Putting money away in a savings account is the first step towards building wealth and achieving financial success. You can build up an emergency fund, then begin working your way towards financial goals like home ownership.
There are plenty of tactics to save more money in your everyday life, allowing you to strengthen your financial security and reach these goals a little faster. Here are some easy money saving tips.
1. Use Cashback Credit Cards
Cashback credit cards let you earn money on your everyday purchases, such as gas and groceries. You’re going to buy those things anyway, so you may as well get 1-5% of your spending back in cash.
2. Shop Through Cashback Apps Sites
There are dozens of cashback apps and sites out there that let you earn cashback by shopping at your favorite stores. Some apps ask you to scan your receipt, while others just ask you to click through their link to earn cashback.
Combine these with a cashback credit card, and you’ll be scoring a nice discount on every purchase.
3. Refinance Debt
Refinancing debt involves paying off a loan by taking out another loan with a lower interest rate. In doing so, you’ll pay less interest, saving you hundreds to thousands depending on loan size and length.
Refinancing often also involves consolidating multiple debts into one debt. This makes managing your debts a bit easier.
4. Eat/Drink at Home More
Going out to eat is convenient and fun, but it adds up fast.
Eating in just one more night a week could easily save you maybe $30-$40 extra dollars a month. Add in making your coffees, and that number could almost double. That’s not too bad for cooking for yourself once more a week.
5. Find a Better Bank Account
How much interest does your current savings account pay? By moving to a high-yield savings account, you could earn a lot more.
Sure, earning a 1.00% APR doesn’t sound like much, but you’ll be earning dollars instead of cents for the same amount of work. Makes maintaining an emergency fund much more manageable and definitely helps a bit more with savings goals.
6. Cut Your TV Time
Believe it or not, cutting your TV time can save you cash in multiple ways.
For one, less exposure to ads. You’re less tempted to spend money on products you don’t need if you don’t have ads pushing them on you.
Additionally, you’ll use less electricity, saving a few bucks on your utility bill.
Oh, and if you reduce your TV habits, you might be able to pick a less expensive TV package, switch to a cheaper service, or cut it out entirely.
Plus, you can use that new free time to start a financially productive habit, such as a side hustle.
7. Sell Old Junk
Do you have stuff sitting around the house gathering dust? Well, one person’s dust-covered item is another person’s treasure, so see if you can sell these things.
This could include clothing, electronics, jewelry, books, and even gift cards. Garage sales and P2P selling online are reasonably convenient ways to sell things, but you may make more money selling online to specialty sites.