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Great Ways to Save Money
When it comes down to saving money, getting out of debt, and achieving financial freedom, the little things that you do day-to-day matter a lot! Saving money should not be as difficult as many people think. While it may require some tweaks to how you currently do things, the changes do not have to be overly radical.
As expected, you will need some type of a budget; you will need to start paying attention to how you spend your money; and, you may need to embrace a “frugal” lifestyle. By frugal, I do not refer to a complete shutdown on living and denying yourself of the pleasures of day-to-day existence. Rather, it means you become generally smarter with your money.
If you are able to apply ten, twenty, thirty or more of these strategies, you will find yourself chipping away at your debt faster, growing your account balance, and moving a step closer to achieving your financial dreams.
29 Brilliant Ways To Save Money On A Daily Basis
Saving more money may require a few changes to your lifestyle, but that does not mean you need to turn your life upside down. A few creative strategies to slash your monthly expenses here and there can get you on your way to significantly boosting your net worth.
1. Create A Budget: Start your savings journey the right way by keeping track of your spending and savings with budgeting apps like YNAB, Mint, Empower, Pocket Guard, Wally, and others.
2. Pack Your Lunch: Brown bagging your lunch can save you thousands of dollars per year. By our estimate, my wife and I save about $2,800 every single year with this easy hack.
3. Eat Out Less: Apart from lunches, eating food prepared at home in general will save you lots of money without having to earn more. The average American household spends over $3,000 on food outside the home, and for Canadians, about 30% of the annual food budget is spent on eating out.
4. Make Coffee At Home: Coffee-lovers, don’t let your coffee drinking render you penniless! Choosing to buy all your coffees in cafes as opposed to making your own may be costing you as much as $1,155 per year. That’s a lot of money for coffee in my opinion.
5. Save On Movies: There are many tips and tricks for saving money on movie tickets if you must go to the theaters. Consider movie nights at home to save money and use a credit card or loyalty/rewards program that pays you back whenever you go to see the movies. A 1,275% markup on movie theater popcorn is just one of many reasons why movies are expensive.
6. Cut Your Energy Bill: There’s a lot of savings to be had by lowering your energy usage everyday.
7. Shop For Insurance: You can obtain cheaper insurance for your car, home, and life insurance by shopping around and comparing quotes. We save about $300 annually on our home insurance by shopping for the best deal available (similar coverage). Term life insurance is more practical and is definitely cheaper for most people compared to whole life insurance. Try Lemonade for low renter’s and home insurance premiums in the US.
8. Pay Insurance Premium Upfront: Paying your premiums upfront on an annual basis may get you up to 8% in discounts.
9. Bundle-Up Your Insurance: If the individual quotes you are being offered are reasonable, there are usually savings to be had when you obtain multiple insurance from the same provider.
10. Quit Smoking: Seriously, give this a good try and stop. This single tip can make a world of difference with your finances! Your smoking habit may easily cost you more than $1.1 million over your lifetime.
11. Walk, Bus, Bike or Carpool: This will lower your transportation costs and save you hundreds to thousands of dollars per year. Walking and biking are also good for your health and the environment.
12. Hand-Me Downs For Kids: Kids cost money – duh! Buying (or swapping) fairly used items including toys, sporting gear, and even clothing and footwear will save you a lot of money. Thrift stores are great places to find items in good condition and at reasonable prices.
13. Buy A Gas Friendly Vehicle: Choose a vehicle that is fuel efficient to save on gas. Consider a hybrid, electric vehicle, or a smaller car.
14. Buy a Pre-owned Vehicle: A new car loses 10% of its value the moment you drive it off the lot. After 5 years, you may have lost about 60% of its value!
15. Buy Regular Fuel: Most cars do not require premium fuel to run efficiently. Buy regular gasoline and save the additional 15 to 40 cents per liter – potentially hundreds of dollars per year.
16. Buy Cheaper Gas: Buy regular gas and buy it cheap. Use websites/apps like Gas Buddy to find the cheapest gas in your area. Use a cash back or points rewards card to pay for gas for even more savings.
17. DIY Car Maintenance: Replace your car’s wiper blades, cabin and engine air filters, fluids, and more by yourself to save money.
18. Drive Light: Lighten the load your car lugs around by removing unnecessary items and luggage. An additional 100 lbs of load in your car lowers its fuel efficiency by 1%.
19. Visit Yard Sales: You can get great deals on equipment, tools, and other items at yard/garage sales. Use Craigslist, Kijiji, Yard Sales Search, Garage Sale Hunter, and others to find them in your area.
20. Re-Think Your Gym Membership: I agree that health is wealth and if you are keeping your New Year’s resolution and visiting the gym regularly, keep your membership. If not, forgive yourself, cancel and stop wasting money. Consider a home gym if you can find the motivation…it will save you money.
