Investing Education

Check out the below list of the 46 best ways to save money.

1. Open a saving account and actually save money in it. Start small just $20 a month but slowly up that to $100 a month to make a nice rainy day fund.

2. Don’t waste money on things you don’t need. Always wait a day before making a big purchase and sleep on it. If you come across an expensive item that you want, write up a report about why you want it, how it will impact your life, etc. Act like you are asking your boss to buy an expensive piece of equipment or something. Then file the report away to be reviewed in a weeks time. After the week is up, re-read the report with the mindset that someone else is asking to borrow money for that reason. If it passes this review, then begin to allocate funds from future paychecks toward it, which could take weeks. By the time all is said and done, if you do buy it, you definitely won’t regret it.

3. Don’t invest in penny stocks or cheap cryptocurrency. They are cheap for a reason and can lose value at any time for no reason.

4. Look at a compound interest tables. Think of it as giving your future self money at a huge discount.

5. Cook your own meals, don’t eat out.

6. Couponing. Clipping coupons works and the savings add up. Just $5 saved a week is $260 a year in extra money.

7. Recycle beer bottles and other cans. If you recycle 20 cans a week that is $1 a week in extra none or $52 a year extra.

8. This is a little risky but try buying limited edition products (games, consoles) and sell when they are sold out. Some fans are hell set on products and will pay a lot for them. Just watch out for the next beanie babies.

9. Print double-sided. Easy way to make your paper last twice as long.

10. Use recycled paper for scrap. When you are done with a sheet save it to write notes on — no need to do anything else.

11. Use old newspapers/ads for food waste (bones, inedible foods).

12. Use three toilet paper tiles and fold it in half to get thickness of six tiles. It feels just like Charmin.

13. When toothpaste/lotion tube is nearly done, cut it open to get everything out,

14. Go to random public events for free pens, post-it notes, and candy.

15. Always check payphones, vending machines (and surrounding area) for left over coins.

16. Use shopping bags as garbage bags.

17. Seal windows with tape or something to prevent heat loss in the winter time.

18. Freeze bread immediately and toast when you need it to prevent mold and early spoilage,

19. Charge your cell phone, tablet, handheld device at work/school,

20. Use credit card with cash-back option and don’t use debit for purchasing. Most cash back programs give you 1% at least back a year plus you are building your credit score.

21. Disassemble old hard drives and take out the magnets for whatever.

22. Exercise without getting gym memberships. Running is great here and you can do it for most of the year.

23. Cancel cable and watch your shows online for free.

24. Cut phone service and get VoIP, find independent service providers and not the mainstream providers.

25. Use your old toothbrushes to scrubbing stuff.

26. Water down juices to get a little more to drink (90% juice, 10% water). Same taste and you save yourself 10% a year.

27. Do your own taxes. Turbotax or similar online programs are only $30 a year and take minimal time to do.

28. Take office supplies from work/school.

29. Ask for bandages/gauze at the doctors.

30. Replace all incandescent light bulbs with CFLs.

31. Flush your toilet only once a day. As they say “If it’s yellow let it mellow, if it’s brown flush it down.”

32. Register all your products, games, electronics, etc. They usually send you promotions for sales, or extended warranty.

33. Sign up for demos and free trails, they might give you a gift on the side, and you can send back the product without the gift. For any of these use a fake email address so they don’t spam your main account.

34. Register for memberships that ask for your birthday, they usually give you free stuff on your birthday, like bagels, coffee, popcorn, etc. Some restaurants let you eat free if you eat with a group of people, just need to show ID. Again always use a fake email address.

35. If you have a kid and need something to do bring them to McDonald’s and ask for the treat of the week. It’s usually cookies or a ruler. If you can, get yourself napkins and salt/pepper/vinegar/ketchup/mayonnaise packages while there.

36. Use the free Wifi at Starbucks and other restaurants if you don’t have internet at home.

37. Buy the generic “no name brand” alternative where possible, including medicine.

38. Keep all receipts for tax purposes, or for surveys that can win you prizes or a discount the next time you visit. Both Dunkin Doughnuts and McDonalds have surveys on most of their receipts which give you free food as a return.

39. If you have “dead” batteries, you can probably use them to power a clock for at least a week. Throw “dead” batteries in the freezer for a few hours, they might work for another hour or so.

40. Save power by setting computer to Power Saving mode instead of Balanced/High Performance, set screen to power off after 5 minutes or whatever, set hard drive to sleep after 5 minutes or whatever, turn down monitor brightness as much as you can. This probably won’t help much but depending on your setup could save you a couple of dollars a month and prolong your monitors life.

41. Borrow books from libraries or view them on Google Books (or download them somewhere), read books at your local bookstore and leave without buying it, and of course don’t buy bookmarks, use something like a receipt or something.

42. Shop at early morning or late at night to save time waiting in line or avoid crowds.

43. Hand wash your clothes and air-dry them. This will save you money and lower your electricity bill.

44. Never borrow money to buy something. If you want something save up to buy it first.

45. Never buy junk food. It is bad for health, has no nutritional value, and is often over priced especially if brand name.

46. Save as much as you can. And you can always save more. Go ahead right now and up your 401k contribution by another percentage point. You won’t even notice the difference in your paycheck but you will see the growth in your retirement account.