I’m always looking for more ways to save money in my everyday life; it’s actually kind of a hobby of mine to see how much I can make whenever I’m looking to purchase something – whether it’s groceries, clothes, gifts, anything. I won’t not buy something because I can’t save/make money by doing so, but I do enjoy finding ways to at least get a little bit of money back when shopping. Below, I’ve compiled a list of super simple ways for you to save and make money in your everyday life.
The Basics
- Cancel your cable subscription! If you already have, get rid of the extra streaming services you don’t have time to keep up with; do you really need Hulu, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, AND all the others you’re paying for each month when you only have time to watch an episode or two each night before bed?
- If you really want to save money, you could cancel everything and just use free streaming services like Pluto or Tubi. If there are certain shows you want to keep up with, you can keep an eye on the “what’s coming to Netflix/Hulu this month” lists as the time approaches for it to come back, and subscribe to the platform for a month (or a few if it’s on Hulu) once it’s been uploaded.
- Cook from scratch!
- Make your own bread, pancakes, waffles, soups, stews, etc. for significantly less money, much better flavor, and no junk filler ingredients. Check out my recipes if you’re new to cooking and need help, or even if you’re a seasoned cook who just needs some new ideas to add to your rotation!
- Save money on all the coffee shop trips and make your own!
- If you’re still spending $5/day on coffee, STOP! You can buy a huge container of coffee for the price of two coffee shop trips and you get so many more cups of coffee out of it!
Maintenance
- Do your own basic self-maintenance.
- Dye your hair at home, paint your own nails, pluck your own eyebrows, cut your spouse’s and children’s hair yourself, etc. It’s honestly such an easy way to save hundreds of dollars, and if you’re as particular as I am, it’s so much more convenient to just do it yourself.
- Speaking of maintenance, you can take care of your own basic car maintenance.
- I really couldn’t say how much money we’ve saved in the past (almost) decade, but I used to have a car from the late 80s that had all kinds of issues my husband would fix for me. His abilities go far beyond the basic maintenance I’m talking about here, but even just learning how to change your own oil and brakes will save you a minimum of several hundreds each year with how much mechanics charge for such basic things.
Shopping
- Shop the sales and meal plan.
- Look on store apps or in the ads you get in the mail to see what’s going to be on sale, make a meal plan from there, and stick to it — don’t shop hungry! Stock up on the staples if you can while they’re on sale and freeze the extras or make freezer meals for the following months (make sure you write the date down on the bag so you don’t have to try to guess whether or not it’s still good when you grab it to use) — bonus, this also means less money spent on take-out!
- Purchase store-brand items.
- There are definitely things I won’t buy “off-brand”, but almost every store-brand item we’ve ever purchased was just as good (and in some cases, even better) than the name-brand items. This also goes for non-food items.
- Purchase gifts throughout the year as they go on sale.
- This will help keep you from blowing your Christmas budget come November/December (or even gifts for birthdays) as long as you’re not buying too much and keeping track of it all. If you end up waiting too long to start earlier in the year, there’s always Amazon Prime Day, Black Friday shopping (online only for me), and Cyber Monday.
- Stock up on things after the holidays.
- Decorations after any holiday to use the following year, costumes or candy after Halloween, candy after Easter, whole turkeys or hams after Thanksgiving, themed disposable plates, forks/knives/spoons, napkins after each holiday, so on and so forth. Everything goes on super-sale after holidays so the stores can get rid of their inventory, so if you have the money and want to save money in the long run, stock up on what you need/can when they come up to use next year.
Apps
- On top of shopping sales (and even just regular shopping trips), use Ibotta for a ridiculously easy way to get money back.
- Ibotta is an app/website that offers money back on just about anything at the store. All you have to do is select the store, add the “coupons” (rebates) you want to utilize to your list, scan your receipt after shopping, and they credit your account for the amount earned. Once you reach $20, which you can reach even faster by using this link to get more money credited to your account as a welcome bonus, you can cash out via PayPal.
- If you’re shopping online, check out Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates).
- Rakuten is an app/website that offers a percentage of what you spend online back in cash. All you have to do is search for the store you want to shop at, see what they offer in cash back, and click on it to start shopping. Once you’re done, just exit out, and Rakuten will tell you how much time it will take for the money to show up on your account. They mail out checks with your money back several times per year, and if you use this link, you’ll get a $40 welcome bonus!
- Fetch is also a great app to get money back, in the form of gift cards.
- With Fetch, all you do is scan your receipt after shopping and they’ll give you points you can put toward gift cards to grocery stores, movie theaters, restaurants, Amazon, etc. Use referral code VA8GX to get an extra 2000 points towards your first gift card! If you’re more of a gambler, they also offer raffles you can “buy” with your points for the chance to win large cash prizes.
Household
- Stop separating all your clothes!
- Now I may have lost some of you with this one, but honestly, it really doesn’t matter if you throw it all together in the laundry. I refuse to buy anything so fussy that it requires it’s own special cleaning instructions, and I’ve got a family-full of messy humans, so it’s very rare that I buy anything white. I remember separating laundry by whites/lights/mediums/darks with my mom, but now that I’m the mom with heaps of laundry to do, I don’t even bother, and I’ve had no issues. Hear me out, it’s not like I’m washing baby clothes with towels, jeans, or something that could ruin them. Towels and washcloths go in their own load or with other heavy items, kids clothes go with lighter-weight things like adult shirts if I don’t have a big enough load of just kids clothes, so on and so forth. This is all just my very long-winded way of saying you can save time and money by sorting by the weight of things rather than color.
- Make your own cleaning products.
- 1 part vinegar with 3 parts water in a spray bottle is the a great way to clean. It may not be the best smelling thing in the world, but it’s non-toxic and the smell dissipates once the surface has dry/been wiped down. It’s also a great way to clean produce and make it last longer; I was skeptical, but I promise, you WILL NOT taste it once you’ve rinsed it off. I put all my strawberries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, etc. in a bowl with 1 part vinegar 3 parts water and just let the fruit sit in it for about 20 minutes – sometimes longer because, hello, mom life – then come back to drain, rinse, and refrigerate.
Finances
- Organize your finances!
- I have a note in my phone broken down for each month with all the companies we need to pay listed and just fill in the amount owed with the due date as they come in. I also enjoy using the annual budget on Google Sheets to keep track of how much is being spent on groceries, utilities, internet, fuel, etc. each month as well as our income. This makes it quick and easy to see where you need to spend less and where you’re on track or under-budget.
- Credit cards
- As long as you don’t spend more than you can pay off each month to avoid interest fees, a credit card with no annual fee that offers everyday cash back on every purchase you make is a great way to stack up on cash-back. Stacking it with Ibotta, Rakuten, Fetch, will give you easy money on things you wouldn’t have gotten by using cash/debit.
- Refinance your home.
- If you own your home, your mortgage company may let you know when you’re eligible to refinance, but if they don’t and you have paid on time each month for a year, give them a call to ask about it; you could easily save hundreds each month by doing so.
- Make sure you’re not paying fees for your checking account.
- Most banks will let you have a free checking account if you set up direct deposit; if yours doesn’t, look around for a new one – some offer a large welcome bonus for opening a new account with them.
Hopefully this list gave you some new ideas on ways you can start saving money today! Leave a comment to let me know how you save money in your everyday life!