Want to learn helpful tips on how to save money fast?
This blog post has got you covered!
Sometimes, we all spend a bit too much money here & there. These 50 tips will help you to implement some daily practices that can get you saving money fast.
Here’s a well-known fact, a lot of people aren’t good at saving money. I’m not blaming anyone; inflation and living costs have gotten high, with minimum wages often not changing for years.
Did you know that 69% of Americans have less than $1000 in savings, according to this study? 45% have $0 in savings.
It’s why I put together this list, to help you find 50 different and creative ways to save money in your everyday life. Prioritizing your money and not spending it extravagantly is one of the first steps you can take with money-saving.
50 Tips to Save Money
Below are 50 ways to save money. This is only advice. Simply implementing a few of these tips into your everyday life can help you to save extra money every week.
Disclaimer: This article contains affiliate and referral links, where I may receive a small commission on purchases or signups at no cost to you. You can read my full disclosure here.
1. Write a Shopping List
Before grocery shopping, look at online catalogs and make a shopping list. Stick to the shopping list and try to not buy anything that isn’t listed (unless forgotten about or a staple).
Doing this will ensure that you aren’t spending money on junk food or impulse purchases.
2. How Many Hours of Work Will The Item Cost?
My favorite money-saving tip is to divide the cost of the product you want to buy by your hourly rate at your job.
Let’s say you make $15 an hour at your job, and the new computer you want to buy is $900. 900 divided by 15 is 60 hours’ worth of work.
Now work out to yourself if that computer is worth 60 hours of hard work. Sometimes the product will be worth it, and other times it won’t.
3. Multiply Your Daily Spends
Think about that coffee you buy daily for $3. You say to yourself, “it’s only $3, it’s cheap enough”. It can be an awful mindset to have. $3 x 365 days = $1095.
What about the $4 or $5 lunch you buy every day at work. $4 x 240 days = $960.
To save money fast, you need to think about the small amounts of money you spend daily and multiply it. Little daily expenses can add up quickly over an extended period.
4. Use Cashback Apps That Give You Money Back
If you want to buy online, using a cashback app can give you a percentage back of the purchase cost. If you need to spend money, you might as well get a small discount back.
These cashback apps cover thousands of online stores from Amazon to eBay & plenty more.
My Favorite Cashback Apps/Websites:
Worldwide: Join Rakuten For Free & Spend $20+ to Receive $20 Back!
Asia Pacific (Australia, Singapore, Thailand & more): Join Shopback & Get a $20 Referral Bonus After Spending $20 or more!
5. Drink Water
Sounds almost stupid, to include, but drinking water and cutting back on soda (soft drinks), energy drinks, smoothies, and juices can save you lots of money in the long run.
I recommend buying a big water bottle, like a 50fl oz (1.5L) water bottle, filling it at the start of each day, and trying to drink the total amount by the end of each day.
6. Budget and Track Expenses
Budget all of your money and track all of your expenses. You’ll probably be shocked at just how much money you really spend.
7. Make Big Servings For Leftovers
Instead of cooking every day, make a big serving that can be used as leftovers for a few days. This is also a great way to get rid of food that’s nearly expired, and it can save time having already leftovers after work.
8. Convince Yourself to Become Happy With Less
Get into a mindset of not wanting everything. Try to believe that you don’t need ‘things & stuff’ to make you happy.
It will help you live a more minimalistic life to focus on what’s truly important.
9. Don’t Try to Keep Up With Trends
Keeping up with the new clothing or lifestyle trends can be so expensive. Quite frankly, it’s just stuff.
Teach yourself that it’s okay to be a few years behind on trends; your mindset and wallet will be thank you.
10. Walk Into A Store With Only Cash
Having a set amount of cash when going into a grocery store (like $60) allows you to truly limit yourself on what to buy. Don’t bring credit/debit cards, as you’ll likely use them instead.
If I use a debit card instead of cash, I always go overboard because I physically can’t see the money being taken out of my wallet. If you have money on hand, it’s a physical product that will be harder to part ways with if you spend over budget.