21. Save On Haircuts: Learning to cut your own hair will save you money. We save close to $1,000 annually by cutting our own hair. I have not been to a barbershop in more than 7 years.
22. Check-out The Dollar Store: You can get some items for cheaper at dollar stores and not lose out significantly on quality. Better still, focus on buying run of the mill items like freezer bags, lunch bags, duct tape, picture frames, greeting cards, disposable plates and spoons, etc. from these stores. Make sure the item you are paying for is worth a dollar.
23. Cancel Unused Subscriptions: If you are not really reading those magazines cluttering up your home, it’s time to cancel your subscription and save the money and your sanity.
24. Visit The Library: Save money on buying books by borrowing from your local library. You can also utilize their free activities, classes, workshops, tool rentals, and more.
25. Learn Sewing: Learn to sew/mend/repair clothing and save money by doing so. Due to my wife’s sewing skills, we are able to save $$$ every year on kid’s clothing that would otherwise need to be replaced.
26. Plan Vacations Early: Start planning in advance, create a vacation fund to save the cash required, and utilize travel rewards card offers to earn some money back. Consider a staycation, and instead of traveling abroad, visit local attractions to save money.
27. Embrace DIY: Honing your DIY skills will save you a ton of money over time. Be practical and only undertake tasks that won’t land you in trouble. There are many useful DIY sites to use as your source of inspiration.
28. Don’t Keep Up With Your Neighbors: Forget about impressing people who don’t give a hoot about you. Live within your means and save some money at the same time.
29. Learn To Negotiate: Very few things are set in stone… most are negotiable. Be willing to ask for more (in income) or less (in expenses). I have negotiated our phone, internet, and cable bills for the last two years and saved 75% on the cost per year.
All of these methods are great to try if you are trying to save a buck or two. When cutting down your expenses you are able to save more and cut down on the burden of being trapped by your finances. Having more financial freedom allows for you to build and grow in a more productive manner, like traveling, saving up for a house, new car, taking your kids out to experience new adventures like museums, and so much more. There is a major benefit to grasping the habit of saving and finding ways to pinch pennies to save more. Also that is why it would be great to look into other methods of saving and making money through freelancing as well. You don't have to leave your already established job but if you like writing and researching particular topics, freelance writing might be a fun gig for you to consider when it comes to making some extra cash on the side part-time. Some people even become full-time freelance writers and make a full-income just doing that. It's all about what you are looking for and what will benefit you and your family's needs.
As expected, you will need some type of a budget; you will need to start paying attention to how you spend your money; and, you may need to embrace a “frugal” lifestyle. By frugal, I do not refer to a complete shutdown on living and denying yourself of the pleasures of day-to-day existence. Rather, it means you become generally smarter with your money.
If you are able to apply ten, twenty, thirty or more of these strategies, you will find yourself chipping away at your debt faster, growing your account balance, and moving a step closer to achieving your financial dreams.
29 Brilliant Ways To Save Money On A Daily Basis
Saving more money may require a few changes to your lifestyle, but that does not mean you need to turn your life upside down. A few creative strategies to slash your monthly expenses here and there can get you on your way to significantly boosting your net worth.
1. Create A Budget: Start your savings journey the right way by keeping track of your spending and savings with budgeting apps like YNAB, Mint, Empower, Pocket Guard, Wally, and others.
2. Pack Your Lunch: Brown bagging your lunch can save you thousands of dollars per year. By our estimate, my wife and I save about $2,800 every single year with this easy hack.
3. Eat Out Less: Apart from lunches, eating food prepared at home in general will save you lots of money without having to earn more. The average American household spends over $3,000 on food outside the home, and for Canadians, about 30% of the annual food budget is spent on eating out.
4. Make Coffee At Home: Coffee-lovers, don’t let your coffee drinking render you penniless! Choosing to buy all your coffees in cafes as opposed to making your own may be costing you as much as $1,155 per year. That’s a lot of money for coffee in my opinion.
5. Save On Movies: There are many tips and tricks for saving money on movie tickets if you must go to the theaters. Consider movie nights at home to save money and use a credit card or loyalty/rewards program that pays you back whenever you go to see the movies. A 1,275% markup on movie theater popcorn is just one of many reasons why movies are expensive.
6. Cut Your Energy Bill: There’s a lot of savings to be had by lowering your energy usage everyday.
7. Shop For Insurance: You can obtain cheaper insurance for your car, home, and life insurance by shopping around and comparing quotes. We save about $300 annually on our home insurance by shopping for the best deal available (similar coverage). Term life insurance is more practical and is definitely cheaper for most people compared to whole life insurance. Try Lemonade for low renter’s and home insurance premiums in the US.
