16 Money-Saving Habits That Will Supercharge Your Bank Account
We all could use an extra chunk of change. We’ve outgrown the days of working one job, earning one income, and returning home to a few hours of freedom before rinsing and repeating. Now, we’ve uncovered the art of passive income and side hustles, revolutionizing our paydays and our bank accounts. But how exactly can we garner enough money to start a side gig or save up a lump sum of money to use on our next rainy day? Here are 16 trusty ways to keep your bank account in the green.
1. Cancel Subscriptions
Subscriptions add up. Literally. Last month, I figured out I had three television subscriptions for platforms I’ve visited a handful of times. How did I find out? I pored through my bank statements, wondering what ate a portion of my paycheck each month, and found the culprit. I canceled every subscription I grew out of, and watched the money stay in my account.
2. Limit Dining Out Costs
Eating out costs more money than we like to admit. When we venture to a new restaurant, we must calculate in the price of the meal, tax, and tip. That brings a $15 lunch to $20. And if we dine out frequently, we find ourselves paying wages to the restaurants as opposed to our wallets. Preparing home-cooked-meals, with meals out just once or twice (a month or week, depending on the person), helps an individual get a grip on their finances.
3. Coin jar
The good old coin jar. Even though we might not search for pennies and spare change in our couch cushions, spare change adds up. When using cash, tip yourself. Throw the excess pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters into a designated coin jar. Watch the amount increase over each month. Cash in the product at the end of the year. Pro-tip: roll the money and take it to the bank to avoid paying fees.
4. Cashback Credit Card
Before applying for a credit card or taking a new one out in your name, research all the benefits and drawbacks of the card. Pay close attention to the cashback features before signing any documents. However, do not indulge in cashback rewards if you don’t purchase that kind of item in the first place. For example, someone who doesn’t shop a lot shouldn’t sign up for cards with shopping cashback offers. Cashback is not an incentive to spend more money but to save on what you already spend a lot of money on.
5. Gas Apps
My favorite cashback gas app is Upside. You download the app, input your information, head over to a participating gas station, pump the gas, and click a button alerting of payment. The seamless process saves you several hundred dollars over the year, and the cashback arrives within a day or two. Cashback gas apps help people who commute to work or spend a lot of time on the road.
6. Unplug
This does not refer to leaving your iPhone at home for a chance to reconnect with nature. It refers to the actual act of unplugging electronic items not in use. The technical term for an item plugged in, zapping energy from a power source, is an energy vampire. A technological, not psychological, energy vampire. Remove keyboard cords, chargers, any correlating cord not in use. These suck excess energy and jolt the electric bill.
7. Set up Automatic Payments
Setting up an automatic payment ensures each bill withdraws before its due date, leaving you in good shape without the issue of paying extra due to forgetting about a bill. Prevent overdraft fees with this tactic if you are in good financial standing. For those not in good financial standing (or living paycheck to paycheck), set up a monthly reminder a few days before each bill’s due date.
8. Track Spending
Many people shock themselves by how much money they spend each month. When you don’t track finances or institute a budget, you end up spending a lot of money on nonsensical purchases. Create a spreadsheet for bills, rent, finances, and fun, and write down everything you spend. After a bit, this process grows tedious, but you learn to put back that $5 jar of honey-peach glazed almonds from the gas station.
9. Cut down on cable
We live in an age when we determine what we watch on our screens. We can choose various channels to subscribe to and various networks to tune into, or we can strike all of those options and enjoy a television-free lifestyle. Decide how much cable you actually watch. If you read the news online and only watch programs on Netflix, cutting the cable cord saves hundreds (maybe thousands, depending on the plan) each year.
10. Stop Buying Water Bottle
A 24-pack of spring water costs around $6 in my hometown. Say a family of four drinks four bottles a day each. We’d run through about a pack and a half of water each day, coming out to around $20 a week, $80 a month, and $960 a year. Why not save that thousand dollars and invest in a sturdy, reusable cup and a clean water filtration system?
11. 24-hour Rule
Have you ever strolled through the mall, on your way out, noticed a sparkling item, and did a double take? You turn around, go into the store, and look at the item up close. You fall in love. You decide you can’t leave the mall without purchasing that dapper new dress. So, you choke out the cost and leave with this pricey new piece of clothing. But, hey, at least you’ll look good. Instead of that, wait 24 hours before purchasing the item. Once a full day passes, and you still can’t erase the picture of you in this new outfit, then buy the item.
12. Stick to Your ATM
Egregious ATM fees are the bane of my existence. I once attended a strawberry festival, ecstatic to try the praised strawberry shortcake. However, I ran short on cash. The shortcake cost $6, but I only had a meager $4. I walked over to the ATM, eager for my cash, and winced at the withdrawal fee. I needed $2, but the minimum withdrawal limit was $20, and the fee was $9.95. Did I spend ten extra dollars to try this revered sweet treat? Yes. Would I do it again? No.
13. Stop Drinking Out
Buying anything outside of a store costs a drastic amount more than purchasing something in the said store. Alcohol suffers an extreme upcharge, with little to no regulations. That’s why a music festival can charge $20 for a cocktail, while a bar can charge $5. As the college kids say, pre-game before heading out to the main event to save a fair portion of money.
14. Generic Brands
As Walmart says, “Save money, live better.” That idea asks shoppers to maintain their lifestyles and hobbies but spend fewer dollars doing so. In a sense, buying generic brand items suggests the exact same thing. Name brands feign superiority by underdelivering or delivering the same quality as a generic brand item. Don’t let capitalism and brand bullying fool you into spending more than you need to on an average item.
15. Carpool or Bike to Work
Increase your heart rate for medical benefits before your job does it out of stress. Of course, those who live hours away from their jobs can’t ride a bike unless they desire to participate in triathlons. People who commute long distances to work can carpool with people who live near them to save gas and money and to help this environment of ours.
16. Hang Clothes
Who needs a drying machine when you have fresh air and a fan? Forego the old habit of tossing wet clothes into a heated contraption with a static remover. Instead, hang them up for a few hours, or a day, to dry. Drying clothes naturally lowers the electric bill and prolongs the clothes’ lives, which saves money on shopping sprees.
16 Household Items You Didn’t Know You’re Wasting Money On
Now and again, we find ourselves discovering a useless product in our homes—an item we once believed would transform our cleaning or cooking habits from subpar to superstar. Lots of these items existed in the infamous “As Seen on TV” commercials, promising to add joy and ease into lives overflowing with mess. As these items and other random household belongings pile into the pantries, taking up crucial space, we wonder, do we need to spend this much money on nonessential items?
16 Household Items You Didn’t Know You’re Wasting Money On
11 Surprising Ways to Save Money You Never Knew About!
As costs of gone up, many of us are looking for ways to save money. It can be challenging to find things that save money. Eating at home, cutting the cable, and driving less are things we may already be doing, but here is a list of some surprising ways to save money. Some of these you may have never heard about.
11 Surprising Ways to Save Money You Never Knew About!
Originally Published on https://thefrugalexpat.com/
