Lately, we’ve been trying to save as much money as we realistically can.
We’re not doing anything too crazy, but we are trying to make a few lifestyle changes so we are not frivolously wasting money that doesn’t need to be spent.
We are mainly trying to save money so that we can put a large down payment on our next home. We also want to start investing more heavily and start taking more trips.
We’re saving money in many other different ways besides just the ones below. However, the ones below are areas we are primarily trying to work on and they equal a total savings of around $1,200 a month right now.
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Continue reading the money saving tips below! Hopefully you will learn a few valuable ways that teach you how to save money:
We’re eating out less.
I’ve talked about this in the past, but I’ve never really dived into this topic too deep because I’ve been ashamed. While we are spending no where near the ridiculous amounts of money that we used to spend on going out to eat, just a few months ago we were still not doing very well.
I estimate we are currently saving around $500 a month by not eating out as much over just a few months ago.
We have been able to cut down on eating out less by eating at home as much as we can. Of course that would be the case, but it’s really been meal planning and less food waste that has really helped us cut down on our food spending.
We now shop with a grocery list and stick to the grocery list as much as we can. We have no where near the amount of food waste we used to have. I believe I once read a statistic that said the average family throws away around 40% of the food they buy.
That’s a TON of food waste!
If you are wanting to learn how to save more money, this easy actionable money saving tip can be it. There are many ways to save money on groceries.
EDIT: I recently joined $5 Meal Plan in order to help me eat at home more and cut my food spending. It’s only $5 a month (the first four weeks are free too) and you get meal plans sent straight to you along with the exact shopping list you need in order to create the meals. Each meal costs around $2 per person or less. This allows you to save time because you won’t have to meal plan anymore, and it will save you money as well! If you are interested in joining for free, click here.
We’re cleaning out our pantry.
One of the ways that you may be able to save money on groceries this month is by cleaning out your pantry.
Our pantry and cabinets are nearly bare because of this one. We have been making meals out of the food products we already had in our pantry. I was sick of our pantry continually building up more and more. We had cans and boxes of food filled in our cabinets, so I made it our mission to finally start eating everything.
I’m sure some of you are laughing at this, but I know there are a LOT of you out there who are guilty of this as well.
At one point I believe we had around 5 different packages of spaghetti noodles in our pantry. That didn’t include the other 10 different kinds of pasta noodles we had in there as well. We also had cans of vegetables and everything else in there. It was ridiculous and it seemed like it was never ending.
Now though, I believe we only have a few cans left and we actually have NO pasta left. It’s like a whole new world here!
I believe we have probably saved around $100 by doing cleaning out our pantry. Seems like a lot but we had a lot of food in there, and I’m sure you do as well. This can be a very easy way to learn how to save money.
We have a fuel efficient car and right now this is our best way to save money.
Last month, we got rid of our Camaro and traded it in for a 2015 Subaru Legacy. The Legacy was more affordable and it gets twice as good gas mileage, which is amazing.
We were tired of having two cars that only got 15 miles to the gallon (our other car is a Jeep Wrangler), so we decided to trade in the Camaro.
This switch has been saving us around $350 per month already.
We are about to go on another road trip, and driving the Subaru will save us around $400 on this trip alone. That is a GREAT amount in savings.
We’re thinking about cutting out our cable completely. This might be your best way to save money.
This is one we haven’t fully done yet, but we did recently lower our cable package. We cut some channels out and were able to save $20 each month. If we were to cut it further, we could save around an extra $40 a month.
The reason why we are thinking about cutting our cable is because we hardly ever watch it now that we have Netflix. We signed up for Netflix around two months ago and haven’t really watched anything else.
This means a potential overall savings of around $50 a month from cutting our cable and adding Netflix to our lives. A GREAT way to save money!
Cable is something that many people do not need. Actually no one needs it. If you are looking for a money saving tip, then this may be your best way to save money.
EDIT: We no longer have cable and just have a digital antenna. These are super affordable and I highly recommend doing the same! You can read more about how we cut cable here.
I’m on an unexpected clothing fast as another great way to save money.
I haven’t been trying to lower my clothing spending, it just happened. I honestly can’t even remember the last time I bought any clothing for myself. I’m going to guess that it’s been around 5 months.
I’ve been to the mall a few times, but nothing ever seems to work so I just haven’t bought anything. Also, working from home means I’ve been a little lazy when it comes to finding fun outfits to wear.
I’m going to guess that this unplanned clothing fast has saved me around $200 each month.
Oh yeah, and I also sold some clothing the other day and made $40. I plan on also donating around 6 bags full of clothing as well. WOOHOO! This is a another one of the great ways to save money!
Here are tons of other ways to save money as well:
Negotiate your car and home insurance bills.
