How’s your money situation? Are your bills going down while your retirement and emergency savings go up?
No? Well, you’re not alone. Many are struggling financially, and are looking for ways to save money. Would you like to free up $100 a month or more to pay down debt or start a savings account? Keep reading!
1. Cut The Streaming Cord
At one point, most people dropped their cable packages in favor of streaming services. As it made no sense to pay up to 100$ a month for a cable package you had little control over when you could marathon your favorite shows as much as you like for as little as 10$ a month. Now, however, the issue is that streaming has essentially transformed into a more convenient form of cable. It was great when a person only needed one or two streaming services to access the entire library they wanted. But now, the average person has a subscription to about five different streaming services at a time and average spending about 70$ a month on those subscriptions.
Start off by canceling the streaming services you watch the least, if you aren’t watching them enough to justify spending money on them you aren’t going to miss them. You can also save money by researching free streaming options. Channels like Roku and Pluto are free and have an excellent variety of shows and movies that many streaming services either don’t have available or actively charge money to view. You may find that some of these free streaming services have the exact same shows you pay for through your streaming service.
2. Automate Your Savings
Many bank accounts and apps have started to implement automatic savings practices that help people save money. Some savings are taken out based on how much you spend and what the program believes you won’t miss. Sometimes it can be as low as a few cents, and other times it can be as much as a few dollars. It may not seem like a lot, however, the amounts really do add up and they go right into your savings accounts so you’re not necessarily losing the money. It’s just being put away somewhere safe for you to use later.
3. Sell Your Junk
You know the saying, one man’s junk is another man’s treasure. Well, that saying has a lot of truth to it. You may have heard stories of people trading and selling absolute junk until they managed to get a major treasure at the end of it all. Of course, those stories are very rare, however, they do showcase exactly how valuable one piece of treasure could become.
So don’t throw away those old books, or that kitchen mixer that just won’t turn on anymore. Those may be the exact treasures someone has been looking for and is willing to pay money for.
4. Meal Prep
Whether you are pre making entire meals for yourself to enjoy, or you are simply cutting up and portioning out ingredients in order to make cooking easier for the rest of the week. Taking care of your meal prep is an excellent way for you to ensure that you save a bit of money. So go out, buy those ingredients on sale, and make yourself some meals that work for you.
5. Eat as Seasonally and Locally as You Possibly Can
There are three things that make your produce cost the amount that it does—time, effort, and distance. When you are shopping you might notice that certain items cost more during certain times of the year, and less during other times of the year.
When a food is in season, then that means that it takes less time and effort for it to be grown. When it takes less time and effort to grow, this results in it being slightly cheaper than usual. When a food is in season, and is grown in your area that means that it becomes even more inexpensive. As the produce doesn’t need to travel far to get to you. When food is local and in season, it makes that food so much cheaper. In fact, the only way you could get food to be any cheaper is to grow it yourself.
Here’s something to consider too. Eating is a social experience. So, find people who view food the way that you do. Find friends or even dates who love local food, eating on a budget, or gardening. You can get more information on dating people near you with similar interests.
6. Round Up Your Spending
The smallest amounts of money always add up the fastest, and that’s because we don’t think about them. That dollar and 25 cents for a drink may not feel like a lot, until you realize that you might buy that drink four times a day, and not even think about it. By rounding up your purchases to the next dollar you end up saving yourself money in general by making it so that you don’t overspend on things.
7. Skip The Bookstore and Head to the Library
Owning your media is a great thing, however, we have all fallen victim at least once in our lives to the issue of purchasing a book, movie, or CD only to find that we absolutely hate them. Whether you have to drive back to return the item or attempt to get someone to take it off of your hands. The bookstore is a potential money pit that can be hard to get out of.
The solution? Head to your local library. At the library, you will find that you can access a great deal of amazing media pieces that you may already consider purchasing on your own. By utilizing the library you offer support to a local thing that many other people benefit from. You also get a chance to enjoy pieces of media before purchasing them and making sure that they are worth the money to you. It is estimated that the average person saves about $40-50$ a month when they use the library.
8. Give Yourself a Cash Allowance
It’s easy to lose track of your spending when you use a card, after all most companies make using your card so incredibly simple. This is how it is designed, the more you use your card or the easier they make it for you to use your card, the more you’re going to spend money on stuff that you don’t actually want or need.
Put the cards away, and only set them up to pay for the necessities such as bills, groceries, and your rent or mortgage. Every time you get paid, take out a small amount in cash for general spending. This amount can be whatever you deem to be necessary, and then hide your cards until you get paid again. By using only cash for your general spending habits you will find that spending money gets to be a little bit harder, and you will also find yourself actively thinking about and considering what is worthwhile and what isn’t. Whereas, if you were to use a card you’d be more likely to spend without thinking about it.
9. Share Your Data & Show Your Loyalty
Did you know that programs are available to you that allow you to earn gift cards, cash, and serious discounts? There are just a few trade-offs. Are you willing to do things like:
- Joining store loyalty programs
- Installing shopper apps
- Answering questions about your purchases
- Uploading your receipts
Start with store loyalty programs. Your local grocery store and gas station probably have these. You may access digital coupons, discounts on purchases, and even stack up cash to use on future purchases.
Now stack some shopping apps on top of these. Here are a few to try:
- Upside – savings on gas and groceries that convert to cash
- Ibotta – cash back or gift cards when you purchase qualified items
- Shopkick – accrue points for scanning barcodes, making purchases, or paying with an attached debit card
- Fetch – scan in receipts from almost anywhere
- Rakuten – accrue cash back when you shop online
- Swagbucks – Earn Swagbucks for shopping online and in person and cash those in for money or gift cards
- NCP Mobile – Scan your purchases and take consumer surveys stack up points to redeem for rewards
These are just a few tools you can use to save on shopping and get some rewards in return. Just one word of caution. Be careful that you aren’t tempted to buy things you normally wouldn’t because you see the promise of a reward. The best savings is always money you don’t spend in the first place.
10. Avoid Lifestyle Creep
If you implement these first nine tips, you could easily save 100 dollars per month. You might save significantly more than that. Now, imagine that saving, but there’s more. You might get a new job or a promotion that comes with a raise. Maybe a family member is generous for your birthday. It doesn’t take much money, some increased income, and a windfall or two to make you feel quite rich.
When that happens, it’s understandable that you might want to splurge. Maybe you feel comfortable making some fun purchases on credit or going out to eat more often. It feels good at first until you realize that your debt is up and your savings are down.
That’s called lifestyle creep. Instead, try to look at getting ahead as a way for you to build a more financially secure future for yourself. No, this doesn’t mean you can never treat yourself. Of course, you should do that, you’ve earned it. Just keep in mind that you are working hard for a financial future, not for temporary stuff at the moment.
What Will You Do With Your Savings?
You’re saving money! That’s great! You have conquered half the financial battle. Now, you’re on to the next step. What will you do with all of this money? You have to set goals. Your money needs a purpose.
What if you don’t do that? Then, the savings you have is just going to look like a pile of cash you have on hand to spend on whatever strikes your fancy. Instead, make a budget. Write out long and short-term savings goals. If you want to use some of that additional money for entertainment or a fun purchase, that’s wonderful! But, do it mindfully with a budget category and spending limits. Remember that you are worth temporary sacrifices and discipline for financial security.
