It doesn’t matter the day of the week or the month of the year. We are always trying to find ways to save money. We work hard for our money and the last thing we want to do is watch it dawdle away. By being smart with the money that we have we are able to SAVE for fun activities, emergency funds, and rainy days!
15 Ways to Save Money
Pay your bills on time and avoid late fees. Try to automate your payments. Schedule your bill payments in your calendar or a program like Mint. If you forget a bill (it happens!) you can call the company and politely request they waive the late fee. The worse they can say is no.
Use cash! You cannot spend what you do not have. Making a cash budget and sticking to it will save you from overspending.
Save your loose change. By keeping your loose change in a jar and not dipping in to it you can save a considerable chunk of change. Consider doing the 52 Week Money Saving Challenge and you will save $1,378 in one year’s time.
Use coupons. By printing and clipping coupons you are saving money on products you normally purchase. Why pay full price for toilet paper and tooth paste when you can use a coupon? Coupons are available to print from Coupons.com, Redplum, and Smartsource. If you would rather your coupons be hassle free, use SavingStar to download them to your store shopper’s card. Take your money saving a step further with the two money saving phone apps that I adore: Ibotta and Checkout 51.
Brown bag your lunch. It is much cheaper to pack your lunch at home and take it with you to work, play dates, or other outings. It can also be healthier too, which is a great additional benefit.
Drink water. Fatigue, headaches, and the inability to focus are signs of dehydration. Water is the cure! Water is free, healthy, and essential. Ditch those expensive (less healthy) beverages and stick with water.
Use a prepaid cell phone. I have used Straight Talk for years now and I am very pleased with it! (Virgin Mobile is another great option). It’s so easy and I love not having a contract. My friends tell me what they pay for their iPhones each month and I am always in shock that people pay (a lot) more than they should for cell phone service.
Ditch cable. Sign up for a service like Netflix. For one low monthly price (around $8), Netflix members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on nearly any Internet-connected screen. Members can play, pause and resume watching, all without commercials or commitments. I love, love, love Netflix! You can also stream movies with your Amazon Prime account. Don’t forget Redbox movie rentals as a great source of keeping up with the latest movie releases. You can also subscribe to Redbox Instant and receive unlimited streaming PLUS 4 free kiosk rental credits per month for subscribed users. Adding up the monthly price of Netflix ($8 per month), Amazon Prime (about $6.60 per month), and Redbox Streaming ($8 per month) you will pay less than $25 a month and have access to thousands of great shows.
Cut the phone cord. Use a Voice Over Internet Protocol Phone. We have used our for years now and I can’t imagine going back to a traditional phone line. Between our VOIP and prepaid cell phone we pay a fraction of what other families do.
Borrow from the library. Libraries have a huge collection of books, DVDs, audio books, magazines, and more for you to borrow. See if you local library offers passes to state parks or local tourist attractions (like zoos – I know that Zoo Atlanta participates in a free admission opportunity with the local libraries).
Buy used. Thrift Store shopping tricks are a great way to pick up items that you need for cheap! Check Craigslist (always meet in a public place), Freecycle, yard sales, or you local want ads for other places to buy great used products.
Repair it yourself. It’s scary to think about tackling home repairs, but if something is broken you can save a huge chunk of money by repairing it yourself. Get a handyman’s book from the library, checkout some DIY forums, or head to Youtube to watch videos of people with your exact problem and give it a shot yourself. My husband has fixed our washing machine, dryer (same issue, twice), van radiator, and even the central air conditioning system himself. We have saved thousands of dollars this way!
Start a garden. Whether you are using planters or have an area to for a Square Foot Garden all you need to do is start some seedlings and watch them grow. You will be able to grow items you at home for a fraction of the cost of the grocery store!
Check your community calendar for free events and activities. There are often great ways to get out of the house without spending a dime! Each Friday we post Free Weekend Family Fun events that happen at retailers across the nation.
Master the thirty day rule. Stop and think about just how much you want an item. If you can wait thirty days and you still want this item then it is worth purchasing.
Do you have ways that you save money? Please leave a comment with your money saving technique!
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Leandrea is a married mom of two girls, ages 13 and 12, living in Atlanta, GA. She is passionate about helping people save money one coupon at a time. Read more
These are some great tips. I wish we could cut the cable bill. I enjoy watching the news (not cable news) and we won’t get these those channels (2, 4 and 7). It’s the cost of the boxes that we have to have to watch tv that really kills me, I don’t understand why we went from just having a cable hook-up to having to have the boxes. I think it’s just so they could charge more.
I follow at least 8 of these rules! My husband says that i am the most patient person in the world when it comes to buying things I want . When we are out shopping together I will say something like ” hey thats nice” and he will tell me right then and there to buy it . I almost always leave it there and wait for a sale , or clearance price . Or even move on and not get it at all . We all have way too much crap in our lives anyway.
Another option for cutting the phone cord is getting a prepaid cell phone that stays at home. We rarely used our land line, but we wanted there to be a readily accessible phone in the house, that our child knew how to use, that could be used to call 911. We bought a prepaid Tmobile flip phone for about $30 at Target and ported our existing landline number to it. We loaded a $10 card on it which gave us 30 minutes of talk time which would expire in three months. Minutes roll over when you refill the phone before the expiration date. With our low usage, we load another $10 every three months to keep the phone active and to roll the minutes. Once we’ve loaded $100, we’ll reach Gold status, or whatever TMobile calls it, and will only have to refill the phone once a year (unless our minutes run out sooner).
Really awesome tips especially the one about drinking water! We often forget how important it is!