This post is all about easy ways to save money now.
I bet you are someone that is constantly thinking about how your bank account is always empty or how it progressively gets lower as time goes by. You probably don’t save money very well.
That’s probably one of the reasons why you clicked on this blog post, right?
Good choice, because these tips will take you one step closer to more financial stability.
I finally decided to write about money.
I definitely don’t know everything there is to know about how to manage money, but for this post, I wanted to share how I save and manage my money.
The main goal that I have is to be financially stable in my future. (I’m pretty sure everyone wants that.)
However, you won’t believe how many people don’t know how to do these tips below even if they say they do.
Here are 8 ways that I can save money as a college student. (I plan on implementing these tips even after I’ve graduated.)
This post is all about easy ways to save money now.
Disclaimer
I am not a professional in money whatsoever. These tips are what works for me and my life. You do not have to follow my tips. My tips are definitely not for everyone. I learned these tips as I was growing up watching how my family’s spending habits are and recognizing what worked and didn’t work for them for financial success. Any content that I post or talk about should not be used to make any decisions whatsoever.
You, the reader, will read this post at your own risk. My advice should not be used as an alternative to a professional. I highly recommend that you see help from an expert to make any financial decisions that you are on the fence about.
The numbers that are mentioned in this blog post are pure estimates. The amount you spend a month on groceries and eating out may be different than what I have mentioned below. The numbers are only examples.
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Let’s begin.
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8 Easy Ways To Save Money Now
1. Eat at Home More Often
Eating at home is probably the best advice there is when it comes to saving money.
Obviously, it’s not entirely free because you have to pay for your groceries, but it’s still better than eating out (and much healthier too.)
At many places, one meal is $6+ to fill you up. And then if you eat out for every meal of the day, that’s already $18+ per day.
Imagine how much money was spent after a month if you spent $18 a day on one meal. (That’s about $550 on food a month.) Remember, that’s only for one person. That’s not even including the drinks that aren’t water (because water is generally free when eating out.)
When you buy groceries and eat at home, you can buy more ingredients and cook in bulk.
All those groceries may have cost you about $100+ upfront, but the bulk food you make could last you at least a week if not longer depending on what kind of groceries you buy and how it was stored.
So then after a month of only paying $100+ a week of groceries, you only spent about $400-500+ on food for the month.
You may be thinking, that’s not that much cheaper than eating out. But here’s the thing, you won’t eat out at the same places every week. The prices will fluctuate.
You’ll go to a cheaper place for one meal and a more expensive place for the next meal. It adds up big time.
So eat at home! Utilize everything that you have!
Eating at home is only a waste if you end up buying groceries every week and toss out half of it because you got lazy and didn’t eat everything in time.
2. Buy in Bulk
I would say buy in bulk with items that you know you will always need and ones that have longer life spans.
For example, when I buy dishwasher soap, I try to buy the bottles that cost me the least amount per fluid oz. Note: I said the least amount for fluid oz. not the largest size. There are some items on the shelf that are sold in bulk, but are still more expensive than if we had bought smaller containers.
But most of the time the larger sizes are cheaper.
You’re only saving pennies or a single dollar but I will say this again and forever: All the little pennies and dollars that you spend add up. It’s not a joke.
My family and I buy paper towels and toilet paper in bulk now too because we started looking at the small sections of the price tags that tell you how much it is per unit.
Most of the time, the bigger bulk items are cheaper per unit.
If you do the grocery shopping in the house and check the price tags in grocery stores often, you know what I mean.
3. Share Meals When Eating Out
I share my meals mainly because I can’t finish the serving size by myself.
Eventually, I realized that it was a waste for me to keep ordering my own meals and have leftovers to take home.
I guess if we think of the meal I bought as being the price of two meals, then yeah that sounds pretty good. But in the end, I still spent more money than was necessary.
The intent of going out to eat was to have that one meal and end it there. Not to eat there and half leftovers the next day. So, I just prefer not to have leftovers.
When you share a meal with someone else, two people are being fed right away for a cheaper price with little to no leftovers.
I definitely think that the restaurant serving sizes are ridiculously generous.
My boyfriend and I used to eat separate meals but he always ended up finishing my food for me. Our bill normally came out to be $30-40.
But NOW, we share our meals and we were able to shave down the meal costs to $20-30 which isn’t that much of a change but we like to eat out once a week that we see each other.
