How to save money quickly?

Canceling unnecessary subscriptions and automating your savings are a couple of simple ways to save money quickly. Switching banks, opening a short-term CD, and signing up for rewards programs can also help you save money. Making a budget and eliminating a spending habit each day can help lead to long-term savings.

How important is saving money?

The importance of saving money is simple: It allows you to enjoy greater security in your life . If you have cash set aside for emergencies, you have a fallback should something unexpected happen. And, if you have savings set aside for discretionary expenses, you may be able to take risks or try new things.

How to help someone save money?

You can persuade someone to save money by first discussing the benefits of saving money . You should then help the person create a budget and teach them how to save their money so they can be financially savvy and smart about how they spend their hard earned cash.

What money should I save?

At least 20% of your income should go towards savings . Meanwhile, another 50% (maximum) should go toward necessities, while 30% goes toward discretionary items. This is called the 50/30/20 rule of thumb, and it provides a quick and easy way for you to budget your money.

What is better than saving money?

If you don't need the money for at least five years (or longer) and you're comfortable taking some risk, investing the funds will likely yield higher returns than saving . If you're eligible for an employer match in your retirement account, such as a 401(k).

What is the 30 day rule?

The premise of the 30-day savings rule is straightforward: When faced with the temptation of an impulse purchase, wait 30 days before committing to the buy . During this time, take the opportunity to evaluate the necessity and impact of the purchase on your overall financial goals.

What is the 50/30/20 rule?

The 50-30-20 rule recommends putting 50% of your money toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings .

Money Saving Tips That Helped Us Save Every Year! (2024)

Money Saving Tips That Helped Us Save Every Year!

It was the day that my son asked for a brother or sister. My husband was working hard to bring in $17,000 a year ($1,416 take-home pay each month). And we needed a bigger house. It was then and there that we made our first budget that would ultimately change our lives.

Since then, we’ve bought our house, had 3 more children, and my husband has the best job he could have ever asked for. But I’m still taking a hacksaw to our expenses.

I’m a saver by nature. Some people get a rush from roller coasters or from shopping, I get a rush from saving as much money as possible. Weird? Absolutely. But it works for us.

Since we started focusing on our finances, we’ve made a lot of changes. None of the changes were earth-shattering or dramatic… but the results in our budget were shocking!

Ultimately, we save almost $22,000 a year!

These are all things that I personally do in my home. We’re already fairly frugal, but even we can tighten our belts when we need to. None of these money saving tips that helped us save were painful, dramatic, or really even that difficult.

More than anything, I want you to see that every little bit counts and helps. I can’t tell you how many times I hear “but I can onlysave $20 a month doing this… or $10 a week doing that.”

If you think that only saving $10 a week is silly, that weekly $10 is up to $520 by the end of the year. That little change can really leave a big impact in the amount of money that you can save.

While Iam a ~~cheapskate~~ frugalista, there are just some things where I won’t sacrifice. I won’t stop using toilet paper, or live in a tiny house, or only eat foraged food. Life is too short to hate!

So, without further ado, check out the changes that we made to cut down on spending so that we could build up our savings, stay out of debt, and live on one low income.

The goal in taking control of your budget and your money is to build a life that you love while staying on budget. Let me emphasize that one more time: build a life you love and stay on budget. It can be done!

More ways to save money:

Eliminated eating lunches out at work, for better-packed lunches that save time and calories, and taste better.

Buying lunches: $75/ week = $3,900/ year
Packing lunches: $10/ week = $520/ year
Savings = $3,380/ year

Related post:Cheap and Easy Instant Pot Recipes

Started menu planning and using the $5 Meal Plan to help me figure out how to buy exactly what I needed.

Wasted food from aimless shopping: $200/ week = $10,400/ year
$5 meal plan and planned shopping ($75 for groceries, $15 for meal planning) = $90/ week = $4,680/ year
Savings (hold onto your seat!) = $5,720/ year

Stopped shopping at our regular grocery store and started shopping at discount grocery stores like Aldi

Average monthly grocery budget at a regular grocery store ($100 per person per week) for our family of 5: $125/ week = $6,500/ year
Shopping at discount stores: $75/ week = $3,900/ year
Savings = $2,600/ year

Used the library and free Redbox coupons instead of buying or going out to movies

Going out to the movies, or buying movies: $100/ month (2 date nights, 2-3 bought movies) = $1,200/ year
Renting movies for free: $0
Savings = $1,200/ year

Stopped buying bottled water and used a refillable water bottle and countertop water filter(it’s expensive to start – I won’t lie, but this thing is amazing!).

Buying bottled water weekly: $15/ week = $780/ year
Water filter, water bottles = $150 one time expense
Savings = $630

Cancelled cable and use Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, and Netflix exclusively.

Cable: $185/ month = $2,200/ year
Netflix ($9), Hulu ($7) and Amazon Instant video (about $8) = $24/ month = $288/ year
Savings = $1,912

Cancelled the expensive gym membership, got a membership to Planet Fitness, and started using Youtube videos for fitness classes.

Expensive gym membership: $125/ month = $1,500/ year
Planet Fitness and free Youtube: $10/ month = $120/ year
Savings = $1,380/ year

Started using coupons from Groupon and Restuarant.com to go out instead of buying out of pocket.

No coupon date nights: $100/ month = $1,200/ year
Groupon and Restaurant.com coupon date night: $35/ month = $420/ year
Savings = $780/ year

Stopped buying laundry detergent, and started making our own detergent with just 2 ingredients.

Regular store-bought detergent: $30/ month = $360/year
Homemade detergent: $25/ year
Savings = $335/ year

Stopped buying fabric softener and started using white vinegar instead.

Fabric softener: $10/month = $120/ year
White vinegar: $1/month = $12/year
Savings = $108/ year

Stopped buying dryer sheets and started using wool dryer balls (also cut down on dry time).

Dryer sheets: $10/ month = $120/year
Wool dryer balls: $15 (and can last 2 years)
Savings = $105/ year

Exclusively bought all clothes for my family of 5 from thrift stores, yard sales, and consignment stores.

Buying clothes new from retailers for 5 people: $200/ month = $2,400/ year
Thrift shopping: $50/ month = $600/ year
Savings = $1,800/ year

Stopped using disposable diapers for my 2 boys in diapers, and switched to cloth diapers.

Disposable diapers for 2 children: $60/ month = $720/ year
Cloth diapers: $276 total for 2+ years worth of diapering supplies = $138/ year
Savings = $582/ year

Related post:How to Get Cloth Diapers for FREE

Stopped buying CDs or MP3s and started using free Spotify or Pandora. (Note: you can buy Spotify for $9.99/ month. This way, you can download playlists without using up all of your phone’s data!)

Buying new CDs or MP3s: $20/ month = $240/ year
Free streaming service: $0
Savings = $240/ year

**Do a spending freeze for at least 1 week each month (where you don’t buy anything except for paying for bills for a full week)**

Savings = at least $100/ month = $1,200/ year

Total savings in ONE YEAR from these money saving tips alone…

What… WHAT?!

Y’all. I was BLOWN AWAY by this number. I knew I was being frugal, but I didn’t know I was being THAT frugal!!

My next challenge is to add another find more ways to save to add another $5,000-10,000 to that savings by the end of the year.

Little by little, everything adds up! This is proof that even making little changes, can really add up over time to be a lot of money!