Best Tips For Saving Money Everyone Should Know...(r/AskReddit)

serious redditors what are your top tips for saving money or for earning a bit on the side when you go shopping especially grocery shopping make a list and stick to it bring lunch to work every day you'll save a lot of money I make way more than I owe in bills but I constantly found myself scraping by and having to check to make sure I didn't over draw my account so I looked at all of my transactions to see where my extraneous spending was going I spent $400 month on going out to leads seriously whether it was 12 dollars for lunch with my boss or treating myself to a romantic $50 dinner or a four dollar iced coffee it all added up and blew my mind I abstained from eating at restaurants for one month and saw full savings of $400 pack your lunches edit allow me to also state that when I looked at my superflee of spending in my bank account I did not include grocery spending that is a necessity and a lot of that food was getting wasted out of the convenience and admittedly better taste of going out to eat the practice of eliminating any restaurant eating forced me to use what groceries we bought therefore reducing waste as well the $400 I spent saved was pure waste and I gained it back don't be penny wise pound foolish many people try to cut costs by shaving off a few cents on items which they don't buy very often or were already cheap to begin with real savings can be found in big things so start by looking at your cost of living it's often cheaper to own a house than to rent one and make sure to shop around for low mortgage rates and cost of transportation I save a ton of money by going to work by train so I don't need the car saving I set zeros in my accounts that I'm not allowed to go under basically when I reach certain nice even numbers I decide that my new zero so say my checking account as six thousand nine hundred and fifty two dollars in it at that point my zero might be six thousand dollars or more likely something like six thousand five hundred dollars but once I get over seven thousand dollars then seven thousand dollars is my new zero during times when I'm really close to a zero like maybe I'm at seven thousand and twenty dollars I make myself live much more frugally because it's as if I only have 20 dollars to live off off I won't starve myself or anything but I do my absolute best to stay above it this method also gives me moments where I feel okay about spending money because the extra money above my zero is my spending money so if I've got a few hundred bucks over I feel pretty good and can buy myself little treats it doesn't work for everyone but I found it helpful earning on the side find something you enjoy doing most hobbies also have a waiter than money I used to be very into Brea model horses customized models ones that have been rescale did and repainted to look different and unique can go for a lot of money online especially if they're commissioned I once took nine tiny step limits little models that I got for maybe $2 each tops customized them into a set of fantasy unicorns and sold the set for 130 dollars more recently I've enjoyed Japanese Lolita fashion rather than buy expensive brand names I make my own clothing and accessories and sell some online the sewing skills I developed doing that are useful for so many things and I can make tons of money sewing custom cosplays and other alternative clothing for people I now have my own online store : that's just some examples but the main point is that if you don't enjoy doing it it will feel like work and you won't want to do it for very long for saving money don't eat fast food it's expensive for what you get and it's pretty nutritionally void for making a little bit on the side if you're a fan of sports look into officiating your favorite sport refereeing youth soccer on a Saturday can earn your little money and double as exercise when I plan to buy onething over $300 I usually wait a month before buying it if I still want it after a month then I'll buy it I'll know in seven days if I still want a nine millimeter Smith & Wesson shield make a budget and stick to it it's as easy as that use things like mint.com to track all your purchases and you'll be amazed at how much crap you can cut out of your expenses not for everybody but I do plasma donation I make about four hundred and forty dollars a month that's tax free and doesn't count as income it's not a great deal of money if I use that for my phone bill cable bill electric and water in effect I now don't pay any bills out of my primary income yes it takes time I have to wake up a few hours early to do it before work oh and having a needle stuck in your arm for an hour isn't for everyone still I find it nice to spend about three hours a week laying down and reading a book it's not too shabby really plus I know it's saving lives and that's pretty awesome if you smoke quit it will make an almost immediate difference food is probably my biggest budget so what I do is just buy stuff that is on sale and figure out what I can make out of it afterwards I do okay also kids don't have them take care of the pennies and the dollars take care of themselves it really does come down to how many tiny purchases you're always making I went a few months without eating out or buying coffees in the morning and it's quite significant our personal finance is a life saver learning things from there will help you cut bullcrap expenses understand saving and stop the feeling that money simply just disappears somewhere turn into an introvert will save a ton avoid debt and any sort of compound interest against you the difference between saving $500 a month in investments and savings accounts versus paying $500 toward debt and compound interest is staggering the best two tips for saving money are to cook