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- Sort your groceries: After grocery shopping and before checking out, get a second cart and take out all of the items from your first cart that are things you just want, such as chips, ice cream, cookies, etc. Once you do this with your entire cart, add up how much the ‘want’ items cost and then make a decision; is it worth it? If you decide to part with your ‘want’ items, put that money you saved in a savings account or travel fund. This grocery shopping strategy can be very eye opening and can help you to make better decisions when shopping.
- Photograph your receipts: Use the app ReceiptHog to submit pictures of your grocery and superstore receipts and to answer surveys in exchange for ‘coins’ which can be cashed in to Pay Pal for cash or Amazon gift cards. One user reported earning $80 in the first few months of using the app.
- Slowly saving: Try the 52-Week Challenge; save $1 the first week, $2 the second week, $3 the third week, and so on. At the end of the year you will have a total of $1,378. This is a great strategy for those who find saving money difficult because it is something that you can ease in to.
- From 8 wheels to 4: Selling your second car can save you an average of $675 a month by not having to pay car payments, car insurance, gas and other costs. This can be very doable for someone who commutes by train to work since they may be able to take a bus to the train station.
- Stash your singles: Try putting all of your singles you come across in an envelope and save them there; consider putting $5 bills away too. You will be clearing out your wallet less often when saving $5 bills versus $1 bills since only 7% of the bills printed by the U.S. Treasury are $5 bills and 29% are $1 bills.
- Name your account: Try naming your savings account online which will remind you what your are saving for in the first place. For example, if you are saving to help your son buy a car for his 16th birthday, name the savings account “Happy Sweet 16” to serve as a reminder about saving and to motivate you to stay on track.