If you are trying to be free from debt and save as much money as possible, then you came to the right place.
This year, with the pandemic, things have been crazy, and finances have been tighter than they have been in a long time for many people. So many are trying to find ways to save as much as possible and stretch those dollars.
I am hoping these suggestions help you with that goal. Some you may have already done; some may be new. If you have any suggestions of your own, please feel free to drop a comment below and share them.
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Tips to save you money
#1 Get Rid of Your Gym Membership and Use FREE or Low-Cost Exercise Apps
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TIP: Check out these Top 10 Tips for Crushing your At-Home Workout!
#2 Download Books Instead of Purchasing Them
Did you know you can rent books from the library or download a cheaper version of the book to your kindle or phone?!
I’ve also found you can often find FREE PDF versions of your books online. I like to use the sites PDF Drive and Z Library – especially for homeschooling books and workbooks! I have saved a lot of money getting books this way.
Of course, don’t forget you can just get a FREE library card from your local library and borrow books for free. Just don’t forget to return them to avoid a late fee!
#3 Earn money from your car
Yes, you read that right. Make some extra money renting out your car using apps such as Hyrecar. Users can rent cars that best fit their needs to drive with Uber, Postmates, Instacart, or any other on-demand delivery service. Available for daily, weekly, or monthly rentals. And you, the care owner, get to make some extra cash! The car rental apps insure your car so if anything happens you will be compensated for any damage.
You can also make some extra cash by driving people around if you sign up as a driver for Uber or Lyft. Consider the peak times when people need a car. It is normally busier on Friday and Saturday nights, during concert events, trips to and from airports. If you can make yourself available during those times you are most likely to be booked.
As for someone who is looking to save money on a ride, you can save money live better by carpooling. It reduces fuel or transport costs. You can use apps such as Trees for Cars, Zim Ride, and GoCarma to find people to carpool with.
Another thing you can do is rent out your car parking space. There are a TON of apps that help you with this such as Parkpnp, Bookgaragetime, Parkme, Justpark, and Parkwhiz.
Some people actually get paid to even advertise on their car! Crazy right?! Think about it. Your car is a prime piece of advertising property. Think of how many people see your car in rush hour traffic every day. You may as well save money live better and earn money from your car by car wrapping!
People do this by using sites such as Carvetise, Wrapify, Pay Me For Driving, Sticker Ride, Car Bucks, Referral Cars, and Car Quids.
Car wrapping involves you placing advertisements from companies on your car. You can earn up to $1000 doing it!
#4 Repair clothes instead of buying new ones
Learning to sew may seem scary if you have prior experience with sewing. However, there are a ton of tutorials all over the internet, and even YouTube, showing you everything you need to know. Sewing by hand is super easy and cost-effective, it has saved me hundreds over the years!
#5 Make Homemade Gift instead of buying them
We all want to give something nice to those who are special to use for their birthdays or holidays. Sometimes it just isn’t in our budget – especially if you need to make a lot. Why not make some homemade gifts instead? These are so much more personable to me and can even save you some money!
Alternatively, you could give them the gift of labor and offer to babysit or make them dinner. You can make cute vouchers and write your gift of labor on it to make it something a bit more personable and memorable.
#6 Become a rate player
A rate player is only faithful to the best interest rate offered to them by banks. So, whichever bank offers them the lowest interest on credit cards and the highest interest on savings- they will follow. Sometimes it’s only a matter of asking for the best interest rates. Just call your bank up and ask for a better rate.
#7 Take up a side hustle
This is a great way to make some extra money on the side. A few examples could be freelance writing, editing, online teaching, becoming a freelance virtual assistant or even doing odd jobs. Sites such as Fiverr allow you to do such things. You can also take up direct sales. I have a ton of work from home job offers currently listed.
