Saving seems like an impossible obstacle when you struggle to make ends meet and have to search for quarters under the couch to pay your electrical bill. I get it (I write for a living after all – I don’t run a Lamborghini).
Finding ways to build your savings and even start investing is the only way you get to get rid of the paycheck-to-payment match bus.
Here are a few ways you might find a few extra dollars to save each week
Buy cheap foods in bulk and meal
Food is one of our most controllable monthly costs, so this is where we start. Meal prepping – expenses time on your days off to prepare lunch and dinners for the week – is a great way to reduce your food costs without being malnourished on immediate ramen.
Meal prepping works well for several reasons: (a) you save money by cooking from the bottom of instead of Because being healthy is also good for your financesBy the way.
Typically, costs per Pounds when you buy larger amounts of stapled food. Start by storing your pantry with these ingredients:
- Rice (ideally brown)
- Dried beans
- Pasta (ideal wheat)
- Frozen vegetables
- Lentils
- Oats
- Flour
- Oil
- Peanut butter
- Coffee if you drink it (much cheaper to brew your own)
Once you have built a base of non -perispable staples, you can supplement with occasional trips to the store to refill perishable. I would also recommend building an arsenal of herbs and spices to make your taste more interesting.
In terms of recipes, I regularly visit subbreddit EATCHEAPANDHEALTHY To get new ideas, but things like oatmeal, pancakes, soups, burritos, curries and stirring are extremely simple and cheap ways to start. Learn to bake your own bread; It’s a rewarding skill to have and it’s actually fun.
You can even try to duplicate your favorite take-out or fast food-orders — I use spaghetti to make a lo mein duplicate for 1/5 of the cost.
Transforming yourself into a frugal master chef is also a pretty solid way to impress family/friends/dates if you need extra convincing.
Revision of your subscriptions
Recurrent subscriptions can be one of the largest invisible drains to your bank account. In some cases, you may not even remember that you have a subscription until you see the monthly or annual fee hit.
There are a few things you can do to avoid bleeding of subscription money. Review all fees on your debit or credit card regularly.
This will not only keep you aware of subscription payments; It’s also a good habit to check for fraud if you see any purchase you don’t actually make.
Secondly, do not hold more subscriptions for overlapping purposes. Of course, you may have already saved money by canceling cable and using Netflix and Hulu instead – but there may still be room for improvement.
You can choose one of them to keep first and work through all the top shows you want to watch, then cancel and change.
Or you can even try some of the free (and secure and legal) streaming venues out there that Yahoo ViewAt CrackAt Tubiand Vudu. The offers will usually be more limited and you may need to deal with ads, but that’s more money in the bank!
Finally, it may go at this time, but cancel all subscriptions that you are not actually using. It could be Amazon Prime, a Premium music service, a magazine or a gymnastics membership that you continue to use.
Whatever it is, instead the cost of savings or investments. You may be surprised at how much you gather in a year.
Buy and Sell in sparse stores and used sites
When you need to buy something – from a winter coat to necessary household items – it can save you lots of money to get them used.
You can often even score name tag items in good condition for a fraction of the original prices.
Some people are able to get extra income by reselling sparse items online, but this usually works best when you have good basic knowledge of certain types of products and can see what will sell and what will not.
Otherwise, you may spend money you don’t have in stock that just sits around your house.
But if you already have Items that sit around your house, you might as well see what you can sell. Removing your home and adding to your savings is a win-win.
Poshmark, Ebay and Facebook Marketplace are a few places where you can list items to be sold.
Consider adding roommates
This is not an ideal opportunity for everyone, especially if you already live with other people or there are other reasons to prevent a step.
But if you really struggle to make ends meet and run out of other options, we must weigh the idea. It is usually the case that the more people you live with, the cheaper costs will be for everyone.
For example, you may have the opportunity to rent a one-bedroom apartment of yourself for $ 750 or a $ 1500 four-bedroom space with three roommates.
With the first option, you pay $ 750 plus all tools. With the other option, your rent falls to $ 375 and you share costs such as heating and electric.
How comfortable this experience is for you all depends on the people you end up with. It looks like everyone has a terrible roommate story. Some never wash their dishes.
Others have the TV too high at 02:00, others Mesh Mesh well shares space. However, you may also find that you enjoy living with roommates and getting along well.
It may be a dice roll, but if you happen to end up with a bad roommate – as long as they are not legitimately dangerous or toxic – take a deep breath and think about the hundreds of dollars you save (and the future stories you get to tell).
Use free cash back -Apps whenever possible
Technology is pretty amazing, especially when it gives you money for free. There are several types of apps you can use to earn cash back when you shop with your regular shopping, like getting groceries.
Scan your receipts with cash-back merchant apps
With each of these apps, you can add items to your shopping list in the app and scan your receipt once you have purchased these items. Then, Cash Back or Point is added to your app account that you can normally pay to PayPal.
Ibotta (picture on the left): This app is my favorite because they also include regular incentives as an extra $ 5 for redeeming 5 offers in a week. Sign up for Ibotta here and get $ 5 free.
Download Rewards: Scan revenue from any grocery store. Sign up for pick -up payouts here and enter the Download Code K6AAK for 2,000 registration points.
Checkout 51: Sort by retailer or category. Sign up for the box 51 and get $ 5 free.
The best part is that these apps work separately, so you can use all three at once, even for the same product.
I like to browse the offers while I’m at the gym, on the bus or watch TV so it doesn’t add extra time to my day.
Then I upload my receipts as soon as I get home from the grocery store. I pay out a couple of times a year and it’s always a nice bonus!
GET MONEY BACK FOR ONLINE PURCHASE
Buy through the rakut to get Money back from hundreds of stores. This includes necessities such as baby items and tires for your car. Sign up for Rakuten here and get $ 10 free.
Link cards to Automatic Cash-Back apps
Of all these options, this one is by far the easiest because it does not require any extra work on your end after you have created apps.
With these apps you probably connect the Debit or Credit Card and when you make a purchase on one of the app’s retail partners, you automatically earn cash back.
Here are the two main apps that work this way:
Dosh: Partners include some grocery stores (eg 2% cash back at Sam’s Club) as well as retail stores and restaurants, both locals and chains. Sign up for Dosh here and get $ 5 for free when you link a card.
Drop: Much more limited than dosh, at least for now. You can only select 5 stores to connect to automatic rewards. Sign up for Drop here.
I started using both of these apps recently but I love the concept of total hands-off cash back. Your first passive income stream!
Download a page hardship
So maybe you have cut your expenses as far as they can go and you are still struggling to make ends meet. In this case, the only other option is to save more to earn more.
You can ask for an increase or extra hours on your main job or you can spend your free time starting a page congestion. I don’t think I can beat Peter’s side congestion ideas, so run against that article next to start brainstorming!
Other ways to find useful and free help to people and families with low income
Kate is a writer and editor who runs his content and editorial companies externally, while it is globetrotting as a digital nomad. So far, her laptop has accompanied her to New Zealand, Asia and around the US (mostly thanks to credit card points). Years of research and ghostwriting about personal economy led her to the FI-community and co-founding dollaranity. In addition to traveling and outdoor adventures, Kate burns about financial literacy, composed interest and pristine grammar.