Whether you accept the reality or not, recession is looming and you need these recession-proof saving tips to help you get ready! A lot of countries are already feeling the pinch of an economic meltdown.
Tim Simons, a money market economist speculated that 2023 will likely see a “classic recession.” The World Bank has also predicted that per capita income will increase with just 1.2% this year and in 2024, which is such a tepid pace that poverty rates could rise.
Additionally, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Georgieva stated that “For most of the world economy, this is going to be a tough year, tougher than the year we leave behind.”
She attributed this looming recession to the fact that “the three big economies — U.S., EU, China — are all slowing down simultaneously.”
So, now is the time to recession-proof your finances. Here are some recession-proof easy saving tips and hacks to help you get started.
Meal Prep
One way to save effectively during this recession is to meal prep your food and bring your food. Meal prepping will require preparing the food you will eat beforehand; cook a little bit more than you need, put them in bowls, and refrigerate.
Instead of cooking what you can finish at once, cook more and store the remaining. Plan your meals for the week before cooking and prepping them. Also, you can make varieties of food and store them in different bowls.
One benefit of meal prepping is that it reduces waste and allows you to maximize your purchases. Bulk cooking helps you to make use of all your purchased food items.
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So, if you have bought some vegetables or minced meat, you can use them all at once instead of forgetting them somewhere in the fridge.
A lot of us have resumed working from the office, and we would need to have lunch at work. Meal prep helps us take our lunch to work and reduce eating out.
Cook More
Like meal prep, cooking more means less takeaway, less eating out, and fewer restaurant trips. You neither have to be a good cook nor should you know how to cook twenty different delicacies.
As long as you can cook two varieties of lunch, dinner, and breakfast meals, you will always be able to cook for yourself. Find something you love eating a lot and learn how to eat it.
If you love rice, couscous, or pasta, learn how to cook them. If you love salads, learn how to put together two or three different kinds of salad.
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DIY Hair and Nails
During the Covid19 pandemic, we did a lot of DIY for our hair and nails. Now that the lockdown is over, we have started visiting the salons and spending exorbitantly on them.
You can use Youtube and TikTok to find out how to do your hair, fix your nails, and do a pedicure. A great way to save money during this recession is to DIY.
You can buy nail polishes and paint your nail without having to queue up at a nail parlor. You can also get stick-on nails and watch tutorials on how to wear them properly to last over a week.
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Get A Library Card
If you are a bibliophile, this tip is for you. Get a library card so that you can supplement the books you are buying. So, instead of buying five books, you can buy one book to own and borrow the other four.
The same applies to study materials, don’t be so quick to buy books. Get a library card and get the books there. If you cannot get the book from your local or school library, you can visit another library with more books.
They can allow you to take home to read, make copies of the pages you want, or stay in to read.
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Change Grocery Stores
If you have not discovered the magic of stores like Aldi, Asda, lidl, and other stores that cost a bit less, you will keep spending more on groceries.
Instead of shopping at High-end stores like Sainsbury and Waitrose for everything, try other stores where you can get cheaper versions without compromising quality. There’s no award for strictly shopping in Waitrose.
So for items like cleaning liquid, toilet tissue, and kitchen tissue, visit Aldi and other affordable stores.
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Stop Investing in Beauty Products
When it comes to makeup, buy only what you need. One of the lies the beauty industry has sold us is that we need more products.
No! You don’t need twenty palettes of eye shadow, four concealers, or five bottles of hair conditioners and shampoos. Stop investing in beauty products; instead, save that money.
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Work More, Bike More, Drive Less
The cost of fueling a car is currently high, and a great way to cut the cost of fuel is to walk and bike more. Don’t be too quick to jump into your car for that two minutes journey. Put on a winter coat, gloves, and scarves, and go for that walk.
If you have a bicycle, get on it. Taking walks and biking helps you to save money on fuel. You can also carpool if you have friends going in your direction.
Combining your journeys also helps to save fuel. So, if you are going to a particular part of town, do everything you need to do in that area at once.
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Thrift
Another recession-proof saving tip is to visit charity shops to pick up things. You can get games, art, children’s toys, clothing, and books from charity stores.
If you want to buy a board game, you do not have to go into Amazon. Some people who have raised kids before you or no longer have young kids have dumped their games and toys in charity stores, and you will find loads of them there.
It is a good idea to ask if the item you need is something you can purchase in a thrift store before buying them brand new.
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You can also get books from thrift stores. For instance, I once picked up a 50p huge dictionary for my daughter in a thrift store. Sometimes when I go thrifting, I take my daughters along so they can pick what they love.
When you get home, make sure you disinfect and wash the toys before using them.
I hope you find these recession-proof saving tips useful as you keep living that bulletproof life.
Till next time.
All my love,
Ronke O.