at home and to never go into credit card debt regarding saving money I have everything automated to where I don't have to think about anything here's how I do it I created a savings account at my bank for every bill I have and I nicknamed each account for the bill it represents there's a net flix savings account there's a power bill savings account there's even a food and clothes savings account some bills are predictable they cost the same amount every month some bills are estimates for these I pick the highest bill of the year and assume that amount I get paid on the 1st and 15th therefore I divide my bills in half I assume a $100 power bill for example so 2x every month I will transfer $50 from my primary checking account into my power bill savings account I set up automatic transfers to happen on paid days everything happens midnight while I'm asleep the first thing to happen is that I get paid so there's a deposit then the bank processes my automatic transfers all of the money gets transferred into the individual savings accounts what is left in my checking account is what I can spend willy-nilly when it comes time to pay bills I go online and transfer the bill amount from the savings to checking account and process the bill usually through Bill Pay through my online bank some accounts will start to accumulate excesses the ones you estimated I created another savings account that is for emergencies these excesses get dumped into that account and never get touched you'll be amazed after a few years how much gets dumped into this account if you lose your job or a polar vortex TN hits and you need to run the furnace hi blast for several days you know you'll have the money to pay it keep track of your daily spending get a run mate or better yet buy a house with a small lockout unit or mother-in-law suite and rent that out other people have been paying my mortgage for yours cook food at home do not buy anything on credit unless it is necessary make your own coffee get good at it even buying an espresso machine can pay off if you are saving five dollars a day on coffee I sell on Etsy and that makes me up to two grand a month find a little side business my friend started a gutter cleaning business in his spare time it turned into a very lucrative sideline and it added a comer sell random crap you don't need on eBay someone will buy it always contribute the maximum to your 401 K especially if there is any kind of matching for one week write down every purchase you make everything even if it's something small like a bag of crisps I was conscious of big purchases and felt like I wasn't spending much money but I was I was shocked at how much money I was spending on small things I didn't really need cut your cell phone bill you can use a MVNO which is sort of a third-party provider that uses the big guys networks I use ting comm which is a sprint MVNO they only charge what you use going up in $3 increments for example 100 texts is $3 then once you hit that the gauge resets and you go up to the next which is 250 I think for another $3 I turned the mobile-data off on my phone so that is always zero dollars I use my work phone for all Goodling facebooking etcö you could just use Wi-Fi my phone bill is between $12 to $15 for an iPhone 5 cook make enough for dinner and tomorrow's lunch cancel cable and get Netflix Hulu etc or just stream free from network sites get fans and stop using AC heat the second outside temps kinda match what you need if you work from home get a single room AC get native water conservation plants buy food that is on clearance if you go to the store twice a week if store is further away figure out gas cost and get only fresh stuff so you can go only once a week plan all meals in advance drive slower save that gas don't accelerate hard for no reason get rid of home phone put some lights on timers as well as other things make them turn off at appropriate times get a killer what type device to find out what is using all your electricity buy stuff that lasts buy used or don't buy make the purchases make sense cut back on a few interests hobbies that aren't real and go with just a few you are really into for example I spend a lot on music and electronics soldering my own fun things together toys sometimes but fishing hiking camping birding is really what fills my time I don't get caught up in a fad or diet don't buy something to save money you won't actually use how many people use their food dehydrator to save money on trail mix a lot of stuff that sounds like imagine how much we could save costs up front losses you time and never hits the point where there was an actual savings garden some veggies of you can or at least small costly things like herbs seasoning peppers rosemary as far as making more whatever you know a lot about is it installations of stuff our weekend jobs that make plenty if that's not your expertise then finding fixing and selling something neat or simply buying and selling something you see that is worth something you know about and others don't if you take a day off paid and do an installation that day it's a double pay day charge plenty to make it more than worth your time and have a fee just for showing not an hourly if it takes you 15 minutes you still need to get paid if you have direct deposit have them automatically pull out a certain percentage to go into another account that you can't touch preferably a high interest savings account or CD quit drinking I know it can be tough beer is good and all with booze can add up quickly especially if you go to a bar don't buy things you don't need don't eat in restaurants definitely don't drink in restaurants move money to your savings account every time you get a paycheck and leave it there and you'll be able to learn a sweet paycheck on the side set aside a fixed amount of money after