8. Pay Insurance Premium Upfront: Paying your premiums upfront on an annual basis may get you up to 8% in discounts.
9. Bundle-Up Your Insurance: If the individual quotes you are being offered are reasonable, there are usually savings to be had when you obtain multiple insurance from the same provider.
10. Quit Smoking: Seriously, give this a good try and stop. This single tip can make a world of difference with your finances! Your smoking habit may easily cost you more than $1.1 million over your lifetime.
11. Walk, Bus, Bike or Carpool: This will lower your transportation costs and save you hundreds to thousands of dollars per year. Walking and biking are also good for your health and the environment.
12. Hand-Me Downs For Kids: Kids cost money – duh! Buying (or swapping) fairly used items including toys, sporting gear, and even clothing and footwear will save you a lot of money. Thrift stores are great places to find items in good condition and at reasonable prices.
13. Buy A Gas Friendly Vehicle: Choose a vehicle that is fuel efficient to save on gas. Consider a hybrid, electric vehicle, or a smaller car.
14. Buy a Pre-owned Vehicle: A new car loses 10% of its value the moment you drive it off the lot. After 5 years, you may have lost about 60% of its value!
15. Buy Regular Fuel: Most cars do not require premium fuel to run efficiently. Buy regular gasoline and save the additional 15 to 40 cents per liter – potentially hundreds of dollars per year.
16. Buy Cheaper Gas: Buy regular gas and buy it cheap. Use websites/apps like Gas Buddy to find the cheapest gas in your area. Use a cash back or points rewards card to pay for gas for even more savings.
17. DIY Car Maintenance: Replace your car’s wiper blades, cabin and engine air filters, fluids, and more by yourself to save money.
18. Drive Light: Lighten the load your car lugs around by removing unnecessary items and luggage. An additional 100 lbs of load in your car lowers its fuel efficiency by 1%.
19. Visit Yard Sales: You can get great deals on equipment, tools, and other items at yard/garage sales. Use Craigslist, Kijiji, Yard Sales Search, Garage Sale Hunter, and others to find them in your area.
20. Re-Think Your Gym Membership: I agree that health is wealth and if you are keeping your New Year’s resolution and visiting the gym regularly, keep your membership. If not, forgive yourself, cancel and stop wasting money. Consider a home gym if you can find the motivation…it will save you money.
21. Save On Haircuts: Learning to cut your own hair will save you money. We save close to $1,000 annually by cutting our own hair. I have not been to a barbershop in more than 7 years.
22. Check-out The Dollar Store: You can get some items for cheaper at dollar stores and not lose out significantly on quality. Better still, focus on buying run of the mill items like freezer bags, lunch bags, duct tape, picture frames, greeting cards, disposable plates and spoons, etc. from these stores. Make sure the item you are paying for is worth a dollar.
23. Cancel Unused Subscriptions: If you are not really reading those magazines cluttering up your home, it’s time to cancel your subscription and save the money and your sanity.
24. Visit The Library: Save money on buying books by borrowing from your local library. You can also utilize their free activities, classes, workshops, tool rentals, and more.
25. Learn Sewing: Learn to sew/mend/repair clothing and save money by doing so. Due to my wife’s sewing skills, we are able to save $$$ every year on kid’s clothing that would otherwise need to be replaced.
26. Plan Vacations Early: Start planning in advance, create a vacation fund to save the cash required, and utilize travel rewards card offers to earn some money back. Consider a staycation, and instead of traveling abroad, visit local attractions to save money.
27. Embrace DIY: Honing your DIY skills will save you a ton of money over time. Be practical and only undertake tasks that won’t land you in trouble. There are many useful DIY sites to use as your source of inspiration.
28. Don’t Keep Up With Your Neighbors: Forget about impressing people who don’t give a hoot about you. Live within your means and save some money at the same time.
29. Learn To Negotiate: Very few things are set in stone… most are negotiable. Be willing to ask for more (in income) or less (in expenses). I have negotiated our phone, internet, and cable bills for the last two years and saved 75% on the cost per year.
All of these methods are great to try if you are trying to save a buck or two. When cutting down your expenses you are able to save more and cut down on the burden of being trapped by your finances. Having more financial freedom allows for you to build and grow in a more productive manner, like traveling, saving up for a house, new car, taking your kids out to experience new adventures like museums, and so much more. There is a major benefit to grasping the habit of saving and finding ways to pinch pennies to save more. Also that is why it would be great to look into other methods of saving and making money through freelancing as well. You don't have to leave your already established job but if you like writing and researching particular topics, freelance writing might be a fun gig for you to consider when it comes to making some extra cash on the side part-time. Some people even become full-time freelance writers and make a full-income just doing that. It's all about what you are looking for and what will benefit you and your family's needs.
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