Money Saving Life Hacks

Saving money doesn’t have to be an ordeal. There are many ways you can make it a part of your daily routine! Try these hacks in your everyday routine, and you might notice a difference in just a few days!

1. Automate Everything

One of the best things you can do for your budget (and your sanity) is to automate your finances. Whether it be automatic bill pay, automatic transfers to savings, or something else, automation can be the key to success in your budgeting routine. (For more information on how to automate, check out this post).

But seriously, this hack can be a game-changer. Some banks even allow you to “round up” your transactions. This is a simple way to automatically save money every day. For example, if you spend $17.26 at Target, your bank will automatically round up the transaction to $18, and transfer the $0.64 to your savings account.

2. Limit Dining Out

This hack is HUGE when it comes to saving money. As convenient as it is, having someone else cook dinner for you and clean up after, it’s not always the wisest choice when it comes to our finances. Many American families eat out multiple times a week, which adds up quickly over a year. Let’s say your family dines out 3 times per week, at approximately $50 per occurrence. That’s $150 per week, $550 per month, and up to $7800 per year! Imagine if you cut that in half, how much money your family would save each year! Or what other good use that money could go towards in your family’s budget.

3. Stick to the List!

How many times have you gone into the store, for just one or two items, and come out with twenty? It’s so easy to get carried away when shopping in the store (hint… marketing companies do this on purpose). Instead, focus on what you have to have, or what you came to the store for in the first place. An even better strategy is to shop online! We order our groceries online each week, so I’m not tempted to buy the animal crackers on the end cap, or the candy bars at the checkout register.

4. Buy Generic

I have fallen victim to this ploy many times, buying the name brand item instead of the generic/store-brand item. It’s easy to get caught up in the lie that generic is just not as good, it doesn’t taste the same or it doesn’t work the same… But in all reality, the generic brand and the name brand product, 99% of the time are the exact same ingredients. There is no difference between the name brand and the generic, except for the price tag.

These are our favorite money-saving hacks. What hack is your favorite? What do you do that’s not on the list? let us know in the comments below.