Things are expensive nowadays. I know, it’s quite a hot take.
In a world that seems to only be getting more and more expensive, how are we supposed to be saving money for anything fun, like vacations, events, living?
Instead of talking about budgeting and cutting things out of your life, we’re going to talk about five creative ways to save money.
What does it take?
Sometimes it seems like certain people are just better at saving their money. Like they are immune to the rationalizing. Or, they were born with a gene that makes them “savers” or gives them some sort of superpower that allows them to resist that ‘Buy Now’ button.
It’s not true. They’re just like us. It’s just that they know a few things that allow them to overcome the urges, and sidestep all the little things that trip you up when it comes to saving. It’s time you knew what they know. So here are 5 ingenious life hacks that can help you overcome your worst enemy (yourself) when it comes to saving money.
1. Weekly Money Challenge
Bust out some popsicle sticks, straws or even cut up pieces of paper. Now write a number on each one starting with 1 and going to whatever number you choose. Could be 21, 35 or even 52 for the number of weeks in a year.
Once that’s done, put your numbered items into a jar, box or hat, mix them up and draw one and see what number it is. For the next 7 days, your goal is to move that much money into your savings account. It doesn’t matter how you do it. All that matters is that you hit that number by the end of 7 days.
In 52 weeks, or in one year, you will have saved $1,378! On top of that, that money will also be gaining interest in your savings account so you’ll have even more by the end of the year.
If you want to get spicy and save even faster, switch it to hard mode and substitute the weeks to days.
2. No Spend Challenge
You’ve heard of No Shave November, but have you heard of No Spend November? No? What about Absolutely No Spending August? Don’t Overspend December? Spend Less September?!?!
Sorry.
On a more serious note, to do this challenge, write down the required payments you have and see if you can go a month without spending anything outside of that. You can also try going for a week or two weeks. Pick what works best for you.
3. 12 Months Of Mystery Savings
Start with listing 12 things you can save money on individual slips of paper. You could use: eating out, online shopping and going out for drinks. Put the slips in a hat or cup and draw one. Whatever is on the slip, is what you will focus on saving money on for the month.
Once the month is done, draw another one and the cycle begins again.
4. Side Hustle
There are multiple ways to go about this one but a popular method is decluttering your place by selling old or used items online.
Got extra clothes laying around that you don’t wear anymore? Try selling them on the Poshmark or DePop apps.
For non-clothes items, you can try selling on Ebay and Facebook Marketplace.
5. Put It On Pause
Are there subscriptions you’re paying for but not really using right now? Try pausing it.
Picture this, it’s the football season and you watch the games on YouTube TV. Great! However, you notice that you don’t seem to use the app during the offseason. Try pausing the service and reactivate it when the next football season kicks off.
It may not seem like much but every month you have it paused is that much money you saved and can put into savings.
When things have become expensive, every penny counts. Try out these ways to save and see which one works best for you. The best part, you can keep doing these things over and over again and save even more money!
If you haven’t already, watch the video on this topic then subscribe to our YouTube channel. You can find lots of great tips for navigating your finances and you might learn a thing or two along the way. You may even end up with a little extra cash in your pocket thanks to what you learn. Give it a try, there is nothing to lose. As always, thank you for trusting us.