11. Label Food/Products With Expiration Dates
A simple hack that will save you money by not wasting food or household products. Write the date that you bought products or know the shelf life of your fresh produce.
Over 1 billion tonnes of food gets wasted every year (source: Reset), so do your part by not over-buying food.
I’ve included articles below with the shelf-life of standard food/products:
– Shelf Life of Fresh Produce
– Shelf Life of Household/Cleaning Products
12. Do a Money Savings Challenge
A money savings challenge can be a fun and easy way to save extra money at the end of each week. You can choose a circle and color it in; it’s as simple as that.
↓ Join my email list & get free savings printables ↓
13. Buy Second-Hand Clothes
Retailers often bump up the price of their clothes by two times the cost (source: Chron). If you buy second-hand clothes from thrift stores, you can save a heap of money!
I’ve often found well-known brands like Adidas for a fifth of the retail price. It’s an excellent way to save while shopping for clothes.
14. Use a Bank That Helps to Automatically Save For You
Join a bank that allows you to automatically deposit money into a separate savings account every week.
Some banking apps also allow for round-ups, meaning that if you spend $5.24, it will round it up to $6 and save the $0.76 for you.
Banks that automatically save for you:
US: Chime Bank
Worldwide: Acorns/Raiz (Get a $5 bonus if you use invite code 6P2KYV at signup)
Australia: Up Bank (Get a $10 bonus when you sign up through my link)
15. Wait 24 Hours Before Purchasing Something
If you want to buy something over $100, don’t buy it just yet! Wait an entire 24 hours before you purchase it.
In this time, you can think if you actually need it or if it was just another impulse buy. This is a great way to really evaluate whether or not you need certain items. If you do want it after 24 hours, purchase it; at least you’ve waited on it and realized that you want it.
16. Avoid Fast Food
Fast food can be expensive. Yes, it’s really convenient and delicious, but reducing/cutting out the amount of fast food you eat will put some money back in your wallet.
17. Plan Your Meals at Home
It’s often 5 times more expensive to order delivery from a restaurant than cook at home. Planning your meals allows you to save and learn how to become a better cook in the process.
An excellent way to start planning meals is to buy a blank recipe book and write down all the recipes you love to eat/make. Soon, you’ll have a book filled with dozens of meals that you can then plan for the week.
18. Buy Home Brand/Generic Products
Save on your weekly grocery bill by buying home brand/generic products. They probably don’t have as nice packaging as their more expensive counterparts, but they often taste near identical.
19. Shop Online
Shopping online is an excellent way to find the best price of products you want to buy. You’re able to search multiple websites to find the best deal, and you can even wait for online sales like Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
20. Search for Coupons
If you get to an online store’s checkout screen and ask if you have a coupon, it’s a surefire way to tell that the company has coupons for money off.
Just search ‘Company/Product Name Coupon’ in Google and test out all the coupons available.
If the coupons don’t work, another way is to check if they have an incentive to sign up to their email list. It could be like 20% off your first purchase if you sign up.
I recently did this and saved over $200 on a product I was going to buy anyway.
21. Lower Your Phone Bill
A lot of people spend $50+ on their phone bills each month. A simple way to lower your cost is by changing your plan or just not buying the newest phone each year.
Ask yourself, do I really need this new phone or is my old one fine enough?
I recently got my phone bill down to $29/month after realizing that I didn’t need the ‘newest phone’ or that most of my plans come with unlimited data.
22. Pack Lunch Yourself
Buy a loaf of bread and sandwich/deli meats and make lunch yourself. If you have food already made, it will save you from running to a fast food place for lunch.
23. Reduce Energy Costs by Turning off Lights Not in Use
If you’re not in a room, turn the lights off, a super-easy way to reduce your energy costs every month.
Also, open your curtains/blinds to let in natural light. I sometimes think that humans forget that sunlight is the best way to save on electricity throughout the day.
24. Join Family Plans if Available
Research if your favorite streaming services offer family plans, a lot of the time, they do. Change your expensive singular plan into the family plan and reap the money-saving.
