There has never been a better time to find ways to save money and prepare for the future. So after an online survey, these are the easiest ways to save money.
1. Cook your own food
“Nothing saves as much money as eating from home. If you’re dining in a restaurant in the US, $20 is not a $20 meal. There are tips, there are taxes and there is a charge for drinks,” one of them shared.
Another added: “You will never walk out of a restaurant for less than $30. You will need to earn $45 to receive that $30 in salary. Looking at the big picture, a $20 meal costs you $45 of your labor. You can afford the best ingredients when you eat at home and it will always be cheaper than dining out.”
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2. Don’t Buy All the Good Things You Want
“Resist every impulse to buy good things. For example, my wife and I could drive much nicer cars. But we decided to drive “beyond our means”, which is a significant amount if you do not have payment for the car,” shared another.
3. Set aside money for monthly expenses in a separate account.
“List your monthly expenses (rent, mortgage, utilities, insurance, gas, groceries) and deposit them into a separate bank account. Then use this account to pay bills,” one of them said.
“It’s better to put an extra $100 into this account every month if something goes up, like gas or rent. So, if your monthly expenses are $1,000, put $1,100 into this bank account.
And save the rest of the money that doesn’t go towards expenses. Leave only a small amount on your checks to eat out and buy whatever you want.”
4. Don’t have children until you’re financially secure
One person volunteered: “Don’t have children until you have the financial opportunity. It may sound terrible, but it can cost over $250,000 to raise a single child, and many people don’t think about it. There are expenses such as food, clothes, toys, education, transportation, housing, etc.”
5. Don’t always buy a brand name
“The easiest way to save money without changing your lifestyle is to buy non-branded products. For example, why spend $3 on cookies when you can buy non-branded cookies for $1.50?
For some things, branded quality can be worth it, but sometimes unbranded things can be even better than well-known brands,” shared one of them.
“About a year ago, I discovered that a local soda brand made a better Diet Coke than Pepsi or Coca-Cola and also cost less than a quarter of the price per litre. So I saved almost $1,000 on Diet Coke alone by buying non-branded products last year.”
6. Remove Subscriptions You Don’t Use
Someone exclaimed: “Get rid of unnecessary subscriptions! I recently took a look at what services I use and got rid of Netflix, Hulu, HBO and Xbox Game Pass… I rarely use any of them. So that’s a savings of $40+ every month.”
7. Stay home
“No matter how boring the answer is, you should stay at home,” one of them replied. “Staying at home doesn’t cost a lot of money (it can cost you more gas and electricity bills), but leaving the house is relatively expensive. Whether you spend money on gas for your car, on parties with friends, or just on food, it adds up quickly,” explained another.
8. Create a separate savings account
“Set up a regular transfer from your check to your savings. Determine how much you need to keep in a checking account and arrange for a monthly transfer. Every modern bank has the ability to do this.
It doesn’t have to be a lot, just something you can easily do. As soon as you get on your feet, open a brokerage account and make the same monthly transfer,” shared one of them.
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9. Find a hobby that doesn’t cost money
Another added: “Video gaming is a great time to money hobby if you find something you can play for a long time without a subscription. Between that and sailing the seven seas for all your movies, anime and TV, you can spend very little on entertainment.”
10. Save money to make savings easier
“Having money helps save money. Getting an emergency fund makes it easier to save long-term instead of buying what you can afford now, but it will cost more in the long run,” commented the latest user.
We hope you enjoyed reddit-suggested list of helpful tips to save money. This article is inspired by the Internet and does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of Wealthy Nickel.
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