Creative Ways To Save Money Without Sacrificing Your Lifestyle
/If you are living paycheck to paycheck or month to month, it can be tough to find ways to save money without sacrificing your lifestyle. I’ve been there and I get it. With that said, if you get creative, it is possible to find plenty of ways that can help you to reduce your monthly expenses, boost your income, and put more money in your pocket. For example, you can use money-saving apps to save money on your everyday purchases. I’ve seen how these savings can really add up over time.
Whether you are looking to spend less or save more money every month, take a look at these creative ways to save money without sacrificing your lifestyle.
Photo by Wherbson Rodrigues from Pexels
Save automatically
Setting up automatic savings each time you get paid is the easiest and most effective way to save as it is like a "set it and forget it" kind of thing.
You can set up automatic savings monthly or weekly. If you receive a traditional paycheck, ask your employer to direct a certain amount from your paycheck each pay period, and transfer it to your savings account. If you are a freelancer, some banks have an option where you can automatically transfer funds from your checking to your savings.
During your weekly money date, I recommend paying yourself first by transferring a percentage of your income to your savings.
Plan your meals in advance
One of my favorite ways to practice conscious spending and abundant living is planning my meals out in advance. Nick and I take turns cooking for each other, usually cooking a dinner meal for the week on Sundays. We also plan our breakfast, lunch, and snacks ahead of time.
By planning in advance what you will eat for breakfasts, lunches, and dinners for the week, you can avoid unconscious spending on food or grocery shopping because you will know what you will need to buy for the week. In my experience, this practice has also allowed for impulse eating out without feeling guilty. If you want to pair saving money with sustainable food practices, check out this Crowd Crow review to learn about a great meat supplier you could consider using.
Make your own cold-brewed coffee or tea at home
One of the creative ways to save money is to invest in a good water filter that makes your own tap water safer to drink. When I lived in Indiana, my tap water was not good to drink so I was always buying water bottles or jugs. Obviously, this was not good for the environment and certainly not good for my bank account. Once I moved to California, I didn’t need a water filter, so depending on where you live you may or may not to invest in one. Either way, if you don’t already have one get a good refillable water bottle, fill it with filtered water at home and bring it with you wherever you go so that you will always have filtered water ready to drink anytime you get thirsty.
If you are a coffee lover, then you could save a ton of money by making your own coffee at home. You can make high-quality coffee at home by purchasing whole bean coffee and grinding the coffee beans to brew your own coffee at home. Nick loves cold-brewed coffee and makes a batch at the beginning of the week to last throughout the week.
I am not a coffee lover, but I do love tea. I especially love a blend of hibiscus, mint, and stevia. This is a tea recipe I borrowed from The Berkeley Bowl where it is called ProsperiTea - totally a thing for those of us who love money, right? At the beginning of the week, I’ll put the loose leaf tea blend in my tea brewer and place it in the refrigerator. Within a couple of hours, I’ll have deliciously refreshing tea to last a few days.
Eat the food you already have
This may seem like an obvious one, but it can lead to some creative meals. One time, I had leftover olives, tuna, tomatoes, a few other ingredients and whipped up a Nicoise salad. At the time, I didn’t know it was a classic Nicoise salad, but that’s what happened. If you are used to going out to eat often, get creative to save money by eating the food you already have in your cupboards, pantry, fridge, and freezer instead of eating out.
Also, if you have food in your deep fridge and pantry, make sure to eat them first before you go grocery shopping to save money and prevent food waste.
Take advantage of your library
You can save a ton of money on entertainment by taking advantage of your local library or libraries nearby. This has been a new practice of mine because I learned that I could rent Kindle books from my local library - how cool is that?
Shop offseason
You can save a ton of money by shopping off season, as stores offer big discounts at the end of each season on seasonal items. For example, new winter clothes will be heavily discounted in the spring and you can find summer clothes for cheap in the fall.
Use cashback apps
If you are looking for creative ways to save money without sacrificing your lifestyle, then use cashback apps. There are some reputable cashback apps and sites out there that will help you to save some money on your everyday purchases. So, it is basically free money that can really add up.
Some of the best legit cashback apps include Rakuten, Ibotta, Fetch Rewards, Checkout 51 and Drop. If you are shopping online often, Rakuten may be the best cashback app for you to use. Personally, I’ve used Ibotta and Drop, and racked up enough savings to receive a gift card.
Negotiate your bills
Negotiating with your cable company and internet service provider is one of the most creative ways to save money without sacrificing your lifestyle. More businesses are interested in keeping their existing customers and will offer you discounts to keep your business. You can use the money you save to pay off debt or set aside for savings.
There are apps, like Truebill and Trim that can negotiate your bills on your behalf. These financial apps can also cancel your unused subscriptions.
Use the 24-hour rule
If you tend to buy unnecessary items on impulse, then use the 24-hour rule where you basically wait 24 hours before purchasing any non-essential item. This money-saving tactic is perfect if you tend to shop online often, as it is simple to add your items to your cart to purchase later if you really need them.
Unsubscribe from marketing emails and texts
If you subscribed to your favorite store's or brand's email marketing and text services, it is easy to be tempted to buy items you really do not need. Avoid the temptation to spend money on unnecessary items by unsubscribing from marketing emails and texts.
By law, each marketing email is required to have an unsubscribe link, usually at the bottom of the email. You can unsubscribe from an email marketing service by using that link. If you are receiving marketing texts, you can reply to any text with STOP to opt-out of their service.
Pay off credit cards in full each month
One of the most creative ways to save money without sacrificing your lifestyle is to pay off your credit card bills in full each month. If you have a large outstanding balance on a high-APR credit card, and you only make the minimum monthly payments, you may end up paying more money in interest than your original balance.
If you cannot pay off your balance in full each month, try to pay down your credit card debt by increasing your monthly payments as much as you can. By reducing the outstanding balances every month, you will have more money in your pocket every month that can be used to pay off the debt faster.
Cut the cable
You can save hundreds of dollars a year by cutting the cable if you are not watching the TV much anyway. If you still want to watch your favorite TV shows and movies, you could sign up for on-demand services such as Netflix, Hulu and Sling TV to watch on-demand movies and TV shows. Cutting the cable to take advantage of cheaper on-demand services is one of the most creative ways to save money without sacrificing your lifestyle.
You can even try out free services such as Crackle and Pluto TV to save money without sacrificing your lifestyle. Many free subscriptions offer a variety of movies and TV shows. Did you know I was on a TV show that is on CrackleTV? It’s called Going From Broke- check it out and let me know what you think!
Use a programmable thermostat
You can lower your monthly heating and cooling bills by investing in a programmable thermostat. You can use it to automatically adjust the temperature in your house without sacrificing comfort while you are asleep or are not home.
You can lower the heat or AC automatically while you are at work or asleep, and have it automatically adjust the heat or AC when you are not home or before you come home.
Use energy-efficient appliances
When it comes to updating your appliances, buying high-efficiency appliances will help cut your monthly expenses. Energy-efficient appliances use less energy, so if you need to buy new appliances, make sure to purchase an Energy Star model of each appliance to save money on energy bills.
In conclusion
Whether or not these ideas seem creative to you or not, my hope is that you see that saving money is a practice. It is similar to fitness in that most of us know what we need to do to maintain a healthy weight - eat wholesome foods, drink water, and sweat. However, it can be easier said than done. The above suggestions are simple, yet with an abundant mindset you can make saving money fun and creative. All without sacrificing your lifestyle.
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