know how much you can spend each week without leaving yourself short at the end of the month.

Don’t forget, you can make a little more extra cash by taking Qmee surveys! A survey every day could help towards paying for your daily coffee. You could even earn some spare money by playing games on your phone using our gaming cashback!

Spending Diary

If you do all this and still don’t know where all your money seems to go each month, consider creating a spending diary. Keeping note of all the different ways you’ve spent your money can really help to track your spending habits. Not only does this keep a record, but it could also help make you slightly more conscientious of what you’re spending money on.

Treating Yourself

Budgeting and stretching your money doesn’t mean you don’t get to use your money on things you want rather than need. However, there are methods to keep the cost of these things down. 

Firstly, you can reduce how much you spend on little treats by using coupon codes. Check out our deals page to get some coupon codes for that new item of clothing or beauty product. As well as this, we also have some fantastic cashback offers, so you could get money back when you treat yourself!

If you’re looking for stuff to do, rather than things to get, check out our winter activities on a budget. That way, you and your loved ones can stay entertained whilst also sticking to your budget this winter!