Saving money seems like a hard thing to do. You might think you need to penny-pinch or practice extreme frugality to save anything more than you currently are. But that is not always the case.
To save money, you don’t have to do anything extreme.
You can make a big impact on your finances by simply becoming more mindful of what you are spending money on. Making little changes add up into the long run to become a more affordable lifestyle.
Here are 14 easy ways to save money this week.
1) Brown Bag Your Lunch
A lunch out a few times a week might seem harmless, but the cost really does add up quickly. Grabbing a $10 lunch even 3 times a week equals $120 a month in just lunch. That’s nearly $1,500 a year!
It may not be possible to avoid going to lunch all of the time, but by bringing your own lunch, you are able to save significant money. As an added advantage, you can pack healthier lunches than you can typically buy.
2) Start a Retirement Savings Account (or Up Your Contributions)
Setting aside money for retirement each month is a wise thing to do, but it can become a fairly passive act. You may have a certain amount deducted from each paycheck to be contributed to your retirement fund.
While it’s tempting to set your deductions and forget about your retirement fund, by doing so you are missing out on many advantages. You have to remember that your retirement fund isn’t a fund full of only money you have put into it. It is full of money that was earned through interest.
Every dollar extra you can put into your retirement fund has the potential to earn significant money in its lifetime. Remember that the goal of saving for retirement isn’t just saving money in itself – you want to earn money.
3) Skip the ATM
ATM fees might seem harmless, but in theory, you are paying simply to access your own money. It’s a truly unnecessary expense, and is avoidable with a little planning.
If you utilize a cash budget, you may plan a day to go to the bank every week or month to draw out the cash for that time. Having the cash already on hand (and budgeted for) prevents any unexpected trips to the ATM. Or, if you are like me and use credit cards primarily to take advantage of the points, be sure to keep a small amount of cash on hand at all time.
Undoubtedly, there are times when you will have an unexpected need for cash come up, and it may be when banks are closed. If you find yourself needing to use ATMs often, consider switching to a larger bank with more locations. Typically, your own bank will let you use their ATM for free.
4) Carpool or Bike to Work
Transportation costs are high, and unfortunately, necessary. The good news is you do have options to lower your transportation costs, whether you live in a city or the country.
Look for alternative ways to get to work, whether it is walking, biking, taking public transportation, or carpooling. Even by doing these cheaper options a few times a week, you can end up saving hundreds of dollars a year on gas on wear-and-tear on your car.
5) Quit Smoking
It’s expensive to keep up with bad habits. There is no denying that smoking can be an extremely challenging habit to break, but the efforts are well rewarded in the cost savings and health benefits.
For someone who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day, they spend around $45 a week, which then adds up to $180 a month. If this pack-a-day pattern continued throughout the entire year, the cost escalates to over $2,000.
By quitting smoking, or at least smoking less, you can save that money for things that truly matter.
6) Adjust the Thermostat
The temperature you keep your house or apartment can result in drastically different utility bills at the end of the month.
I live in the south, and air conditioning is necessary to run in the summer. But we have found that by even setting our thermostat to 75 degrees instead of 72 degrees, we save at least $100 a month on our utility bill. Though we know we will always have a high utility bill in the summer, we make up for it by barely running the heat during the winter seasons.
You can also consider purchasing a programmable thermostat, so you can automatically have the heat or air turn off when you aren’t in the house and turn on before you come home. These small changes can add up to huge savings.
7) Skip a Haircut or Salon Session
Self-care is expensive. Anything more than a basic haircut could be considered a luxury.
If you’re willing to go a few extra weeks between hair appointments, or skipping expensive coloring and treatment sessions altogether, you can save anywhere from $100-200 a month.
8) Look for Cheap or Free Entertainment
If you live in a city with hundreds of activities at your disposal, you’re likely to find that you spend quite a bit of money on entertainment.
Instead of spending money to entertain yourself, look for free or discounted events. In a large city, you’re likely to find more free events than you could have imagined. And you can always purchase a Groupon for a cheaper option, rather than paying full-price.
9) Cancel Your Gym Membership
Signing up for a gym membership usually derives from the good intention of wanting to workout more, but it isn’t the only way to get in shape.
I consider myself a pretty active person, and I love to workout in any free or cheap way possible. This includes running or walking outside, free videos available through my Amazon Prime account, free YouTube videos, and free apps like SworkIt. A gym membership truly isn’t necessary to stay or get in shape.
If you’re loyal to the machines at the gym, consider quitting your gym membership and saving up to buy some at-home workout equipment. In the long run, it is still significantly cheaper than paying for a gym membership every month.
10) Call Your Car Insurance Agency
If you’ve been with the same car insurance company for awhile, it never hurts to call to see if there are any special rates or discounts you qualify for. Though insurance rates are rising, many companies will give you a small deal if you have been a loyal customer and safe driver.
And on another note, it never hurts to shop around. Other companies may offer you better rates if you make the switch.
11) Cut Cable
Did you know the average cable bill in America is over $100 a month? That’s a heft chunk of change.
You can cut the cord and save that money instead. With so many alternative options, like Netflix and Hulu, you can easily still get your television fix at a fraction of the cost.
12) Meal Plan
Not only does meal planning save significant money, but it saves time. With meal planning, you cook, prepare, and assemble all your meals for one week in advance. Once the meals are prepared, you only have to heat them up and they are ready to serve.
Meal planning forces you to budget your meals for the week, and prevents any last-minute runs to the grocery store during the week.
If you are a meal-planning fanatic, you can search for a meal-planning group or start one of your own. Recruit a few other families, agree on some meals, and you can purchase ingredients in bulk and cook meals together. At the end of the day, everyone contributes a few dollars and helps cook a month’s worth of freezer meals.
13) Pay Yourself First
We can talk about cutting expenses as a way to save money, but if you aren’t intentionally setting that money aside, it has the potential to get lost in your budget and spent elsewhere. To prevent this, pay yourself first.
By freeing up room in your budget, you can have that amount you used to pay on something automatically put into your savings instead. This way, you are no longer tempted to spend that money on something else.
14) Sign Up for Loyalty Discount Cards
Do you frequent the same stores or restaurants? Take advantage and sign up for their loyalty program.
Loyalty discount cards are easy to sign up for and use. Some of them may give you discounted rates every time you use them, or a percentage off your final bill. Others, like fast food stores, might give you a freebie after you buy so many of their product.
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Have you done any of these tips to save money? What other ways could you save money this week?
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Great list Rachel. It just goes to show you how many ways you can save money with little effort and not impact your life terribly. That being said, we’ve seen our utility bills go up since working from home – as opposed to being in an office all day. Thankfully we can balance it out some by not running the heat as high in the winter months.
Thanks, John! A few small sacrifices and changes in habits can really add up in savings.
I love that this list has immediately actionable items! Quick additional thought on the cost of smoking: it’s not just the price of the cigarettes that financially sucks. It’s also higher insurance premiums. Life insurance premiums for non-smokers run about $100/month on average than for smokers!
Thanks, Michelle, and great point. I didn’t even think about the cost of life insurance increasing, but that makes complete sense.
I’m totally agree witht he entire post, luckily I don’t smoke and I never had cable,so I am already save but I’m going to save more and I’m going to put more attention on points:1,3,4…
Glad you found some additional ways to save, Giulia!