#8 Earn money from your bank account
Open a savings account that pays interest on savings! Make a plan to put some money away in your savings every month. Every month that money in your savings will get free money from the interest rate. Depending on your interest rate and how much money is in your account will depend on how much money you get each month. Either way, I will never say no to free money!
#9 Automate your savings
Make saving easy by automating your savings. Automating your savings deposits allows you to set up automatic transfers from savings to checking at just about any bank. Or, you can funnel a portion of your direct deposit to your savings before it even hits your checking account.
I recommend checking out these Money Apps which round up any purchases you make to the nearest dollar amount. So, let’s say you spend $2.65 on a croissant every morning. These apps will automatically transfer $0.35 into your savings account.
What’s great about these apps is that the amount they’re saving for you is small. So, you don’t really notice that 20, 24, 50 cents, or whatever is being transferred to your savings. Do your research and take an interest in your money and how it can work for you.
With Qapital, you can set up personalized savings goals and rules. IYou can set custom goals and rules to save, or you can use the app’s existing rules. With the Round Up Rule, Qapital will round up your purchase to the nearest dollar and then save the change for you. What’s interesting about this app is can also invest your money for you. This costs $1 per month if you invest less than $5,000. Your money is invested into a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds. This app determines your investments based on when you need your money and how much risk you’re willing to take. Plus, you can get real-time transaction notifications, instant access to funds when you reach a goal, and up-to-date account balance and transaction info. Qaptial card holders also earn interest on their savings.
Chime is a banking app. It’s one of the fastest-growing bank accounts in the U.S. with more than 900,000 accounts opened. When you make a purchase or pay a bill with your Chime Visa Debit Card, Chime automatically rounds up the transactions to the nearest dollar. Then, it transfers this money from your Spending Account to your Savings account. You can also have 10% of every paycheck automatically transferred into your Savings Account. Once you sign up, the bank will send you a Chime Visa Debit Card, and you’ll get an FDIC-insured Spending Account, and a Savings account. Just make sure the Automatic Savings setting is on (it’s under the Savings header) – it should be green in the app.
The Bank of America Keep the Change Program allows you to save money when you make everyday purchases. Just enroll the Bank of America debit card you use to make purchases – make sure it’s the card you use when you shop online and make recurring payments too. That way, you’ll save more. Then, just shop as you normally would, using that card to pay for your purchases. Bank of America will round up your purchases to the nearest dollar amount, and transfer the change from your checking account to your savings account. You can choose to have the change transferred to a child’s savings account too.
Connect the checking account and credit cards that you use to make every day purchases to your BoostUp account. Then, make purchases as you normally would. BoostUp will round up your purchases to the nearest dollar amount, and then save the spare change in your BoostUp account.
Acorns differs slightly to the other apps in this section. It still rounds up your purchases, but instead of transferring your money into a savings account, it invests it for you. Connect the cards and accounts you normally use to make purchases. Then, Acorns will round up your purchases to the nearest dollar amount, and invest that money into a portfolio of stocks and bonds. Also, you can choose how frequently you invest – whether you want to invest money daily, weekly or monthly, or make a one-time investment.
Qoins uses your spare change to pay down your debts. Like the other apps on this list, Qoins rounds up your purchases to the nearest dollar amount. Then it uses this money to pay your debts, like student loans, mortgages, or credit cards. Just download the app, connect your accounts, and tell Qoins who you want to pay. The app will then send out payments according to a schedule that you choose. You can even use the app to keep track of how much you’ve paid out towards your loans, and to see how much of a dent you’ve put in your debt.
#10 Plan your meals – Stop Eating Out
You can save money on your grocery shopping if you start meal planning. This helps you to buy only the food and ingredients you need. I find that if I don’t plan ahead, I buy all sorts of random stuff only to find I really have nothing to eat for a meal!
Fast food is convenient at the moment, but if you ask yourself whether you’d rather have 12 drive-thru burrito meals or the money in the bank at the end of the month, you’d probably pick the money. Some reports suggest that the average American spends more than $100 per month on fast food. And of course, if you’re grabbing nuggets for the toddlers in the backseat too, that’ll increase the amount you are pending.
