17 Creative Ways To Be Saving Your Money

Even during the midst of a pandemic, people are looking to be saving money where they can. While that’s nice and all, oftentimes a lot of ways to be saving is to be sacrificing certain things in your life.

Because it can be so bothersome, we’ve decided to give you some creative ways to be saving money. Through these methods you can save a little bit or you could save several hundred dollars. It’s your choice!

Use An Automated Tool

There are all kinds of apps or banking features that remove a lot of the guesswork from saving. You can create transfers, which automatically take money and send it to another account. In terms of apps there are options like Qapital and Digit, which automatically transfer small amounts of money from your checking account into a savings account.

Count Out Coins And Bills

Even though so many of us use debit or credit cards, once in a while we use cash too. So often you’ll find that you’ve got a collection of coins and bills that are just lying around. In light of that, take some time to count all of that up and toss it into a savings account. Another consideration you can do is train yourself to start using cash to purchase things. It’s harder to part ways with actual cash, so it forces you to make smarter purchase decisions.

Prepare For Grocery Shopping

Grocery stores are specifically designed to play on your cravings for food. For example, there is a reason most grocery stores have their bakery close to the entrance. You smell the bread and all the sweets and you get hungry. In other cases it could be you simply walking in with no plan or feeling hungry.

In those situations you could be saving yourself a good bit of money if you take time now to prepare before shopping. Things like having a grocery list and checking your fridge and cupboards to see what you’ve got stocked up are very useful in this case. Even having a snack at home before grocery shopping can help too.

Beyond that, you can also look into loyalty programs and coupons that can save you money here and there.

Aim For Smaller Dishes At Restaurants

These days, everything is massive in proportions. It’s to the point now that even appetizers can easily pass as full course meals. What’s crazy is that these are almost half the price as the main meal. Consider ordering these for several people or look into splitting an entrée with your dining companion to save money there.

Get Discounts On Entertainment

While there is a pandemic going on right now and public places are restricted, we know it all will be over eventually and that things will open up again. In cases of public places, many locations offer all kinds of discounts and events. National parks and museums sometimes have free admission days. There are also discounts for seniors, students, and military members for other spots too. Take advantage of them.

Make A Plan For Major Purchases

When we think of major purchases we think of cars and houses. While those should have considerable planning involved, you can also plan out purchases of appliances, electronics, furniture and more based on annual sale periods.

This is a thing, even though these items are available to us all year round. Without a doubt, things will go on sale and you could save yourself hundreds of dollars. So before going to buy something, wait a day or two before buying something if it can wait.

Place Hard Restrictions On Online Shopping

Technology makes it so convenient these days to make purchases and it has really smoothed out the transactional process. While that seems nice, it’s actually opened the door for more impulse buying. Instead of letting the fields fill out, force yourself to input the shipping address and payment option every time you make an order. Similar to spending cash on things, rather than using a card, you’ll likely stop impulse buying so much while getting all the details for your order.

Make Your Own Gifts/Items

Materials to make things are often cheaper than the finished products in some cases.

What’s also nice is there are bound to be instructions online to make various things. Plus, a handmade gift is usually much better than a bought one.

Lower The Car Payments

With interest rates dropping down, maybe the interest rate on your car loan has dropped as well. In that case, refinancing at a new and lower rate can save you a lot of money.

Bundle Cable And Internet

You could be cutting the cord of cable to save even more, but if you can’t live without cable, try looking into bundles. Depending on the carrier, you could save up to $40 or more every month from changing your cable package.

Switch Cell Phone Plans

Changing your plan is another way to save money on cell phone bills – especially if there are features you’re not even using at all. However that’s not all. In some cases there is an insurance on that plan and by removing it you could save about $100 every year per line that you’ve got insured.

Eye The Electric Bill

While energy usage spikes during colder months, you could look into some creative ways to be saving power. For example, turning off lights after you’ve left the room or simply using less devices that consume power are good ways of saving a lot of money.

Big or small changes can make a difference in utility bills.

Lower Student Loan Payments

If you’ve got student loans, chances are you’re not too concerned about them right now.

That said, once repayments do start backing up, look into repayment plans that are income-driven. These are lighter for many people and can save you hundreds every month.

Cancel Unnecessary Subscriptions

With so many platforms using subscription based models these days it’s hard to keep track of what you’re paying and not paying for. So many subscriptions can get lost in the mix, so do yourself a favor and sift through your subscriptions. If you know you’re not using them, remove those subscriptions.

Track Your Spending

Having a budget is important, but not everyone wants to do a thorough one. We get that, so this one can be a good alternative. The idea is still following a budget in a sense you’re noting income and subtracting your expenses. That said, you’re putting more focus on what money is coming out. Fortunately, there are a ton of apps out there that keep track of spending and do so for free.

Refinance Your Mortgage

One good thing this pandemic has done is shot down mortgage rates significantly.

Whether you are a new or current home owner, looking to refinance your mortgage can lower interest, and therefore, save several hundred dollars every month.

Start Setting Savings Goals

The final tip on saving money is to set yourself a goal. It can be as simple as paying off credit card debt faster or putting a specific amount into savings. Whatever the case is, setting that and actively working towards that will naturally push you to save money in areas you can to make your goals a reality.