5 Creative Ways I Save Money
It's no secret that I love finding a good deal. I enjoy keeping my budget on track, and I'm always looking for the best way to buy something and get the most money off. Now that I live on my own in the city on a part-time income, I've had to stay on top of it and come up with some new ways to shave some dollars off of my spending. Here are my non-conventional tips for saving money in your day-to-day life!
1. Take advantage of loyalty programs for necessities
This is probably the easiest and the most fun thing to do on this list, but it still takes some forethought and effort. Think about the things that you most consistently purchase - for me, it's coffee, makeup & beauty products, and ingredients for unique recipes. Shop around on different stores' websites or in person, and find out where you can get the most bang for your buck from visiting them frequently.
For example, I love shopping at Ulta Beauty for any personal care item I might need. If I need any shampoo, mascara, or a new hairbrush, I will always make a trip to buy it at Ulta, because their rewards program is so rewarding! Each dollar you spend there translates to points, which you can then save up and redeem for money off of your future purposes. I've saved literally hundreds of dollars by accumulating points and redeeming them on things that I would already need to buy. By always using my loyalty account and making an effort to buy from Ulta whenever possible, it's like I get paid to shop!
Even for mundane things like gasoline or groceries, check out which of your local shops offer loyalty programs, and which ones will pay off the most in the long run. For me, one of my local grocery stores even has a gas station affiliated with it, so when I buy my load of groceries, I'm giving myself points for a couple of cents off of my gas purchase as well!
2. Commit to saving in sinking funds
This is one of my favorite things that I do for myself and my money. I've got a couple of little envelopes that are for my car, gift, and hair sinking fund. Every payday, or every time I get a boost, I'll take out some cash and throw a $10 or $20 in each of those envelopes.
These are categories that I don't spend money on every single week or month, but intermittent expenses that come up once in a while. Getting my hair cut and colored is upwards of $130, but if I've spread out the savings through several paychecks, it doesn't hurt as much when I have to fork out that much money at once.
Same thing with getting an oil change or fixing something on my car, or buying a nice birthday present for a friend – doesn't happen every week, but when it does, I need a stash of cash to cover it. It's awesome getting to just pull out my envelope and already having what I need saved up already!
3. Schedule errands/events that are near each other all at once to save on gas
I know, I know, it's kind of a stretch, but this is both a time and money saver. Sometimes, it feels like I have to drive all over the world to get everywhere I need to go, but in order to save myself gas money and time, I'll make sure that I take care of all my business in one part of town when I'm already going to be there.
For example, if I want to visit a certain clothing store that's near my work (30 minutes away from my apartment), I'm not going to do it on my day off – I'll make time after work to go there, even though I might be tired or not have quite as much time to browse. It's not worth making an entirely different trip and spending that gas money when I'll already be so close on my work days!
4. Bring only cash with you on big shopping trips!
This is my #1 grocery and mall day rule: if you don't have it, you can't spend it. Take out a specific amount that you're okay with spending for that occasion, and then you can't just dip into your entire bank account with your debit or credit cards.
I know that with COVID, plenty of places are encouraging card-only transactions, but honestly, I've never been turned down yet for using cash for groceries or clothing, and if the physical limit of cash helps you to not overspend,
5. Use a calculator and add as you go
Finally, this saves me lots of trouble, especially on a grocery trip where I'm picking up tons of different things. Keep track of how much your total is as you put things in your cart, rounding up for tax on any items with odd cents at the end of their prices. That way, there's no surprises at the checkout line, and you have complete control of how much you're spending.
Thanks for reading!