I spent $10/month on a premium Spotify plan when I realized that they offer a family plan. After getting 5 members of my household on it, we now only spend $3/month each. A simple solution that saved us all $7/month.
25. Save Spare Coins
After paying with cash, save any coins you have left in your purse/wallet and put them into a savings tin. A few dollars here and there can really add up and become a sum of money after 12 months.
26. Say No
Learn to say no to plans that will cost you a lot of money (especially when you’re trying to save money).
I’m not saying to say ‘no’ to every single plan that your friends/loved ones invite you to. Just learn that it’s okay to say no when you don’t feel like going out and want to save money.
27. Make Your Own Coffee
Buying from coffee shops can be expensive. A simple way to save money is to make your own coffee at home. This way is fantastic because you can buy your own beans (or instant coffee) and make it however you like.
Buying a coffee every day before work: $3 x 240 = $720.
Making a coffee every day before work: $0.20 x 240 = $48
This saves $672 per year. These prices are based on estimates, but you can still save hundreds just by skipping the coffee shop and brewing yourself.
28. Use a VPN
Using a VPN is a terrific way to save money on streaming services, booking flights/hotels, and even online shopping.
If you love to watch movies/TV shows on streaming services like Netflix, I highly recommend that you get a VPN to watch thousands of more titles on Netflix in different countries. I’m Australian and watch US and UK Netflix all the time!
Join NordVPN Today (Get 68% off a 2-year plan + a free gift if you sign up through my link)
29. Watch Netflix/Streaming Services
For a flat base rate of around $8.99 per month, you can get access to thousands of movies/TV shows on Netflix. To watch one movie in a theater is just over $9.
Save money fast by simply ditching movie theaters and subscribing to a streaming service.
30. Don’t Save Credit/Debit Card Information Online
After you’ve bought something online, the website/browser you use often asks if you want to save the card information. It can be super tempting to click save, but I’d advise against it if you want to save money fast.
After getting to the checkout screen of the online store, you now have to go and get your purse/wallet and retrieve the card details. This can give you time to evaluate if you actually need the product or if it’s just an unnecessary purchase.
31. Think About Your Future
Sounds super corny (I know), but just think about how this purchase will hold up in the future. If it’s a large purchase, think about a year from now and whether you think you’ll use the product or not.
Simply thinking about your future plans can allow you to save more money.
32. Use a Savings Planner
If you’d like to save for a particular thing (like Christmas gifts), you can use a savings planner to track your savings.
For example: If you’d like to save $500 for Christmas gifts, do a 10-week plan where you put away $50 into a savings tin and check off each week when you save the money.
33. Unsubscribe From Company Email Lists
After buying a product online, you’ve probably accidentally signed up to the company’s email list. They’ll incentivize you to spend more money with discounts and coupons; just make sure to unsubscribe.
34. Bring Your Own Snacks to Movie Theaters
If you love to go to the movies every so often, an excellent way to save money is to bring your own snacks to the movie theater.
It may be unethical, but you can save on the ridiculously high popcorn costs (seriously, why is it $10+).
35. Ditch Cable
Cable TV is expensive. If you don’t watch it often, I recommend disconnecting it. Streaming services are a lot easier and cheaper than cable TV as well.
36. Don’t Always Buy Cheap
Sometimes you may find a 4K 55″ TV that’s selling for $299. You may find that it’s an excellent deal but evaluate a few things like; Is the brand reputable? How long is the warranty? Is the deal too good to be true? Also, reading customer reviews is a must.
Sometimes buying cheap leads you to spend more money in the long run. After warranties end, a product may just die or start malfunctioning.
I’d much rather buy a TV from a reputable source like Samsung or LG where I know the quality is there instead of a less known brand.
37. Ditch Paper Towels
Choose a reusable option like a dish towel (tea towel) to clean up your messes in the kitchen instead of a paper towel. Not only will you be more environmentally friendly, but you’ll also save a couple dollars a month too.
