Having struggles trying to find different ways to save money? Well, you are not alone because many people also find it difficult to save money. Though with some advice from a few people on the Dave Ramsey Facebook Groups, you may find something that can work for you with 15 money-saving hacks that can help you with the Dave Ramsey 7 baby steps.
1. Don’t Waste Food
When you buy your groceries, use every last bit of it. Don’t let it go to waste or else you not only wasted food but your money as well. This will help bring down the cost by not having to repurchase something after it goes to waste. You can even do this with any take-out food you brought home after dinner. Didn’t finish it? No problem, save it for later and have it the next day for lunch. That way, you don’t have to spend any money the next day on food for lunch but instead, finish off what you have already paid for.
“Don’t waste food. You pay for every bit of the loaf of bread, For example, use up those crusts. Use up leftovers in casseroles or have one leftover meal every week.” – Jackie Stark-Tot
2. Pick-Up Option
Ever went to target for example for just one item and come back with 2 bags filled with items you weren’t expecting to buy? Well, you aren’t alone because I would do that all the time. It can be frustrating because now we realized we spent money on things we did not need to buy at the moment. So a great way to fix that and spend less is by using the pick-up option at your store. Most convenient stores like Target or Walmart now give you the option to pick out what you intended to buy from that store and drive to there to go pick it up. That way you aren’t tempted every time you go by the clothing section and have the urge to buy a new t-shirt you honestly don’t need. Not only you are saving money but you are saving time as well! You can do this for groceries too.
“Grocery pick-up instead of walking into the store has been a lifesaver!” – Danielle Farley White
3. Need Vs Want
Sometimes when shopping, many find themselves in situations where you want that new pair of trendy sneakers or wanting the latest makeup palette. Then you just buy it right then and there without any hesitation. Though did you ever ask yourself if you needed that or was it because you just wanted it. This is a problem many faces when trying to save money because we don’t think before we buy! That’s why the next time you go shopping think before buying. Ask yourself, “do I need this or do I want it?” You should think about this every time before you go shopping to prevent yourself from spending more money than needed.
“Ask “Do I need this?” Think of what you “need” vs what you “want”. This can save thousands of dollars every year.” – Jonathan P. Whitten
4. At Home Restaurant Recipes
Ever want to go out and have a nice dinner, but want to find a way to save money? Well, now you can! A great money-saving hack is to find your favorite restaurant recipes and make them at home instead. This will save you money in the long run and will be a great idea to also learn how to start cooking on your own. You can find almost all different types of recipes online from your favorite restaurants and take-out food.
“Find restaurant recipes to make at home! My favorite is Taco Bell’s crunch wrap!!! I was able to make triple the amount at home and freeze some for the same cost as 1 meal from taco bell.” – Abigail Brennan
5. Grocery List
How do you prepare before heading out to buy some groceries? Many find themselves just looking through their cabinet and try to remember what they need to buy. Then by the time we are at the cashier, many have bought more than they anticipated. So how do we stop that? Simple, by creating a grocery list before you go shopping. That way you know exactly what you need and won’t go over your budget. It will be helpful to save money and also being more organized.
“Take a grocery list to the store with you and stick to it. Also, most generic brands taste the same as the name brand one.” – Samantha Willams
You may want to not use such things as Costco Same-Day delivery unless you can save money on gas as you generally will be paying 15% more on groceries and may need to tip.
6. Fresh Water
Do you buy water bottle cases every time? If you do, this is your chance to change it up and spend less money paying for bottles of water every time you are low. Instead, add an attachment to your sink to get fresh tap water. Also, it will be helpful to have when you do run out of water bottles. Since now you have tap water always there and ready to use. You will start seeing how much you save money just by using tap water instead of continuously buying bottled water.
“Don’t buy water. Attach a filter to your sink. You’ll have fresh water every time.” – Lis Rose
7. Budgeting
Budgeting will be your best friend when it comes to saving money. You can budget monthly of your essentials and can work on controlling your money. This will help you over time to watch where your spending habits are and can work on it. This can be beneficial to your goals of paying any debt and working towards your baby steps. As well as using cash instead when managing your money to help you save money since it is more motivating to watch how you save money.