Many have too much insurance. Yes, I said too much! I know someone who has full coverage with a deductible on a car that is worth $500, I know someone who pays for towing even though their new car comes with free towing, and more.
By shopping around, evaluating whether or not you should change your deductible, changing some of your coverage amounts, understanding insurance terms better, possibly taking a driving class, and more, you may be able to save a significant amount of money on your car insurance bill.
I also recommend simply calling your insurance agent and asking for a discount, many times they will offer a discount that will allow you to save money just for asking!
Many of these same tactics can be applied to your home insurance bill as well.
Find a more affordable cell phone plan.
Most people overpay for their cell phone plan.
If you are looking for a cheap cell phone service, check out Republic Wireless. They have monthly cell phone plans as low as $15 per month. Read Saving Over $2,000 A Year With Republic Wireless Review for more information.
Take surveys online.
Okay, so this isn’t really a way to cut back your budget, but you may be able to earn money without doing much. If you sign up for them all, you may be able to earn anywhere from $25-$100+ a month by taking surveys online.
Survey companies I recommend include Survey Junkie, Pinecone Research, Opinion Outpost, Prize Rebel, and Harris Poll Online. They’re free to join and free to use! You get paid to answer surveys and to test products. It’s best to sign up for as many as you can as that way you can receive the most surveys and make the most money.
Use Ebates when shopping for cash back.
Sign up for a website like Ebates where you can earn CASH BACK for just spending like how you normally would online. The service is free too! Plus, when you sign up through my link, you also receive a free $10 gift card bonus to Macys, Walmart, Target, or Kohls!
Start using Digit.
With the Digit savings app, you link up your bank account to Digit and every few days Digit looks at your income and spending habits to see how much you could possibly save. Digit then automatically moves money from your checking account to a Digit savings account.
Each transfer averages around $18, but it could be higher or lower depending on your individual situation. You can read my Digit review here for more information.
Refinance your student loans.
I highly recommend Credible for student loan refinancing (they are the top student loan refinancing company and have great customer service!). You can lower the interest rate on your student loans significantly by using Credible which may help you shave thousands off your student loan bill over time.
Miscellaneous tips:
- Start a blog. Blogging is how I make a living and just a few years ago I never thought it would be possible. I earn over $100,000 a month online through my blog and you can read more about this in my monthly online income reports. You can create your own blog here with my easy-to-use tutorial. You can start your blog for as low as $3.49 per month plus you get a free domain if you sign-up through my tutorial.
- Look for coupon codes. I search for coupon codes for everything. Today, I have two for you. I have a $20 Airbnb coupon code and a free taxi ride with Uber. Both are great services that I have personally used.
- Use Swagbucks for your online searches. Swagbucks allows me to occasionally earn Amazon gift cards with very little work. Swagbucks is just like using Google to do your online searches, except you get rewarded “points called SB” for the things you do through their website. Then, when you have enough Swagbucks, you can redeem them for cash, gift cards, and more. You’ll receive a free $5 bonus just for signing up today!
- Try InboxDollars. InboxDollars is an online rewards website I recommend. You can earn cash by taking surveys, playing games, shopping online, searching the web, redeeming grocery coupons, and more. Also, by signing up through my link, you will receive $5.00 for free just for signing up!
- Find a part-time job. There are many part-time jobs that you may be able to find. You can find a job on sites such as Snagajob, Craigslist (yes, I’ve found a legitimate job through there before), Monster, and so on.
How are you currently trying to save money? How much money do you think you save each month?
Leave a Reply
Michelle,
Great job on trimming the budget! I’m debating on getting rid of a vehicle also, or maybe two, and getting one to replace them (we have three at the moment).
One thing I would recommend is not cutting too far back on your pantry. When we were young DINKs (Dual Income, No Kids), we didn’t have a pantry either. However, we now keep food on hand.
Most grocery stores only have three days inventory at the most. If something happened which prevented them from being restocked… severe regional flooding, train derailment, or rioting and looting … you might go hungry, or have to travel a long way to get food. People panic shop when there is an emergency, and clean out the stores in a matter of hours. When that happens, it takes time for the stores to be restocked.
We used to live near the Gulf Coast, and experienced hurricanes. Sometimes the power would be out for days or weeks. Even if the stores were open, you could not buy anything because the trucks could not deliver.
Now we live an hour from Atlanta in a rural-ish area. We stock our pantry so that we can live off “our own grocery store” for at least two weeks. Like the store, we rotate our stock, so that things don’t go bad.
R also shops with a grocery list, so she doesn’t end up with too much of one thing. When we are down to one of an item, we add it to the list. Having a pantry and list also allows her to stock up on staples when the stores have sales, so that when items are full price, we are still using the cheaper inventory. Sales seem to run in six week cycles in our area. We stock up on stuff we use a lot of, like pasta… 10-15 boxes of spaghetti is not uncommon for us. 🙂 lol
Anyway, just a thought, based on personal experience.
