General
*Set a goal. Whether it's starting a savings fund, paying off a debt, or saving up for something on the pricier side, having an incentive will l make saving money more fun and give you that extra push.
*Get a piggy bank/start a change jar. When I was younger, I saved money for a piggy bank for about a year. I cashed it in right before my family took a trip to Germany and had almost $100 in it. Now I always keep a change jar and cash it in when it's full.
*Track your spending. I like to keep track of my receipts to see how much I spend every month. This helps me see if there's any area that I can cut costs on the next month.
*Stock up after holidays. The day after Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. all of the decorations, wrapping paper, cards, etc. go on sale. If you have the space to store it, get a plastic tub and store stuff that you know you'll be able to use next year and you can usually save at least 50% on most items.
Food/Groceries
*Go generic when you can. I know that some brands actually do taste better than the generic ones, but things like pasta, flour, sugar, etc. usually taste the same (sometimes even better) than name brands. You'll usually save at least 50 cents per item, which doesn't sound like much, but it adds up quicker than you think.
*Don't buy bottled water. Not only is it bad for your wallet, it's bad for the environment. Instead of spending $5+ on a case of water every week or so, buy a $5-10 reusable water bottle. It takes up less room in your kitchen as well!
*Cut down on eating out. I know it's convenient to swing by McDonald's when you don't feel like cooking and that it's nice to go out to eat when you're catching up with friends, but try limiting it. I wasted so much money on eating out my first two years of college, and now I'm saving tons of money by eating in the majority of the time (and it's healthier too!).
*Same goes for coffee. If you're like me, you love getting foo foo drinks at your local coffee shop, but they're really not that hard to make at home, and you'll save more money than you think by the end of the year if you cut down on trips to Starbucks, Caribou, etc.
*Don't pay for convenience. I'm guilty of doing this a lot, but I try to avoid buying things like preshredded cheese or precut lettuce unless they're on sale. A lot of the time you're paying anywhere from $1-3 more for semi-prepared products than you do for the ones that would only take about 5-10 minutes to prepare yourself. Again, it doesn't sound like a lot, but it adds up.
*Check for sales. My boyfriend works at our local grocery store, so he always bring me home a copy of their weekly ads when they come out so I can plan our groceries around it. I know I said to buy generic, but if you check the sales, sometimes name brand items are actually cheaper when they're on sale. For example: I usually use generic canned tomatoes for my homemade spaghetti sauce, but Hunt's brand tomatoes were on sale this past week for less than the generic brands.
*Use coupons, but only when you actually need the item. I'm not saying you have to become an extreme couponer (I'm not by any means)but if I see an a coupon for something that I was already going to buy, you better believe I'm going to cut it out to save myself 50 cents. Do NOT buy something just because you'll "save" money by buying it if you're not going to actually use it.
*Buy in bulk (or semi-bulk). I've been known (much to my roommates' dismay) to stock up when something goes on sale. Hy-Vee (our local grocery store) had a sale on canned corn and canned green beans for 38 cents a can, so I bought twelve cans. They also have a frequent sale where they pick a brand of pasta that's ten for $10, and if we're running low, I buy all ten.
*Use what you have. Like I said, I do tend to buy in semi-bulk, but I make sure to plan around that. I love a good sale, but it's a waste of money if you don't actually use the stuff you have. The cans of corn I bought that went on sale were put into every pot of soup I made until they were gone and the green beans were tossed with herbs and spiced and added to the side of a meal about once a week until they were gone.
*Pack your lunch. I used to work retail and would buy lunch almost everyday instead of making it. Now that I work at a daycare and would have to drive somewhere to buy lunch, I just pack lunch everyday and I'm saving $20-30 a week just by doing that. That's over $1,000 a year.
*Drink more water. I'll admit that I'm a huge fan of coffee, pop, juice, etc., but all of those can get pricey if you add them up-and water is essentially free. I almost always have pop or juice in the house, but one of my goals for 2014 is to cut down how much of it my boyfriend and I go through.
Clothing
*Go thrift shopping. If you're not already a fan of thrift shopping, the thought of wearing someone else's clothes might weird you out, but there's this awesome invention called the washing machine that'll help with that.
*Shop sales. I honestly can't remember the last time I bought a piece of "just because" (not staple items) that wasn't on sale. If it's not on sale right now, it will be eventually.
*Shop quality. I do believe in spending money on good quality items, because they'll last longer than cheaply made clothes, so you'll end up saving money in the long run. This includes jeans, socks, underwear, basic shoes, and any other items that you consider to be staple items.
*DIY. That skirt you love shrunk in the dryer and now it's too short? Sew some lace to the bottom to add length and make it feel like a new skirt! You never wear that shirt anymore, but can't bring yourself to donate it to Goodwill? Get a pair of scissors and get to work making it unique! All clothing problems can be solved with a quick search on Pinterest or Google.
