Money Saving Tips That Helped Us Save Every Year! (2024)

Money Saving Tips That Helped Us Save Every Year!

It was the day that my son asked for a brother or sister. My husband was working hard to bring in $17,000 a year ($1,416 take-home pay each month). And we needed a bigger house. It was then and there that we made our first budget that would ultimately change our lives.

Since then, we’ve bought our house, had 3 more children, and my husband has the best job he could have ever asked for. But I’m still taking a hacksaw to our expenses.

I’m a saver by nature. Some people get a rush from roller coasters or from shopping, I get a rush from saving as much money as possible. Weird? Absolutely. But it works for us.

Since we started focusing on our finances, we’ve made a lot of changes. None of the changes were earth-shattering or dramatic… but the results in our budget were shocking!

Ultimately, we save almost $22,000 a year!

These are all things that I personally do in my home. We’re already fairly frugal, but even we can tighten our belts when we need to. None of these money saving tips that helped us save were painful, dramatic, or really even that difficult.

More than anything, I want you to see that every little bit counts and helps. I can’t tell you how many times I hear “but I can onlysave $20 a month doing this… or $10 a week doing that.”

If you think that only saving $10 a week is silly, that weekly $10 is up to $520 by the end of the year. That little change can really leave a big impact in the amount of money that you can save.

While Iam a ~~cheapskate~~ frugalista, there are just some things where I won’t sacrifice. I won’t stop using toilet paper, or live in a tiny house, or only eat foraged food. Life is too short to hate!

So, without further ado, check out the changes that we made to cut down on spending so that we could build up our savings, stay out of debt, and live on one low income.

The goal in taking control of your budget and your money is to build a life that you love while staying on budget. Let me emphasize that one more time: build a life you love and stay on budget. It can be done!

More ways to save money:

13 Apps That Will Help You Save Money Easily
Money Saving Hacks from an Extreme Cheapskate
11 Expenses to Stop Spending Money On
10 Ways to Cut Your Expenses $1 at a Time
How to Talk With Your Husband About Money
10 Amazing Bullet Journal Ideas to Organize Your Money
10 Crazy Money Saving Amazon Hacks
How To Save Money When You Can’t Afford It
10 Money Saving Challenges to Start Today!

Eliminated eating lunches out at work, for better-packed lunches that save time and calories, and taste better.

Buying lunches: $75/ week = $3,900/ year
Packing lunches: $10/ week = $520/ year
Savings = $3,380/ year

Related post:Cheap and Easy Instant Pot Recipes

Started menu planning and using the $5 Meal Plan to help me figure out how to buy exactly what I needed.

Wasted food from aimless shopping: $200/ week = $10,400/ year
$5 meal plan and planned shopping ($75 for groceries, $15 for meal planning) = $90/ week = $4,680/ year
Savings (hold onto your seat!) = $5,720/ year

Stopped shopping at our regular grocery store and started shopping at discount grocery stores like Aldi

Average monthly grocery budget at a regular grocery store ($100 per person per week) for our family of 5: $125/ week = $6,500/ year
Shopping at discount stores: $75/ week = $3,900/ year
Savings = $2,600/ year

Used the library and free Redbox coupons instead of buying or going out to movies

Going out to the movies, or buying movies: $100/ month (2 date nights, 2-3 bought movies) = $1,200/ year
Renting movies for free: $0
Savings = $1,200/ year

Stopped buying bottled water and used a refillable water bottle and countertop water filter(it’s expensive to start – I won’t lie, but this thing is amazing!).

Buying bottled water weekly: $15/ week = $780/ year
Water filter, water bottles = $150 one time expense
Savings = $630

Cancelled cable and use Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, and Netflix exclusively.

Cable: $185/ month = $2,200/ year
Netflix ($9), Hulu ($7) and Amazon Instant video (about $8) = $24/ month = $288/ year
Savings = $1,912

Cancelled the expensive gym membership, got a membership to Planet Fitness, and started using Youtube videos for fitness classes.

Expensive gym membership: $125/ month = $1,500/ year
Planet Fitness and free Youtube: $10/ month = $120/ year
Savings = $1,380/ year

Started using coupons from Groupon and Restuarant.com to go out instead of buying out of pocket.