Oh yes I know. We plan on restocking our pantry again. We mainly just wanted to get rid of our old food and items that we don’t really eat anymore (for example, we have switched to primarily gluten free pasta instead of “normal” pasta).
Thanks! 🙂
Oh, regarding clothing… thrift stores for the win! We do most of our shopping in thrift stores or consignment sales. We use Goodwill, Salvation Army, and sometimes, a factory outlet store, or a super clearance sale at Kohl’s.
When the children were smaller, R would buy in the spring and fall from a consignment sale, the kids would wear the clothes that season, then by next spring or fall, they had outgrown the clothes. R would choose clothes in the best condition, clean them up, price them, and sell them in the consignment sale. Some of the local churches offer consignment sales.
Often, she made a profit, so the kids clothing was essentially free that year! 🙂
Wow that’s awesome!
Cutting cable is such a good idea. Apart from CNN, as far as I can tell, cable is a money-sucking wasteland. It also wastes a lot of valuable time. And you can get your CNN fix online. Cut the cable cord I say!
Thanks! I think we are going to. We talked about it some more and I think we are ready.
I too have saved a lot of money by eating at home. This includes trips to the barista and the convenience store. I however, find that stocking the pantry during sale/coupons saves me money overall (also have kids). We also do a 3 month “shrink” assessment and look over our accounts to see were we are spending. Sometimes we need to leave the thermostat alone, and others we need to cut back on travel costs. Great read. We also love thrift stores and garage sales for clothing and decorating.
Thanks Sirena! Sounds like you are doing well.
Nice work! I’ve also been on an unexpected clothing fast. Working from home really does help with that, as I throw on whatever feels comfortable. I’ve been trying to get away from pajama’s =). We emptied out our pantry before we moved because it was driving me crazy, too.
Haha it’s just so hard to get away from pajamas!
I decided to cut cable last month and I’m only now starting to miss it because of the Saved By the Bell lifetime movie, lol. But I don’t really miss it and I rarely have watched Netflix although I have been using my gay husband’s HBO Go account.
Haha good job cutting your cable!
Great job on cutting down and saving. $1200 a month is a significant amount and can make such a huge difference for the bank balance and investment portfolio.
We’re saving on groceries each week by only going to the shop to do one big shop, plus once we started avoiding the middle aisles of the supermarket our grocery bill reduced by more than 20%. When I cook it’s always in larger portions so the other half can take lunch to work the next day which also saves money. We don’t have pay tv as we hardly ever watch tv, I generally watch an hour or so a day when I’m feeding my four month old and that’s to catch up on the news.
I’m on maternity leave at the moment so we have less money coming in but are still managing to save a little bit. I love going to cafes regularly and we do that often but we save by only indulging in a cup of coffee rather than lunch or dinner and if we want to eat out we often have a bbq in the park next to the beach which gives us great views, fresh air, and delicious food at the fraction of the cost.
Sounds like you have a good plan to save money. Good job!
These are all great tips, I’m sure everyone would love to save $1200 every month. Thank you for sharing this post. I save money by not purchasing items that I don’t absolutely need.
Thanks! 🙂
Hey, congrats on the new Subaru!! That’s amazing that it gets such great gas mileage, and you’re saving a bunch of money with it too! I bet the dogs will like the roomier interior too 🙂
Thanks Melissa! We all love it 🙂
Haha yeah we were sad to get rid of it. St. Louis just doesn’t have the weather for us to keep it. Living in the desert or somewhere similar would have made it much more easier!
It sounds like we need to cut our cable. I don’t think a single person who commented on this post has it!
Drats. I am doing all of these things (Cut out the take out/never was much of a fan of eating out, drive a hybrid and no cable since 2003 or so) and am still having trouble making ends meet. But I am also working toward supplementing my income with other work and then moving to being my own boss.
I’m sorry Nia. I hope things get better for you soon.
I advice you go for cutting out cable completely. Mine has been for 6 months. It is hard that limited channels are available. But, internet is there and we are kinda busy people so we just download tv series or any shows we want..
Thanks! I think we are 🙂
Hubby and I just talked about this! We are about to really buckle down on the eating out…that can easily save us $300/mo (held is held in shame).
Cleaning out the pantry is a GREAT idea….like you we have TONS of cans and boxes…..we need to sit down and do some thorough meal planning with what we have on hand.
Eating out too much seems like a lot of people’s problems. I wish it wasn’t mine!
Saving $1200/month is impressive no matter how you cut it! Congrats!
Thanks! 🙂