One of the important aspects to personal finance is saving money. It can also be challenging to break your bad financial habits and start developing a system of consistently paying yourself first. However, by shifting your mindset and applying some simple tweaks to your financial choices, you’ll start to save money fast.
Now at first, you might be discouraged that you are only saving a few dollars here or there, but over time it adds up. Plus, you may start to find ways to slowly increase your savings rate over time. Below, you’ll find a few good tips on how to save money fast.
Remember, these won’t necessarily dramatically impact your financial health right away. You have to look at the big picture and the positive effects it can have for you in a year, five years, and beyond.
How To Save Money Fast
Ready to start to save money quickly? As I mention in the intro these are all ways you can save money starting today, but not all are going to create wealth overnight. But these are steps in the right direction!
Additionally, not all the tips will apply to you and many might be very basic concepts too. But I’ve found it is easy to overlook things that can all impact your savings rate in a positive way. Hope these help!
Write a list before going shopping
Make sure to take a grocery list with you wherever you go shopping. By bringing a list, you’ll be less prone to impulse buys and buying things you don’t need.
Not only will the food you buy be part of your meal plan, but you’ll also waste less food in the long term!
On top of that, a list may make it easier to manage coupons, loyalty programs and cash back rewards with your grocery store.
Use energy efficient light bulbs
Low-cost light bulbs are an excellent way to save money from electricity in the long run. The light bulb itself may cost a little more, but energy-efficient light bulbs have longer lives and use less electricity!
There are several options when picking an alternative to light bulbs. CFLs and LEDs are both great options that use much less energy than traditional light bulbs and last a long time.
Buy higher quality appliances
Instead of buying cheap appliances, consider buying an efficient and reliable dishwasher, dryer and washing machine. These types of appliances last longer, save money on energy and usually have longer warranties.
Make sure to do your research and read reviews , that extra time in picking the right appliance can save hundreds of dollars in the long run.
Use public transport
This tip does depend on the city you live in. If you live somewhere with public transport, consider using it more often when you have the extra time (you get to enjoy the view rather than concentrating on driving!).
Stay away from taxis, and use apps like Uber or Lyft instead. Additionally, walk or bike as much as you can and consider carpooling with others in order to save money on gas.
Have group dinners
Instead of going out to an expensive restaurant, why not invite everyone over and make a huge meal altogether? If everyone puts in $5, creating a big mac and cheese or lasagna together with drinks is more than doable – and you get to do it with your friends!
Make your own gifts
When it comes to giving presents to your friends and family members, the costs can add up quickly. Why not go DIY for all those birthday, graduation and wedding gifts? These could be candles, baked at home meals, soap and other fun ideas. Most often people appreciate homemade gifts even more – they add a nice personal touch. And if they’re consumable, they won’t end up going to waste.
Cancel unwanted subscriptions
It’s easy to sign up to more subscriptions than necessary without even noticing. Check your bank statement and look at the various subscriptions you may be paying regularly.
Uncheck the auto-renew option if you don’t use the services regularly or cancel it altogether. Fewer monthly charges could turn into quite a few bucks saved every month.
Cook at home
Eating out regularly can really add up. Why not make more of an effort to cook at home? Buy an easy-to-read and fun cookbook and try your hand at cooking. You may be surprised to find that cooking isn’t too hard, it’s cheaper and can be much healthier. Consider preparing meals in advance and you’ll have several meals ready for the week.
Fix things yourself
If you’ve got some extra time on your hands, try fixing that leaky tap or broken handle yourself. With Youtube tutorials and online videos, pretty much anything can be fixed nowadays.
If you fix it, you’ve learned a new skill (it can be strangely satisfying); and if you haven’t, at least you can say you tried (and ask the plumber a few questions!).
Less expensive vacation time
Everyone loves a good vacation – but how bad do you need to spend thousands of dollars on a trip that could be just as delightful for a quarter of the cost?
Packing up the car and doing a road trip in your area can also be a lot of fun – get the camping gear out, explore the lakes and turn off your mobile devices. Cheap and just as fun.
Seriously, I do a camping trip every Summer and I’ve seen tons of state parks, done cool hikes, and more. The money we spent is for any camping fees, gas, and food, which is much more affordable than hotels or flying to all these places.
Alternatively, look into credit card rewards – you may be able to save thousands on air travel and hotels. Just don’t go into debt chasing rewards or fancy vacations to get extra points.
Renegotiating rates (rent, mortgage, student loans)
If you’ve got a good relationship with your landlord and are going through some tough times, try negotiating a lower rent.
If it’s your mortgage and you have a good credit history, call up your bank and see if they’d be willing to lower your payments. There’s no harm in trying!
Additionally, when interest rates are high or you have a lot of debt from credit cards or student loans, you can potentially consolidate it to help lower your payments.
Waive initial fees
Before you sign up for a service, simply ask if they would be willing to waive the sign-up fees. You’d be surprised by how often they will be willing to remove excessive fees.
Try this with your cell phone bill, cable, utility bills and more, just by asking, you may be able to save money fast on those monthly bills.
Additionally, you can negotiate fees or bill increases just by making some simple phone calls. If you are polite and have a good history with them, many times they are willing to help you.
Final Thoughts
While many of the above tips on how to save money fast might be pretty simple, it shows you there are no real secrets. You just have to get started, think a bit creatively, and stick to your frugal living to make changes.
Additionally, there are plenty more tips you can probably think of, but this at least gets you on the right path. Heck, there are even ways to get free money that can be used for your savings too.
With the above tips, you may only notice small savings at first, but overtime these can compound and you’ll be impressed with the savings progress you made.
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