your payday save it in a separate account all together and never withdraw from it this way you do the saving first and spending last the other way around will encourage overspending splurging to save on toiletries especially relevant for women if there is something you use daily like makeup wipes moisturizer face wash then when that stuff is on offer bulk buy three for two I'm all over that it may then feel like more money than you want to spend at a time but it reaps its rewards later when you don't have to keep trickling money away to restock up none of my friends seem to do this for some reason and find my offer shopping hilarious cut the cable satellite go with Netflix Hulu over-the-air and Amazon Prime or some subset I spend dollar sign 25 slash month on DV if you absolutely need a home phone look into Wireless home phone at Wireless I went from $40 month to $15 month heat before you go shopping for food always take any company 401 K match available it's free money sell all the old items that rarely get used or are no longer valuable pay yourself first that is take some money out of every paycheck before you get to spend your paycheck and put the money in savings 401 K whatever it might only be 10 or 20 books a paycheck but over time if invested it will add up keep a notebook of all your expenses for one month then look it over and see what can be cut I did this and it helped became obvious I had to quit smoking and to stop going to bar when you're thinking of making a purchase commitment that will last a long time such as buying a car or signing a lease on an apartment you have to ask yourself what are the real long-term costs sometimes a car is cheap upfront because it will cost you more in maintenance and repairs and it won't last long and will have to be replaced sometimes rent for an apartment far from work is cheap that you spend 30 bucks a week in gas commuting first as somebody else cent learn how to cook and eat healthy you can save a lot of money buying healthy food instead of eating every day outside plus you'll be healthier in general no pre-made food that's a trap unhealthy and much more expensive and cooking whatever yourself second don't expend money that you don't have I've seen so many friends buying things with a visa I want a new sofa pay with the visa I want a new laptop pay with the visa and so on at the end they end up with a huge debt for things that they don't really need I have a crappy laptop from eight years ago but it still works and I don't have a debt learn to live with what you have and not what you want and don't use the visa for everything or just don't have one if you can't control yourself one of the simpler ones I found is this don't have more money available than you're willing to spend don't walk around with two hundred dollars in your wallet if you don't want to spend more than $100 on whatever you're getting this way you can easily avoid purchasing things that you probably shouldn't here's a simple one every time you get a five dollar bill left over at the end of the day you put it in a jar this assumes that you aren't living the futuristic cashless society lifestyle and do in fact break out the bills regularly I was able to save an extra seventy-five dollars 100 a month doing this you really won't miss the money unless you're completely skinned it's not much been me and my wife have a Kermit the Frog lunch box we use as a piggy bank I take point zero four percent of everything I make and she takes point one zero percent of everything she makes and we pretend it's not even available market research they pay me in Amazon vouchers last year I made one hundred and fifty pounds I buy coffee beans on offer and buy 15 20 kilograms at a time I glide them myself every morning and using my little espresso machine and foamer at home I make great espresso and cappuccino coffee I have not bought a coffee in years I cook when I am alone I cook for three and Fries two individual servings I am pretty sure if I smoked weed anymore I would grow my own as I used to and if I still drank I would brew my own don't sign up for monthly fee things unless you know you lose them I have a Planet Fitness membership and haven't been to the gym in several months don't have time to go anymore and can't cancel the membership until December make a plan of what you're going to eat this week shopping period and stick to it stick to it otherwise you'll end up buying random things you won't use that go bad in a week and you'll just eat frozen dinosaur sandwiches instead meal plans minimize waste allow you to make healthy food without putting too much effort into it and takes a lot of stress off you for example if you have a million things to do you don't have to think ugh what am I even going to make for dinner instead you can think mMmmm we're going to have tacos I give myself a limit on how much I want to spend on food shopping I at each price together using a calculator and if I reach my limit and I still need other things I then put back what I want and purchase what I need don't get sucked into three for the price of two always go to the bargain shelf you can always freeze whatever products are there I also but any change under 50 P into a jar and change it over whenever it's fall try and go to independent butchers or thumbs for meat I get almost double the weight and chicken for half the price in comparison to Asda [Music]

Channel: AskSheep

Views: 7,603

Rating: 4.955801 out of 5

Keywords: reddit addiction, askreddit, reddit funny stories, reddit stories, reddit viral, top reddit posts, askreddit top posts, r/askreddit, reddit money, reddit tips, reddit life hacks, reddit hacks, reddit money making, reddit how to save money, reddit saving money

Id: 1UBMKr0mFtk

Length: 17min 32sec (1052 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 18 2019