Every year, people are looking for the best money saving tips in order to keep more cash and stop bad spending habits. Sometimes, it’s also easy to overlook ways to save money. And other times you might doubt that there are currently ways for you to save extra without being extremely frugal. There are still areas where I can keep my expenses low and ensure more money stays in my pockets.
1. Catch hidden fees and improve investments
If you are investing for retirement in a 401k or IRA (you should be!), one way to save yourself money is to watch out for fees. Many financial companies have account fees, maintenance fees, or other high fees that are costing you thousands in retirement. And most times, you might not even realize this is happening!
2. Save and invest spare change
One of the fintech advances recently is being able to invest and save spare change. One of the challenges for a lot of people is having any money to actually buy shares of stocks. However, some financial companies have made the process easier.
3. Invest in low cost index funds
When you begin investing to build wealth and for retirement you have various choices to choose from. One of which you should highly consider are index funds. These are portfolios of stocks or bonds to match and track against the financial markets.
The reason they are ideal is because these funds provide broad market exposure and have low expenses and low portfolio turnover. Since the cost to invest in these funds are fractional percentages, you keep more money in the long run.
4. Cut down on groceries
The major money savings will be on going out to eat less. The markup on buying food at restaurants is pretty staggering considering what you can do by making it yourself. Start meal prepping, couponing, and even buying in bulk when it makes sense. Yes, you may lose the convenience factor of not cooking or packing your food, but it will save you thousands every year.
5. Invest in a crock pot
Sometimes you do need to make a good purchase to save you money in the long run. And buying a crock pot is a top choice for saving you time and money on food. There are plenty of amazing crock pot recipes that can make you tons of leftovers. Plus, it’s easy to do so you don’t have to worry about tons of time cooking. You can also get a good crock pot at affordable prices, so that won’t break the bank.
6. Stick to drinking water
The body loves and needs water, so why not save money by sticking to water?! I’m not saying you should never drink anything else, but buying beverages adds up.Invest in a filter for your faucet or a filter pitcher you can put in your fridge. If and when you do go out to eat, you can save yourself some cash by sticking to water. This won’t make you rich, but it’ll keep some money in your wallet every month.
7. Pack lunches and meal prep at home
As simple as the idea of packing lunches and meal prepping is, we often overlook this when it comes to saving money. But instead of going out to eat for lunch or picking up food on the way home, prep in advance!
A good example is take part of your Sunday (or any weekday) to make lunches for the week and schedule out your dinners. It will save you money from going out to buy lunch and time when your meals are ready.
8. Remove retailers from email and social
A quick way to avoid spending temptations? Remove retailers and stores from your life! Of course, you can’t completely avoid it all, but you can eliminate more of it from your life. The first step is to unsubscribe from retail emails.
Sure, you may get some coupons to save money or see some sales but it’s just a way to loop you back in. If you have spending under control and are not tempted, then by all means keep them.
9. Earn cash back when you do shop
A great way to get some money back is use a cash back app for when you do shop. You can get money back for shopping through Ibotta, one of my favorites. There are other apps you can choose from as well. However, you don’t want to get caught up in buying just because you can get cash back from some major stores and brands.
10. Save money on bills
An unfortunate part of life is having to pay bills. And usually, that’s all the mail seems to be good for anymore. But one way to save money is by reducing the costs of your bills. It’s easy to overlook the costs if you have different subscriptions or payments going out. But a lot of times, you are paying more than you need to.
For instance, you can negotiate better rates if you are in good standing with the company by just calling and asking.