*Only buy what you need. That top might be super cute, but if you don't think you'll wear it a lot, you probably shouldn't buy it.
Home
*DIY/thrift shop. In case you couldn't tell, I'm a huge fan of DIY projects. My mom and I have bought most of our wooden furniture from thrift stores and refinished it ourselves. My roommates mom went thrift shopping for me (they live near a bunch of cool thrift stores) and got me a desk with a HUGE mirror, a funky chair for my desk, a huge set of dressers, a super sturdy bookshelf, a side table, and a cool mushroom stool for $70. SEVENTY DOLLARS. They even painted everything with a grey primer for me so that I could paint/collage/etc. whatever I wanted onto everything. They literally found everything I'd need for my room aside from a bed for $70. Normally that would cost hundreds/thousands of dollars depending on your taste, and I get compliments on my furniture all the time.
*Plan ahead. My boyfriend and I currently live with my two best friends, which means we share appliances until we all move out in July. So, I made a list of all the appliances we'll need to buy when we move out so that I can buy them as I see them on sale for the next six months instead of having to buy everything at once (and more than likely at full price) and I'm just storing them in my closet until we move.
*Recycle. Obviously it's good to recycle in general, but my boyfriend and I have a trash bag that sits on a hook above our trash can (it's in a closet so it doesn't make our kitchen look trashy [pun intended]) that we put all of our cans and bottles in as we drink them. He works in Wine and Spirits, so he tries a lot of the beers and other drinks so he can better recommend products to customers who need help picking stuff out. We just wait until the bag is full and then bring it in right before we go grocery shopping. It's not inconvenient because it's right above the trash can anyways and it only takes about five minutes to recycle all the cans and bottles and we end up getting like $5 each time (which we just put towards groceries). Before we started doing this, I thought it would be super inconvenient, but it's not at all. We usually do this about once a month (sometimes more if we have guests over for drinks) and make about $5 each time, which ends up being $60+ at the end of the year.
Entertainment
*Sign up for Netflix. You'll be able to watch tons of tv shows and movies (current, classic, and underground) without having to pay $20+ every time you want to see something you haven't seen yet. They don't have EVERYTHING, but they definitely have an awesome selection.
*Have a board game night. I do this every month or so and the only money I spend is about $5 to buy whatever ingredients I don't already have for whatever cupcakes I decide to make that night. We always have a great time with our friends and it's way cheaper than going out to the bars, the movies, to eat, etc.
*Get creative with your date nights (or even just hanging out with your friends). Dinner and a movie can be expensive, and you don't want to get sick of doing the same thing every time you go out. Check out your area to see what cool things are going on that are cheap/free.
*DIY. You guess it, another excuse for me to tell you to craft! One of my favorite things to do with my spare time is craft. It's really fun, and you can set your own budget. I get most of my materials on sale or from thrift shops, so most of my projects cost $10 or less and keep me entertained for hours. Plus, it feels amazing to finish a project!
*Volunteer. Do you like animals? See if your local shelter needs some extra help. Like making others happy? See if a local hospital needs volunteers. You can basically find a place that needs some extra help for almost anything you're interested in.
*Garden. If you have the time, space, and appropriate weather, you can have a lot of fun gardening. My mother always gardened growing up. Our backyard was always filled with flowers and herbs (which she used in cooking) and she even kept an aloe plant for sunburns.
*Read a book. I get most of my books from thrift stores, and normally don't pay more than $1 for them. Even if you don't get get a book that cheap, reading is awesome.
Bills
*Unplug/turn off electronics that you aren't using. If you unplug your hairdryer, lamps, phone chargers, etc. when you're not using them, not only are you helping the environment, you're helping your wallet. It doesn't seem like it would make a huge difference, but it really does. Same goes for turning off your lights, tv, computer, etc. when you're not using them.
*Don't waste water. I know taking a long shower can be nice and relaxing, but do you really need to take an hour long shower everyday? Also remember to turn off the faucet while you're brushing your teeth or not using it. Basically only use as much as you need.
*Sign up for fuel-saver. If you live near a Hy-Vee grocery store, sign up for their fuel saver program. Every week they have different items on sale that earn you money towards gas. They have stuff that you might not need (like random pastries), but they also add things like eggs, pasta, bread, etc. that are probably on your grocery list anyways. My boyfriend and I will usually save at least 10 cents per gallon with each shopping trip, and we only buy things that were already on our list! By the time he gets gas, he usually saves anywhere from $5-20 and like I said, we only buy stuff that we were going to get anyways.
So there's all of my money saving tips for you guys! Even if you don't use all of them, hopefully there's something in there that you can use. Don't forget to share your favorite tips!
Stay Stellar,
Paige Elise