Similarly, if you do a meal plan, I like to cook in bulk. I like to have leftovers, so I don’t have to make a new meal every day. If you are by yourself or don’t have kids, you can cook in bulk and freeze leftovers.
Don’t forget to check your pantry before you head to the grocery store, either! I couldn’t tell you how many times I bought something I already had because I didn’t bother to check!
If you’re not sure where to start with meal planning, you can use services such as PlateJoy to help you!
TIP: Read my article how to How to meal plan like a pro to help you get started!
#11 Cancel subscriptions
Are you subscribed to a ton of store emails that remind you of their daily sales? Unsubscribe! I like being subscribed close around the holidays when I know I will be shopping, but otherwise, I do not need the temptation to buy unnecessary things!
Of course, if you are a shopaholic and know you will be shopping, then being subscribed could help you save money in the long run so you know when to shop for sales.
Additionally, cancel subscriptions to services you are no longer using. Are you paying for music or tv, but rarely or never use it? Cancel it! Never watch cable tv? Cancel it! Don’t keep subscriptions you aren’t using!
#12 Make Your Coffee at Home
Coffee is a must in my house. I save a ton of money making my own coffee at home rather than going out and buying it from a big brand, such as Starbucks.
The average coffee price is $3.12 which totals $811 in one year if you drink one coffee per day from Monday to Friday!
Buy a Nespresso coffee machine or a Keurig Coffee Machine, I think it works out to be about $1 per coffee. Talk about a bargain!
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#13 Plan free activities
It’s easy to spend money when you are bored. Instead of going to the cinema, host a classic movie marathon where everyone brings one item of food. Or instead of going for your usual brunch spot, pack a picnic and find a cool spot to enjoy the day with your loved ones. There are tons of ideas, but check out local parks or if your local area has free events happening!
#14 Avoid Impulse Buying
If you really love it, you will love it again the next time you see it. Give yourself at least a week to think over if you truly want something. If you forget about it, it wasn’t meant to be. Instead, consider signing up for an online grocery delivery service, such as Instacart, to help avoid the pressure of wanting to purchase something on the spot in the store.
#15 Sell or Donate Your Unwanted Junk
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Make some extra cash by selling your old stuff on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, or other local venues.
Don’t want to be bothered with selling? Donate it to those in need. Check locally at maybe a church, shelter, local homeless people, or contact your local VVA (Vietnam Veterans).
#16 Save Money Using the envelope method
One technique you can use here is the envelope method which is a budgeting technique. In essence, you create multiple envelopes where each envelope represents a certain item and you divide your money into different envelopes. For instance, you may have an envelope for groceries, for utility, eating out, fun, savings, taxes, etc., and keep in mind that you define the spending categories. This makes sure that the money goes into the right places. Moreover, any amount left in at the end of the period can be transferred into the savings or be invested
#17 Renegotiate Terms
Did you know you could try to renegotiate a better deal on your credit cards, current loans as well as other services?! Well, you can! You can also consider switch banks if other banks offer the same services at lower fees and costs, or if other banks pay higher interest on your savings.
#18 Use Reward Programs
Save money when you shop locally when you use the store reward programs that are available to you. These usually allow you to earn rewards and get special coupons and offers that are not otherwise offered to shoppers without the program.
#19 Check for Available Coupons
Groceries and other everyday items can be expensive, even if you buy them in bulk. Take advantage of coupons whenever possible! This means you may need to switch from a different brand so you can use a coupon and save money for a better deal at the time. If you’re able to do this, you will save more money!
#20 Don’t be afraid to buy USED
You heard me. Stuff doesn’t always have to be brand new. eBay is a lifesaver for me. Even shopping returned items under Amazon Warehouse saves me a ton of money! Just because it is used doesn’t mean it is in poor condition.