Ten Easy Ways to Save Money
In an era where financial stability is a paramount concern, mastering the art of saving money has become a skill that can significantly impact our lives. Whether you're striving to build an emergency fund, plan for your dream vacation, purchase a home, or secure your retirement, saving money is the cornerstone of achieving these financial goals. In this guide, we will explore ten ways to save money, from budgeting and cutting expenses to smart shopping, investing, and more. By implementing these strategies, you can take control of your finances and work toward a brighter financial future.
10/6/20236 min read
Prepare food at home:
Eating out less is one of the most effective ways to save money and improve your financial health. While dining at restaurants can be enjoyable and convenient, you can expect to pay at least two times as much compared to cooking it yourself, this does not include tipping fees.
If you at least try to cook a meal a week, you can find yourself learning the prices of items and how to manage the grocery shopping world. After some time, you will understand which foods can save you money, and which are way too expensive for your budget. From my experience, amazing budget-friendly food products include anything with pasta since they are easily mass-produced to give you the best deal. Organic Fusilli Pasta is a good example of how cheap food can get, with one pound of fusilli pasta priced at $2, you can feed six people.
Avoid Brand Loyalty:
Consider switching to generic or store-brand products instead of name brands. Often, these are just as good but cost less. You can usually find generic brands being advertised next to brand-named products. Usually, this is indicated by a brand that is named after the store that is selling it, an example is Amazon Basic products which are generics made by Amazon. Since Amazon is a trusted seller to begin with, buying generics from them is a solid choice.
Buying generics can save at least 30%-60% off the retail price of a brand-name product. You can expect significantly higher savings when comparing your savings with luxury brands that are completely unnecessary for living.
Cancel Unused Subscription Services:
Canceling unused subscription services is a simple yet effective way to save money. In today's digital age, it's easy to accumulate various subscriptions, and they can quickly add up. If you have way too many subscriptions, calculate which ones you use the least and get rid of them.
You can also justify your cancellation by understanding which services are already provided by an existing one that you already have. An example is using YouTube Premium (if you already are subscribed) as a Spotify replacement.
Try out budget-friendly Hobbies:
Exploring budget-friendly hobbies is an excellent way to save money while still enjoying your leisure time and pursuing your interests. Usually, these hobbies are also very productive if molded correctly.
Interests such as reading is very productive and also fairly cheap with the Internet providing countless reading material, and for those looking for a more physical approach, local libraries are also options.
to name a few budget-friendly hobbies which include hiking and nature exploration, cooking and baking, gardening, writing, photography.... etc.
Lower Utility Uses:
Lowering utility costs can be an effective way to save money on your monthly expenses. Although turning off lights and not using water are easy to do, there are other things you can do to help lower your utility bills even more.
In terms of water-saving habits and maintenance, make sure your home doesn't have any leaks that will create increased bill costs for no reason. Leaky faucets or toilets are usually the culprits, but you can also make sure that your watering hose or pipes could also be an issue. Remember if you have programmable sprinklers, make sure to program the sprinkler cycle to an amount you are comfortable with, you should also lower your sprinkler usage during the winter as your plants will also thank you for it. Collecting water during the rainy season is also not a bad idea, as the stored rainwater can be used to water plants or rinse personal belongings.
In terms of electricity, try to make use of natural lighting as much as you can by opening windows during the day. Changing light bulbs to LED is also a good investment, using old incandescent bulbs can cost as much as nine times the electricity as LED bulbs. Also if there are appliances that don't need to be plugged in, make sure to unplug them, we may not know it but many devices and electrical equipment are still sucking in power even though they are off.
Adopt Cheaper Phone and Internet plans:
Reducing your phone and internet expenses by opting for cheaper plans is a practical way to save money. It is best to always compare plans and assess what you need as all phone plans vary in many ways.
With T-Mobile plans basically giving you unlimited talk, text, and internet usage, it's hard to not love the freedom. However, if you feel that you don't use the internet on the phone as much, you may benefit by getting a cheaper plan that is outside of T-Mobile's expertise. Mint Mobile literally offers similar plans at half the price but comes with a data limit. Phone plans can also be negotiated if you find a better deal elsewhere, make sure to use this to your advantage.
Personal Internet can also be changed if desired depending on the data speeds you need. With internet packages that span from offering you 300 Mbps to 10,000 Mbps, I would recommend the lower end package for a budget-friendly option. Do you need to stream in 4K? is steaming in 1080p ok? do you even stream at all? these are all questions to ask yourself. If you don't use the internet often at home, you may even just use your phone as a hotspot if you do need to on occasion.
Try Eating less:
Buying food can be dangerous to your wallet if done without caution. Since eating is not a subscription where you can pay every month, actively deciding what you want to eat every meal changes depending on your urges. If takeout costs $15 a day, you will spend $465 a month on lunch alone. Eating less is a strong strategy for saving money, but it is harder said than done.
Try to avoid purchasing combo items even though it seems like a good deal. Added fries and a drink are the cheapest items to produce and also are the highest in profitability for restaurants. Make sure businesses don't screw you over by just not getting a combo.
By eating less, you not only save money but you save on calories as well. Make sure to try to portion your meals for the day, it makes it easier if you make it into a numbers game where the goal is the consume a certain amount of calories a day. Even though your body will feel hungry for a couple of weeks, it will readjust to your new diet saving money in the long run.
Avoid Impulse Shopping:
Avoiding impulse shopping can help you save money and make more intentional purchasing decisions. This first starts with planning out what and where you're going to buy your needs. Make a list before heading out for the day and stick with it the best you can. By understanding what you want, you will likely spend less time in stores which ultimately leads you to save money instead of curiously buying items you did not need in the first place.
Another oddly helpful tip is to bring along friends and family who do not want to shop with you in the first place, it will force you to complete your shopping list faster so as to not upset your unwanted guest.
Set a Spending Limit:
Setting a spending limit involves determining the maximum amount of money you're willing to spend within a certain period (daily, weekly, monthly) on specific categories of expenses.
An example is setting a spending limit of $15 a day on food and a monthly apparel shopping limit of $200.
The core categories you should worry about are groceries, vehicles, utilities, and housing. Make sure to create a budget around these categories, once you have created one, experiment with your created budget and change it towards your lifestyle's needs. You can also experiment with slowly cutting back on all of these categories to see what the maximum you can save in total.
Go Out Less:
Going out less can be a significant money-saving strategy, as it reduces your spending on entertainment, dining, and other activities that often come with a high price tag. Although there are deals on events and shows that are hard to pass up, in the end, you will be tempted to spend more because of all the extra amenities that will be sold during your visit.
To save money in general, it's better to just not go out at all. Other alternatives can be hosting a gathering at home where you can get together and play cheap board games or watch a movie. In case there are no other alternatives, you can have a gathering at happy hour and share the cost of appetizers to have a budget-friendly outing.
