Digital Money Hacks: Spend Less and Save More with Tech
With inflation a constant concern the cost of living rising steadily, finding ways to save money and spend wisely has never been more important. Fortunately, there are a range of tools to help you stretch your budget and take control of your finances. From uncovering hidden deals to managing your spending more efficiently, this article highlights some of the best digital hacks to make your money go further.
Access better deals with a Virtual Private Network
One of the best ways to save when making purchases online is to use a VPN to browse for better deals. What online stores don't make clear is that they almost all use separate regional pricing strategies when operating in different parts of the world, and this means that the cost of a product or service can vary considerably depending on where you're searching from. Of course, sites can typically see your device IP whenever you visit, which allows them to know and display a certain price, but with a VPN, you've got a way around this practice.
By using a VPN, you can divert your internet connection through a server in a location of your choosing, making you appear as though you are browsing from elsewhere. This means that if you live in one country but want to take advantage of a deal offered in the UK, you could potentially use your VPN to log in from the UK and gain access to those region-specific promotions. This can help you get better deals on all kinds of products and make significant savings on airfares, rentals, and accommodation.
Aggregate and compare with price-tracking tools
Even if the region you live in offers the best deals, there's a high likelihood that the price of a given product will vary dramatically from week to week, day to day, or even hour to hour. This is because an increasingly large proportion of online retailers now using dynamic pricing practices. This is when the prices of items change in response to real-time factors, including by not limited to time of day, customer demographics, stock levels, site traffic, and competitor pricing. Prices tend to rise when perceived demand is judged to be high in relation to product supply, meaning that there are optimal times to make purchases, but it can be extremely difficult to predict when prices will change and effectively impossible to keep up with fluctuations on all major online retailers. However, price-tracking tools can do all of this for you.
By installing a price-tracking application or browser extension on your device, you can monitor product prices across a variety of different retailers simultaneously. These tools will even allow you to view and compare price histories of a product in different stores and set up alerts to notify you when a product's price drops below a predetermined threshold. This will take all of the effort out of price checking and comparison and ensure you never miss a good deal, allowing you to save a tidy amount on everything from tech to household supplies while avoiding the trouble of having to repeatedly check different stores.
Streamline your finances with budgeting apps
Applications like virtual private networks and price-checking tools can go a long way by helping you discover and access different deals and promotions, but perhaps the most consistent savings you make will be in your daily money management. Budgeting apps, in particular, are a great tool for managing everyday costs. They will allow you to create different pots for different purposes, like monthly bills, food, and entertainment, and monitor and control your day-to-day expenditure to ensure you don't go beyond your means.
More and more, automation is also becoming a common feature of these applications, as it can help you to maximize efficiency in how you save and handle your finances. Many new budgeting apps can be connected to your bank account and set to round each purchase up to the nearest whole number, putting the remaining cents into a savings pot. Often, the amount will be imperceptible to you at the time of the transaction, but over time, this can quickly mount up, and before long you'll have made yourself a considerable saving that you can invest elsewhere. With automated savings, notifications, expenditure tracking, and even analysis and reports on your outgoings, budgeting apps can help you level up your money management with ease.
Make your money go further with smart spending
In a world gone digital, knowing which tech tools to use and how to use them can make all the difference to how you save money and manage your finances. With new solutions emerging all the time, there are all kinds of different ways to make your money go further, but these tips are a solid place to start.
By incorporating VPNs, price-tracking tools, and budgeting apps into how you shop and handle your finances, you'll be able to take full control of your spending, stick to your budget, and ensure that you make every cent work for you.
