5 Ways to Save Money

There are many ways to save a buck or two, but I have found that these five ways to save have proven to help me save for the next rainy day or goal that I want. Many people would call me crazy too and they might be right until they see how much I have saved or the next big purchase I have made. These five things are so simple, and you will have to discipline yourself at first, but you can achieve whatever goal you set out for yourself.

1. Piggy Bank Savings

Whenever you brake a dollar, take the change you get back and drop it into a piggy bank, a coffee can or a jar and let it build up. I started my first day on January 1 and did this for a whole year, and when it came time to count it up, I saved almost seventeen hundred dollars.

I watched as I threw my change in the piggy bank sometimes it would be ten cents and other times it would be ninety-seven cents. It might just be change to you, but it does add up over three-hundred and sixty-five days. You can do it, but it takes some discipline not to get change out of it for some type of spending.

My husband thinks I’m crazy and that it won’t add up to much, but when I did it for just a week and we counted it up, it came to almost twenty dollars. That amazed him, so we made a pact to begin a piggy bank on January 1 and save for the whole year. He is curious as to how much the two of us can save in a year. If saving twenty dollars in a week amazed him, wonder what will happen when he sees a thousand or more?

2. Use Coupons

Using coupons seems to be the grandmother thing when everyone thinks about it, but I am here to tell you that not only do I use coupons, I have a stockpile of stuff, and a savings of cash stocked up. For example: Say you used a coupon that was $0.75 off a bottle of ketchup that is regularly sold for $2.29 and you found it on sale for $1.79. You use your coupon and the sale together and you just bought a bottle of ketchup for $1.04 and saved $1.25, which is what you would throw into the savings can or jar.

That $1.25 you just saved on that bottle of ketchup would add up with everything else you saved with coupons. Back in 2015, I saved a total of twenty-five hundred dollars for that year just from using coupons. It seems like it would be confusing, but really it isn’t. I am an extreme couponer who gets ten Sunday newspapers every week and I look for the sales and I have two shelving units full of stuff and a cash savings too. I put all the money I saved from using coupons into a coffee can and at the end of the year, I go shopping or do something for myself or my husband.

This next year’s savings will make us debt free and able to have our house built the way we want it. So, use those coupons, but start out slow until you get the hang of it before you run out and start getting bundles of newspapers.

3. Open a Separate Savings Account

Keep this account strictly for savings and away from your other savings and checking accounts. Take your paycheck and pay your bills first; once the bills are paid, take the left-over money and split it up between all your accounts.

If you have a checking and savings account and open this extra savings account, you would split your money three ways and put a third into each account. For example, I have a checking and two savings accounts and what was left over after the bills being paid was thirty-two dollars. I split that thirty-two dollars up into three parts placing $10.66 into each account.

You are building a cash reserve in each account. Your checking account would begin having reserve cash in it to help pay bills that might come in higher the next month, or even go out and buy you a hamburger. Your primary savings account would be building, and then you would have that extra savings account which could go towards a major purchase or even to pay for college. It will all build up.

4. Create a Budget

Everyone pays bills, and everyone should have a budget. If you create a budget it will help you keep track of your spending and to show account for where all your money goes. When creating this budget, make sure you make an account for all spending. Get your bills on there first, then add any extras like eating out, shopping, and yes, even a savings budget

Account for where all your money is going and then look at it at the end of the year and it will tell you how much you spent this year on electric, food, rent, and then how much is in your savings account. You will then see where you can make any improvement if need be.

I stay on a budget and have to. I am a list person for everything even having a daily schedule to keep myself accountable to my daily tasks and to help me stay on track to get everything done in a day.

5. No Frivolous Spending

You can always save money if you would stop being an impulsive spender. Make budgeted money for certain entertainment spending and try not to just spend because you have cash in your wallet. My only advice on this is to buy only the necessities and then spend a little of your extra money on things that are important to you. Eating out everyday is throwing money into someone else’s pocket when it would be cheaper just to buy groceries and cook for yourself at home.

These are my five ways to save money and I hope that you found them interesting and helpful. It is hard in our economy these days and we could all use a little saving of money.