Got a money saving tip that has worked wonders for you? Let us know.
Find a long-lasting, high quality product. Now find a second-hand version of it. Now you saved money, AND have a quality product that will last for years. CAUTION: May involve refurbishment.
Always ask your self:
“Do I need it or do I want it?”
I know this goes a little deeper but once my husband and I stopped focusing on lack and digging into the concept of abundance we have been so much happier and richer (double meaning). Some principles of Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace and the envelope system turned absolutely everything around for us.
cars are expensive if you can invest in a high-quality bike do it, deck it out with an electric motor and back tire bags. it will save you a lot of money.
Learn to cook different styles of meals. Making food yourself instead of takeout safes so much money, especially if you make enough to have lunch the next day.
A good water bottle that can be refilled also pays off very quickly (if you live in an area with drinkable tap water)
Keep your eyes out for stuff on trash day. I just found a Honda lawn mower that only needs a throttle lever handle and the blades sharpened. Saw it at Lowe’s for $699.
7 bucks for the handle lever and 30 minutes of my time. Thing starts right up and runs great.
Have an set amount of money automatically transferred to your savings each pay check. You won’t miss it and it adds up rather quickly as long as you don’t constantly dip into it.
Learn to repair things, re-purpose junk, and not care about fashion.
Keep your $5 bills back – or the equivalent in your currency. When you get home at the end of the day and pull your money out take all the 5’s you have left from the day and save them. Those save up a whole heck of a lot faster than ones.
Also – keep your change and save it. I have three containers one has quarters, one nickels and dimes, the last pennies. I’ve always held my change back and it’s saved me when times get strapped.
Every time you go grocery shopping, take out $20 and put it in a jar. At the end of the year, you’ll have a grand.
I was wasting food… half open packages were getting lost in my freezer, and only resurfacing when they were beyond use. I got the biggest freezer bag I could find, and whenever I open any package, I put the part I didn’t use in the bag, right in the front, on the top shelf. Every time I open the freezer, I look at the bag and see if there is anything I can use up… maybe put the peas in a stir fry, or make vegetable soup. I don’t have to use the open packages, but just looking at them keeps me from letting them go to waste.
From the USA perspective, it is way cheaper to vacation abroad than in our own country. A simple trip to Disney will run you over 2K for 2 people. While you can go to abroad with same money and have an excellent time, save money and get to know other cultures.
When purchasing technology, never buy the “latest” thing. The price is usually inflated and if it’s something like a computer or a smart phone it’ll have bugs that need to be worked out. Buying one generation back is always a smart way to go!
If you are running up too much credit card debt, freeze your card, literally in a block of ice (this won’t work if you’ve memorized or written down the number. By the time the block melts, you’ll have had time to think about it. I do all my shopping online, and I have a 24 hour rule… put it in the cart and sleep on it. If I still want it next day, fine, otherwise, delete or save for later.
Change the way you give gifts. My husband and I like to gift homemade treats (candy, preserves, sweet breads, etc.) It is always less expensive and people love it. It’s also a great way to spend time together. There is way too much pressure to spend $$$ for holidays and birthdays.
Convert some of your fiat (paper money) to gold or silver and take physical custody of it. In 2020 the US Federal Reserve bank printed 1/5th of all the US dollars in existence in that year. The Euro and the Yen are in worse shape, the British Pound is sinking too. When the banks fail, depositors will be “bailed in”, meaning they essentially forfeit their deposits. The dollar only looks good now because all the others are worse. “In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is king.” Pre1964 US silver dimes and quarters are the easiest to buy. A silver dime fetches $2.00 US dollars, a quarter brings about $7.50 USD. Precious metals are greatly undervalued due to manipulation, rising precious metal prices are the sign of a failing currency. Good luck & plant a garden!
When it comes to food, make freezer meals. Soups, stews, curries, sauce bases for pasta and rice, breads, all of this and much much more. You might sacrifice the total fresh taste, but it saves you a lot of time.
I grew up on freezer meals, and let me tell you the benefits definitely outweigh the sacrifice. You can cook a lot of one dish and then freeze it in smaller portions to pull out when needed. You know that you’ll come home from work late? Take it out of the freezer and thaw it on the counter in the morning, and when you come home, heat it up and eat. Make sure as you warm it up to add a little fresh something, like green chilies, fresh herbs, even some fresh lemon juice.
Otherwise, if you have time to cook every day or something but want minimal leftovers, I recommend dessertfortwo.com for scaled-down recipes.
If you have children, add them on your credit cards when they are 16-17 (only if you make the payments religiously) You do not have to even tell them.. but their credit will be building the whole time. How great it would be for them to rent their first place and be able to buy a car with out a co-signer!
Sounds contrary, but buy a whiteboard or chalkboard for your kitchen to fight wasting food and organize meals and shopping.
We have three parts:
1. Upcoming meals. (Ingredients at home.)
2. Best by dates of stuff in the fridge. (Like fish or self-prepared foo)
3. Need to buy next shopping day.
This helps a lot to avoid wasting food and keep track of things that need to be bought. Esp. the best-by-dates-list is awesome.
We moved the meal plan to a huge self-made chalkboard now which even looks stylish in the dining room 🙂
Live somewhere you have free healthcare and human job laws ( if you can choose, I was born here, so I’m lucky).
For the small savings you may need:
Put aside the money from the bottle deposit and the change (if it is more than an hourly wage, only the coins).
At the end of the month, look in your wallet and put aside what’s in it, at least the coins.
> Helped when the stove broke and needed to be repaired.
If you can, pay a fixed amount every month into an extra account – €5, €20, €50, €100 […] it doesn’t matter, as long as the amount stays the same. I only changed the amount, when I changed my employment.
> Saved my a*s when I became unemployed & had to get through the month with what I had saved. Now I have to start again.
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For the bigger stuff you want/need later (retirement, house, fund for somebody)
Ask a professional, better yet several professionals (e.g. your bank, friends/family of that profession) about investment opportunities for small amounts of money (for Germany: avoid ‘Riester Rente’!).
Don’t be afraid to ask – get advise from those who are trained and know what they do.
Check the contract/s – several times, by several people.
> parents got a nice addition to their retirement and sorted out the costs of their funeral (2nd one is reviewed every year)
Look out for markets/stores where they sell the stuff which cannot be sold in a regular store.
e.g. where I live, every saturday there is a market for fruit, veggies which aren’t looking fresh enough anymore or doesn’t comply with the standarts (apples not big enough, cucumbers not straight enough)
>visit it with friends, everyone put the same amount of money in one pot, shop together, split up everything according to needings.
We’re 4, everyone gives 5€ and is happy with the result. It’s cheaper to shop as a group, than alone.
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In addition there is a store selling stuff, mostly where the “best use before”-date is nearby and not of use anymore, but shouldn’t be wasted.
It’s great for big families, b/c mostly there are packages made for restaurants/diners – so… like… a package of 20 cordon bleu for less than 5€
Try to trade.
Use the online groups, sometimes there are specific groups for where you live.
Try to get your hands on re-usable stuff, like linnen-diapers (it isn’t pretty, but ask your grandparents or great-grandparents) or especially for women re-usable pads (there are even patterns to sew them by yourself)
Eat all the food you buy. Don’t buy in loads of stuff and leave it sitting there.
Every time you are hungry and want to go to the grocery store, break a finger instead. It hurts! It gets harder as you go, but even a broken pinky hurts so much you realize that food isn’t worth that pain. Pro tip: save your dominant thumb for last, it’s really hard to break anything without it!