No coupon date nights: $100/ month = $1,200/ year
Groupon and Restaurant.com coupon date night: $35/ month = $420/ year
Savings = $780/ year

Stopped buying laundry detergent, and started making our own detergent with just 2 ingredients.

Regular store-bought detergent: $30/ month = $360/year
Homemade detergent: $25/ year
Savings = $335/ year

Related post:I Haven’t Spent a PENNY on Laundry All Year

Stopped buying fabric softener and started using white vinegar instead.

Fabric softener: $10/month = $120/ year
White vinegar: $1/month = $12/year
Savings = $108/ year

Stopped buying dryer sheets and started using wool dryer balls (also cut down on dry time).

Dryer sheets: $10/ month = $120/year
Wool dryer balls: $15 (and can last 2 years)
Savings = $105/ year

Related post:Top Laundry Hacks for Frugal Families on a Budget

Exclusively bought all clothes for my family of 5 from thrift stores, yard sales, and consignment stores.

Buying clothes new from retailers for 5 people: $200/ month = $2,400/ year
Thrift shopping: $50/ month = $600/ year
Savings = $1,800/ year

Stopped using disposable diapers for my 2 boys in diapers, and switched to cloth diapers.

Disposable diapers for 2 children: $60/ month = $720/ year
Cloth diapers: $276 total for 2+ years worth of diapering supplies = $138/ year
Savings = $582/ year

Related post:How to Get Cloth Diapers for FREE

Stopped buying CDs or MP3s and started using free Spotify or Pandora. (Note: you can buy Spotify for $9.99/ month. This way, you can download playlists without using up all of your phone’s data!)

Buying new CDs or MP3s: $20/ month = $240/ year
Free streaming service: $0
Savings = $240/ year

**Do a spending freeze for at least 1 week each month (where you don’t buy anything except for paying for bills for a full week)**

Savings = at least $100/ month = $1,200/ year

Total savings in ONE YEAR from these money saving tips alone…

What… WHAT?!

Y’all. I was BLOWN AWAY by this number. I knew I was being frugal, but I didn’t know I was being THAT frugal!!

My next challenge is to add another find more ways to save to add another $5,000-10,000 to that savings by the end of the year.

Little by little, everything adds up! This is proof that even making little changes, can really add up over time to be a lot of money!

What’s the biggest way that you save money?

FAQs

Set a savings goal.

Sometimes the best way to save money is by setting a savings goal—a specific dollar amount with a set deadline.

Set up savings goals.

Setting specific goals – small or large – can make saving money easier. Knowing you're saving for something meaningful, like a family vacation or holiday gifts, can make it easier to cut back in other areas.

Long-Term Security

The future is unpredictable, and financial emergencies can crop up anytime. Saving money allows you to create a safety net for your future expenses as well as unplanned financial needs. The more you save, the more peace of mind you have, as you are better prepared for anything life throws at you.

To save money, try new strategies such as setting a savings goal, tracking your spending, making a budget, reducing discretionary expenses, trying a savings challenge and paying down debt.

The safest place to put money is in an interest-earning bank account at an FDIC-insured bank or an NCUA-insured credit union. There's no risk of losing your money. You'll find the best interest rates at online banks.

How To Be Good With Money aims to make the nation more financially savvy through Eoin's no nonsense, accessible advice. Throughout the series, Eoin provides viewers with personal finance information to help manage day to day finances and plan for unforeseen events, while looking to build future financial resilience.

- Savings accounts pay interest on the money you deposit. - Savings accounts allow an unlimited amount of withdrawals each month. - Savings accounts may require you to maintain a minimum balance to avoid paying a fee. - Savings accounts are best used to store money for longer-term goals.

The 100-envelope challenge is pretty straightforward: You take 100 envelopes, number each of them and then save the corresponding dollar amount in each envelope. For instance, you put $1 in “Envelope 1,” $2 in “Envelope 2,” and so on. By the end of 100 days, you'll have saved $5,050.

This model suggests allocating 50% of your income to essential expenses, 15% to retirement savings and 5% to an emergency fund.

Money Saving Tips That Helped Us Save Every Year! (2024)