Let’s be honest. We’re all looking for little money saving hacks — whether you’re paying off a monster mortgage or you’re just sick of being left with a diet of peas and potatoes in those final, agonising days before pay day.
Now Reddit is to the rescue with some seriously genius tricks. People were asked to share their best, simple money saving tips.
While one person pointed out no one wants to end up rich with a wasted life, no one wants to see a depressing savings balance either.
Here are our favourite manoeuvres — some so glaringly obvious you’ll be stumped as to why you hadn’t thought of them before.
1. Wait a few days before purchasing.
“If you really want to buy something, don’t buy it and wait two or three days. If you still want to buy it, then do so.”
2. Sip on H2O.
“Sounds simple but drink water. 1. Cost significantly cheaper than any other drink. 2. Great health benefits. 3. Nearly always free when you are dining out.”
3. The $2 shop is a danger zone.
“Stop buying so many under 5 dollar things. Alot of people just swipe away $1 or $2 over and over. Then they look at how much money they have left and are completely lost on where it could have gone.”
4. Don’t buy coffee.
“Drink your coffee at home or at work.”
5. Embrace your own cooking.
“Reduce eating out. Take your breakfast and lunch with you to work.”
6. Follow your own spending.
“Keep track of it! Honestly it’s the one thing that helps the most, especially if you don’t use cash for most of your shopping. Keep a spreadsheet with the expenses you make and it will help you see what you may waste a lot of money on without realizing it. It’s the first step towards saving money.”
7. The library is your friend.
“Use your local library. I went through a period when I was dirt poor. We didn’t have internet, didn’t have Netflix, didn’t have cable. I read a lot during this time, and all of the new books I wanted to read, too, without paying a penny. Our library also had a surprisingly large selection of DVD movies that we could check out for free, and we made good use of the free wifi when we needed to do stuff online. A library is a goldmine of free stuff.”
8. Consider your wage per hour.
"What I do is not think about the price of an item as dollars and cents, I think of it in hours-worked. IE, if my pay is $15/hour and the item I want to buy is $90, is it really worth 6 of my working hours for just this one thing? It helps to put it into perspective for me because of how I value my time."
9. Eat with the seasons.
"Eat fresh produce in season. It's cheaper."
10. Start pedalling.
"I save $15.65 per day by commuting to work by bicycle (11 miles each way). It also helps me have great quads and awkward tan lines."
11. Automatic transfers.
"After budgeting, automate a portion of your paycheck to go directly to your savings account. Since you never see that money in checking, you won't miss it."
12. Think about the long-term.
"When you're about to purchase an item, think to yourself "in two years, will I be regretting this purchase or stuffing it into a closet to never be used again?" This has helped me reduce so much clutter."
13. Take your eyes off the new iPhone.
"You DONT NEED to upgrade your mobile phone/tablet every year."
14. Don't follow all the damn trends.
"Do not buy "trendy" clothes, but rather only "timeless" ones. Then you can wear them for years and still look fashionable. Also, buy them at thrift stores if possible."
15. ... And this bonus. Because lol.
"Only date between Feb 15th and Dec 24th."
Top Comments
I pretty much do all of this and still..... out comes the rice and lentils for dinner. Wages simply have not increased at the same rate cost of living has increased. Luckily we like rice and lentils :) x