The little pleasures of life — your favorite meal, your top TV show, and the deep phone conversations you have with your kindred spirit — make the hard times in life worth getting through.
But what if all of these simple pleasures suddenly become too unaffordable?
Is your only option in this situation to relegate yourself to a life of monotony and boredom just so you can get by financially?
Research shows that just 44% of people in the United States have the cash needed to cover the cost of a $400 emergency. If you fall into this group, your natural inclination may be to cut out your pleasures so that you can finally save for a rainy day.
However, just because you’re trying to save money doesn’t mean you have to give up the lifestyle you’ve gotten used to. Here are seven tips regarding how to save money each month.
Let’s get started!
1. How to Save Money Each Month: Track How Much You’re Spending, and Eliminate Unnecessary Minor Expenses
You can’t truly know how much money is leaking from your pocket if you don’t keep tabs on where your money is going. For this reason, right now is an excellent time to start tracking exactly how much you’re spending.
For starters, write down all of your fixed expenses, ranging from your mortgage to your child care, health insurance, and groceries. Then, see what you can cut out.
Not making that mortgage payment or that car lease payment each month clearly isn’t an option. However, you may come across certain areas where you could do some trimming.
For instance, you could eliminate that magazine subscription, or you could even see your hairdresser every two months instead of every month. The cost savings generated might seem minor, but they can quickly add up.
Every little bit helps.
2. Avoid Eating Out
Yes, it can seem impossible to do this in today’s society. You’re constantly on the go, and cooking a hot meal every day seems like an unrealistic accomplishment.
However, eating out constantly is a quick way to deplete your bank account.
Instead, don’t be afraid to stock up on some ready-to-heat-up meals from your local grocer’s freezer section. These are easy and quick meals you can keep on hand for those days when you don’t have time to prepare a meal.
You can also whip up some cheap five-minute meals — a delicious way to end the day without a ton of prep time.
For example, you can warm whole-grain tortillas in your microwave and then fill them with fresh vegetables, such as chopped mushrooms, along with tofu and black beans. Salsa, shredded cheese and even avocado slices are great additions as well. Suddenly, you have some yummy vegetable tacos.
A Santa Fe salad is another excellent option. Simply combine pico de gallo, frozen corn and black beans for a delectable meal that will quickly fill you up.
What’s especially great about these meals is that they’re not only cheaper than eating out but also a lot healthier.
3. Eliminate Cable
If you’re like many modern consumers, you keep seeing your cable bill climb. And you’re beyond frustrated with this.
Fortunately, you don’t absolutely need cable to watch some of your favorite shows. You can easily save a hundred dollars a month by using the combination of Hulu, Netflix, and Amazon Prime to stay entertained and informed instead.
4. Trim Your Cell Phone Bill
In addition to cutting the cord to your cable service provider, it’s time to cut the cord to your cell phone provider.
Cell phone bills can easily run as high as $150 a month. However, you can put most of the money back into your pocket by using an inexpensive mobile phone plan that charges just a few dollars a month.
For instance, Tello offers a plan that you can customize based on your unique needs.
5. Get into Negotiation Mode
A lot of people don’t exactly feel comfortable with negotiating. We get it. But if you don’t learn how to do it, you’ll continue to shell out more money than you should be.
To start out, contact your service providers regularly to see if they have any discounts or specials they’re running at that time. If they are, let them know that you’d like to take advantage of them.
You could also call these providers — which may include your internet provider, for example — to eliminate all unnecessary charges.
If you’re still nervous about negotiating your bills, an app called Trim can actually handle the negotiation side of things for you. All you have to do in this situation is simply sit back and enjoy the savings generated for you.
6. Get Rid of Youth Sports
Society says you need to put your children in several organized sports to keep them active. But your wallet is telling you otherwise.
Listen to your wallet.
Research shows that over 60% of American families spend between $100 and $500 per child each month on sports.
You don’t need to be a part of this statistic. Instead, take your children to volunteer, or ask about free community programs that your children can take advantage of. They just may end up being able to learn an instrument or even do fencing for free.
7. Pursue Online Deals
If you love purchasing high-quality clothing items or watching movies at home, you can still do these things and save money by taking advantage of online deals.
This page offers a number of voucher codes for women’s and men’s fashion, as well as Blu-Ray titles and even health and beauty items. It’s also a handy site for pinpointing automotive, fitness, and even baby-item or gift-item discounts.
How We Can Help
We are passionate about teaching you how to save money each month. This is why we offer cost-saving tips related to beauty, lifestyle and health — areas of your life you truly care about.
Take a peek here to find out more about how you can keep enjoying your dream lifestyle for less.