38. Buy a Crock Pot
Use a slow cooker/crockpot to make your meals at the start of each day, ready for when you get home from work. This will stop you from spending money on delivery services, and you can really throw anything in to make a sound, slow-cooked meal.
31+ Dump & Go Slow Cooker Meals
39. Read or Watch Product Reviews
Read/watch product reviews on blogs or YouTube. I would highly advise you to read product reviews on technology, homeware & appliances.
In the past 2 years, I thoroughly researched and read countless reviews of products I’m about to buy. This has saved me hundreds of dollars by choosing a cheaper counterpart that is just as good.
Good Channels for Product Reviews:
6 Months Later – Reviews on products after 6 months of use
Marques Brownlee – Newest technology reviews
Flossy Carter – Features his cat ‘White Shoes’ in all his product reviews; I absolutely love his channel.
40. Look at Price Per Ounce or 100 Grams
When grocery shopping, always look at the price per ounce or 100 grams, according to the ticket. Compare the bigger products versus the smaller products, and you may see a smaller cost on the bigger products.
This is a great way to buy products in bulk and save money.
41. Don’t Overpack Your Fridge
Try not to overpack your fridge when grocery shopping. More often than not, we forget the food at the back of the refrigerator.
Out of sight = out of mind. In this case, that’s a bad thing because more food and money will go to waste.
42. Don’t Grocery Shop on an Empty Stomach
Shopping on an empty stomach has to be one of the worst ways to overspend at the grocery store. Make sure to have a full meal before you shop; otherwise, you’ll most likely buy unnecessary snacks and junk food that seems like a good purchase at the time.
42. Make One Day a Week a No Spend Day
Designate one day a week where you don’t spend any money. It will probably be the easiest to do on a weekday.
Don’t spend any money on the designated day, and you’ll feel better about yourself. If an emergency comes up or you’re out of gas, spend the money. You don’t have to become too crazy with the idea; just use it as a prompt to not spend money for one day in a week.
44. Eat Fewer Meat Products
Meat is expensive. An excellent way to cut back on your grocery bill is to cut out a few meat-eating days. Just learn a few good vegetarian dishes that are cheap and substantial and go from there.
400+ Budget-Friendly Vegetarian Recipes
45. Shop at a Cheaper Grocery Store
Sometimes, grocery stores can be costly and bougie. There are grocery stores with basically the exact same products but at a lower price with more generic brands.
USA: Trader Joes (cheaper) vs. Whole Foods
Australia: Aldi (cheaper) vs Coles & Woolworths.
46. Reevaluate Your Bills
Sometimes, your bills may be crazy high. You might have to do some research to find regular prices/deals and to change them.
Simply inquiring and asking to change your plans can save you a lot of money each month.
47. Borrow Books from Libraries Instead of Buying Them
Go to your local library and borrow books. Instead of buying a new book every time you want one, simply go to the library and try to find it instead.
This way is a lot cheaper, and you can find new books too 🙂
48. Invite Friends to Your House Instead of Going Out
Going to bars/nightclubs can be really expensive, with drinks and entry often being $10+.
Invite your friends to your house and make your own drinks. This is a cheaper way to socialize but at a budget option. You could also make theme nights where you do ‘cocktail making competitions’ or try different craft beers.
49. Cut Your Own Hair
This is one of the crazier methods on this list.
Learn how to cut your own hair, or get a family member to do it for you. You can easily save $15 – $100 on a haircut by cutting your hair at home.
50. Sign Up For Loyalty Cards
The majority of stores/retailers have loyalty cards nowadays. It’s a simple way to rack up points by already spending money in their stores.
Don’t go too overboard with loyalty cards because they’re often designed to make you spend more money. Simply just spend how you usually do and scan your rewards card.
Conclusion
Implementing just a few of these tips into your everyday life can help you save money fast.
Remember that it’s never too late to start saving money. Whether you’re in your 30’s, 40’s, 50’s or older, you can still start today! It’s better late than never 🙂
Which was your favorite money-saving tip?
Read next:
– How to Save $1000 a Month [10 Useful Tips]
– 9 Ways to Save Money on a Tight Budget