Feeling the pinch of living the ultimate Dubai lifestyle? Or are you finding yourself tight at the end of the month? We’ve got your back. These simple day-to-day changes will help you save up on your bank balance plus have your leisure intact.
1. Save Money On Your Dewa Bills
With temperatures soaring in through the day, your DEWA bills rise too. An excellent way to cut down on this is by keeping your AC temperature at 24 C and keeping it on ‘Auto’ mode instead of ‘On’ mode. As Dewa charges peak between 12 PM to 6 PM, reducing consumption during this time can help a lot in saving on DEWA bills.
2. Optimize Your Petrol Consumption
Buying petrol during the cooler hours of the day when petrol is denser helps in saving on the money. With evenings being cooler, it’s always an excellent idea to roll down the windows and minimize the AC consumption. Driving steadily and turning off the engine when possible always helps in reducing the consumption too.
3. Use RTA
It is always an eco-friendlier idea to hop onto public transport and leave your car keys at home. Not only is it eco-friendly, but it’s also a cheaper travel alternative too. Frequent RTA traveler? And you end up topping your NOL card every once in a while? Invest in a blue Nol Card instead and choose a one day, seven days, 30 days, 90 days, and a yearly unlimited pass and use the RTA as much as you want.
4. Grocery Shopping Saves
Pick your favorite grocery store and stick to it. This way, you earn loyalty points and know what part of your grocery listing is where. This ensures you are not tempted to look at things you don’t need and fill in your cart. A pro tip for grocery saves- pick a smaller shopping cart so that you don’t end up filling it more than you need.
5. Save On Your Retail Buys
Retailers of all kinds- from clothing stores like the Shukran Card from Landmark stores to pharmacies like Aster Care Card offer loyalty cards that allocate loyalty points to be redeemed against purchases. Apps like Etisalat’s Smile offer a plethora of offers to save money on. Link your Etisalat number and redeem it on Smiles app. From discounts on restaurants to cinemas, they offer it all and downloading these are a sure shot way of saving up.
6. Keep Your Phone Bill Down
With landline telecom operators offering free landline to landline service in the country and mobile calling rates being cheaper, it is wise to use landlines when available. Sign up for discounted VoIP calling packages and cut down on your mobile phone bill.
7. Cost Effective Leisure
Be it Vox Cinemas, Reel Cinemas or Novo Cinemas they all offer discounts on your cards. So if you own an Emirates NBD and want to head to Reel Cinemas, you are in for a bit of luck as you get discount starting 25% off on the ticket price. Save up by watching your movies on a weekday instead of weekends as you can avail 50% off your Novo Cinemas ticket from Sunday to Wednesday using your Smiles app.
8. Cut Down On Rents
With rents taking a size-able chunk of your paycheck it’s a wise idea to not splurge too much on rents. Get a smaller apartment or share accommodation near your workplace or in an area with functional RTA connectivity so that you are not shelling out too much on transportation also.
9. Opt For VOD Services Instead Of High-End TV Packages
If you like binging on your tv shows but find it a pinch to shell out on the high tv package rates, then opt for VOD services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. Not only do they give the convenience of watching anytime, anywhere; these services are much cheaper and start as low as 16 AED.
10. Frequent Flyer Programmes
Collect points every time you travel with Emirates or Etihad and get discounts in stores or save up on the ticket. What best way to save up on your summer flight than a frequent flyer program, isn’t it?
This article has been contributed to Curly Tales by Syeda Saniya Fatima. If you wish to contribute your travel story, please drop an email here