“Do a monthly written budget every month. Managed money goes farther. Also, use cash envelopes. You better control your spending when you use cash.” – Scott Miller
8. Watch For Subscriptions
What subscriptions do you have right now? For instance, Netflix, Hulu, and HBOMax are all popular subscriptions that many pay for. Though do you actually use it all the time? If not, why have it at all? All you are doing is paying for something that you are not using so it is a good idea to check what subscriptions you may have and figure out the ones you don’t use as much to cancel it. This will save you a ton of money every month and use that towards something else.
“Look over your monthly and yearly subscriptions. Magazines, apps, tv apps, Ancestry, newspapers, Amazon subscriptions, digital subscriptions, etc. Cancel those that you don’t need and turn off automatic renewals.” – Whitney Sears
9. Re-use Trash Bags
Something that you may be wasting your money on is purchasing trash bags. Many of the trash bags aren’t cheap either and can cost a bit if you go through a lot of trash bags every month. So a great way to save money is by reusing plastic bags instead. By reusing plastic bags you will be saving money and helping the environment more. When we shop, we end up with so many plastic bags so save them to the side and use it for your trash instead.
“Don’t buy trash bags it’s just money for the trash. use plastic store bags.” – Lynn Frazel Flaherty
10. Save Those Coupons/Free Giftcards
Ever get coupons through your mail or after purchasing something you see a potential free gift card on your receipt? If so, don’t throw them away! Save them till the moment you can use them for the next time you go out shopping. It can be a great way to save money for your next purchase because you can use that money towards something else that you may need. You can also find and search for coupons on certain apps. For example, Target has an app that you can use coupons and also free gift cards after a certain amount has been purchased.
“I make use of free gift cards for groceries. When that happens, I take my grocery money and use it.” – Nancy Dillard
11. “Pay Period” Emergency Fund
An emergency fund you should use as a money-saving hack is to have a “pay period” emergency fund. This fund is when you add a portion of your money from every paycheck. That way in case of an emergency, you have something to fall back on instead of using more of your money. You can also use it after a couple of months for yourself as a little gift to motivate you on how well you are doing while saving money.
“Have a “pay period” emergency fund envelope in your wallet. (An envelope you fund every pay.) If you don’t use/need the money during your pay period, reward yourself by transferring the money into your date/entertainment envelope.” – Dotty Harshberger
12. Annual Vs. One Time Expense
Next time before purchasing something, think about what type of expense it is. Is it a one-time deal or do you consistently buy it over again? If you consistently buy it, is it something you have to buy or can you live without it? This can be a make or break when spending your money because you can save money by thinking ahead on your annual spending. For example, if you annual spend money on getting Starbucks every morning, maybe it’s time to stop. Since all that money you have been spending on Starbucks every day can be put away in savings instead. There is nothing wrong though with buying a Starbucks drink from time to time but every day is not a good idea.
“Think annual expense. I never think of buying a coffee as a one-time expense but as a lifestyle expense. Usually, the annual expense of such a lifestyle is around $1,500 – $2,500 depending on the person. For some, it’s even more. If that much money is saved and put into a retirement account instead it comes to around half a million dollars by retirement age!” – Jackie Stark-Tot
13. Time To Sell
When you look around your room, do you actually use and like everything you have? An idea that can be useful to not only save but earn money is by selling items in your house that you don’t need or use anymore. Such as clothes, furniture, and supplies. Many of these items can be sold for a good price as long as it is still in good condition. It can be a great way to earn money on the side and put it in your savings.
“Sell, sell, sell! Look around your house for stuff you don’t want or use anymore! Start listing it. I have even bought stuff and sold it for more!” – Mellisa Renne jones
14. Close Credit Cards
Most people have a credit card or two but many have multiple credit cards on hand. This is where many people can start struggling to pay back their credit cards. That is why before it gets to that point you should close some of your credit cards to prevent any further damage to your wallet. Especially since a lot of credit cards have interest rates. Closing your credit cards can save you money and from becoming more in debt.
“Close some credit card accounts. Never use cash available from credit cards, unless it is life or death. Higher interest.” – Cass Jones
15. Cut Out Cable
Nowadays with technology, many people use subscriptions more to watch tv-series or movies instead of using a cable to watch. As many of us know, the cable can become expensive, especially with the type of bundle you may have, like more channels to watch from. So instead of having both cable and subscriptions like Netflix, just cut out your cable. There is no need to spend more money on cable when you already have everything on your subscriptions. That way you can save your money instead of paying for something you don’t even use often as you should.
“Cutting out cable/satellite. Since you were already spending that money on something similar to Netflix. So just have it automatically moved into a savings account.” – Mellisa Renne jones