You never have room for dessert! (But that’s more money too…)
It may just be me but leftovers aren’t as good as the original experience. (Also, I think sharing meals correlates to amazing quality time with whoever you are sharing it with. I talk about this in my 6 Reasons I Don’t Travel Alone blog post too.)
4. Have Home Dates
Home dates are SO relaxing. And cheaper. Duh.
Almost all the dates with my boyfriend consist of eating out. And yes, we do in fact share almost all our meals.
You can imagine how much money we spend every time we go out together.
Good thing home dates exist.
By home dates, I mean cooking a meal with whatever is in the pantry. You could have a movie night or build a fort (or both!)
My personal favorite is to have a lunch picnic in the backyard.
The last time my boyfriend and I had a backyard picnic, we baked a $4 Publix pizza, had a small bag of chips, and watched an anime show (Doctor Stone).
It was perfect.
The weather was nice and cool with a little bit of a breeze. And it only cost us $4 to feed both of us. So two meals for $4.
Well, I guess since we spent money, that’s not saving money BUT it’s still better than going out for our date because meals out normally cost us about $20-30 for lunch depending on where we go and the added tip.
It also helps that the backyard had a nice view of a clear and blue water pool.
5. Utilize Everything That You Already Have
I think this tip is very important.
Almost everyone has a moment where they have an item already but gets a new updated item because they think what they have isn’t enough.
The laptop that I have now is about 6 years old and it lags on me all the time and sometimes doesn’t even load my pages properly.
I have been thinking about getting a new laptop for almost a year now but decided against it because it is still able to do what I need it to.
I just save myself $500+ by using what I already have. Right now, I don’t need an upgrade but I definitely see it in the near future. (My laptop is just an example. Utilize anything and everything you have.)
This also applies to clothes.
I might be going to a party or a get-together and want to look cute.
So I decided to go shopping.
But what I forgot to do was check my closet to see what I already had.
Shopping your closet is actually really fun and there are probably cute items that you completely forgot about.
What’s even better is that it means no one has seen you wear it in a long time and probably forgot about it.
So, it can be considered a new outfit already!
6. Turn Off the Lights
I currently live with one of my distant family members and pay rent.
When I first moved in, I had lights on EVERYWHERE. The living room. The Kitchen. My bedroom.
These lights would all be on while I was in the bathroom. Or any other room.
My family member almost kicked me out because the electricity bill went up as soon as I moved in.
I have since learned to only have on the lights that I am actively using.
An action as easy as turning off the lights could save you a couple of dollars (or lots) over months and years of consistency.
7. Utilize Student Discounts
This tip can only apply to students because obviously if you’re not a student then you can’t get student discounts.
I recently purchased this video editing software that was originally $80 for a lifetime plan.
But since I am a student, I was about to get it for $50.
THAT was a good deal in my opinion. And I get the editing software for life.
Just search for those student discounts and ask the cash register people if there are student discounts.
The worst answer is no and those aren’t so bad.
If you feel embarrassed for asking, look at it this way, you will most likely never see this person again.
If you do, they most likely don’t remember you because they see too many faces in a day.
Just imagine how much bigger your savings would be if you had used all those student discounts!
More savings = More fun *wink wink*
8. Tracking Your Spending
I use an app called Receipt Box to track my spending.
Maybe you’ve heard about it.
Pretty much every time I make a purchase, I manually key in how much I spent and what I spent that money on.
The app adds up all your expenses daily and monthly and explicitly shows you how much money you spent.
It also shows you which category you spent the most money in. My biggest expenses are normally from school and groceries.
There were some months that I only spent $500 per month (this is rare though) and there were some months where I spent about $1300 per month.
Being able to see the big number at the end of every month definitely motivates me to shave off future unnecessary purchases. (Because for me, $1300 is A LOT.)
Ending Note
That’s the end of the list!
Now, I’m not saying you should never spend unnecessarily. An occasional splurge never hurts.
But moderation is very important. Always have a plan and a backup plan.
I will admit that there are days where I give in and spend where it isn’t necessary but we are all human and want to treat ourselves every now and then.
There is nothing wrong with that.
But at the end of the day, I have to realize that most of my purchases are wants instead of needs and my future self will not thank me if my choices affect my future financial stability.
I think the biggest problem that we all have when it comes to money is bad habits. Most of these tips help combat it.
Changing our bad habits is the first step to reaching our financial goals. (And probably the hardest step.)
Do these tips make sense to you? Are you already doing any of these tips? Are there more tips that would benefit this list? Tell me everything about money. Let me know what you think in the comments below. Good Day!
This post was all about easy ways to save money now.
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