Smart Ways to Save Your Money This Year as a Family

Sometimes you look at your bills and make the OMG emoji face. Sometimes you wonder where all your hard-earned money is going.

Does this resonate with you? If it does, you might be looking for ways to save more money. You might be looking for creative ways to save money, but budgeting doesn’t always have to be creative. Some simple changes can also make a big impact! 

The cost of raising a child has been increasing from year to year. Parents are constantly looking for ways to make ends meet. So if you’re looking for how to save money tips, and ideas for how mom saves money, keep reading!

Ideas to help you save money this year

If you’re looking to save money this year, there are a number of things you can do. Here are a few ideas to help get you started.

One way to save money is to create a budget and stick to it. Track your income and expenses so you know where your money is going. For example, do you know how much car ownership costs you? What about housing (home ownership or renting)? You might really be surprised when you start tracking how much you are spending on food, especially eating out. Then, make adjustments to ensure you’re spending less than you’re bringing in each month.

Another way to save money is to cut back on unnecessary expenses. We’ll discuss options to cut back and replace services to reclaim these unnecessary expenses.

Make a budget

If you don’t already have a budget, now is the time to make one. You can read my post teaching you how to make a monthly budget like a boss, and grab the free printable! The act of making the budget helps you look at what you’re earning, and most importantly, what you’re spending it on. It can be really eye-opening to see where your money goes, and that helps you trim it down. Getting a good budget in place is a great way to help you learn how to save your money. It’s the number one frugal living tip!

Cut Cable

One huge way we have started saving money is by dropping our huge monthly bundled subscription! That’s right, we cut Cable over a half dozen years ago and have never looked back. We never even used our home phone line and it was an extra $50 a month! So we just have internet and a few streaming options.

Hulu and Netflix (and Amazon Prime) have us covered for what we want to watch, and we upgraded to the no commercials version of Hulu so we can just sit and watch what we want. Since these services are available when we want them, it’s like having a DVR. It’s not like we really watched live TV anyway with a toddler.

Try Hulu

You can stream live TV with Fubo TV! Sign up and receive a FREE Trial of Fubo TV. Watch 7 days for FREE. No commitment. Cancel anytime.

Try Fubo TV

If missing out on live sports is an issue, you can watch sports live with Pickaflick Sports Streaming! Watch your favorite sports live wherever you are, with no limits.
Here’s a great streaming comparison so you can figure out what services you need and how to stream them.

If you want to know where you can stream your favorite shows, there is a free resource called Reelgood. You can type in a movie, show, or person, and Reelgood will tell you everywhere you can stream it, watch it for free with ads, buy, or rent it. Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, it will link you directly to that service.

Unsubscribe

Little subscriptions here and there really add up. Are you really reading all those magazines? Are you using those monthly services? Take a detailed look at your bank account or credit card statement to see what you’re paying for and whether you actually need or use those programs. If you can do without it, cancel those monthly subscriptions.

Use Coupons

If you’re already shopping for certain things, always look to see if you can find a coupon. There are lots of coupon sites available.

Ibotta is a coupon app, where you can scan your receipt and get cashback on products you purchased.

I also have the browser extension Honey, which searches for coupons for me as I browse.

Another way to find deals is using the 3 PM shop Chrome extension. It tells you if the same product you’re shopping for is available at a lower price.

Reduce your Grocery Bill

Slash Your Grocery Bill is an eBook that will teach you 25 ways to cut your grocery budget.
From how to plan a menu on a budget, how to strategically shop, how to use digital couponing apps, some family favorite low-budget meal ideas, the author’s specific system for planning and shopping, and so much more, this ebook will inspire you and motivate you with realistic ways to save on groceries.

Grab Slash Your Grocery Bill ebook

Shop around for Insurance Regularly

Save Everything You Can

Saving takes discipline, period! It is the boring part of fiscal responsibility but is crucial if you hope to achieve financial stability. Start by setting savings goals. For instance, if you want to buy a house within the next five years, as well as paying 20% as a downpayment, you can make this one of your savings goals. You have a timeline and an approximate estimation of how much income you generate. Use this information in conjunction with one of the many savings calculators available online and you can get a pretty good idea of how much you need to realistically save each week, month, or year to achieve this goal.

Another basic rule of thumb for saving money is to put yourself first. Yes, that sounds selfish, but it is actually pretty important when it comes to effective, efficient saving. To put it simply, this means setting up an auto-draft that pulls a specific amount of money from your checking account and deposits it into your savings account. This might mean as little as $20 every two weeks, or $1,000 each month. It all just depends on your income and your long-term goals. Since it is an auto-draft, let’s just call it savings on autopilot.

Finally, as simplistic as it sounds, save as much as you can as often as you can. Not everything has to come from your weekly paycheck. If you have a relative who sends you money on your birthday, save it! If you took advantage of a rebate and got some money back, save it! Do you file your own taxes each year (or have a professional do it)? If so, are you getting a refund? That refund can be a quick way to add a potentially significant contribution to your savings account. All of these examples can be considered “found money,” or money outside of your normal income, meaning you can live without it. Why not save it?
 

Saving Money Apps and Services

Acorns

Acorns’ mission is to look after the financial best interests of the up-and-coming, beginning with the empowering step of micro-investing.
Its easy-to-use, mobile-first technology makes it simple for anyone to set aside and invest life’s spare money and there are so many ways to grow:
a. Round-Ups
– Invest spare change from everyday purchases
– Recurring Investments
– Set it and forget it with a daily, weekly or monthly automatic investment
b. One-Time Investments
– Boost your account anytime, anywhere. Even $5 adds up
c. Found Money
– Earn money when you shop with over 200 top brands
d. Referrals
– Grow your account when friends start investing
e. Acorns Later
– The easiest way to save for retirement
f. Acorns Spend
– The only checking account with a debit card that saves, invests and earns for you
Acorns allows customers to automatically invest in a low-cost, diversified portfolio of exchange-traded funds offered by some of the world’s top asset managers (including Vanguard and BlackRock). 
Customers grow their wealth in one of five portfolios constructed with help from world-renowned Nobel Laureate economist Dr. Harry Markowitz.
Acorns smart portfolio algorithms automatically work in the background of life, helping users build wealth naturally, pennies at a time. From Acorns mighty oaks do grow!
Acorns also now offers a $20 bonus investment for new users (after you make your first investment of at least $5).

Try Acorns

Trim Financial Manager

Trim is a perfect app to go along with some of the suggestions above. Trim’s mission is to solve your financial problems so that you can live the life you want.  Trim tracks your spending and alerts you if your spending is increased from the previous month. It helps you identify and cancel an old subscription. It checks whether your cable provider overcharging you and can automatically resolve that for you by negotiating a lower bill. And it saves you from having to argue with the Cable company! You can even turn on an automated savings program to move money into your savings account for you.

I like using Trim because it takes the guesswork out of everything and takes care of things on your behalf. It even messages me on Facebook messenger to alert me if we’ve had a spendy month.

Try Trim Financial Manager

Tally App

Tally monitors your balances, interest rates, and payment due dates for each of your credit cards so you don’t have to. Tally gives you a line of credit with a lower interest rate and helps you find savings on interest to pay down your credit card debt faster. Also, Tally’s late fee protection ensures you’ll never miss a credit card payment again.

So if you’re struggling with credit card debt, Tally can help!

Try Tally

Long Game Savings App

What Is Long Game Savings & How Does It Work? 

The Long Game Savings app provides a totally new experience, offering incentive-based saving to help you meet your financial goals. As you save, earn chances to win big in a weekly lotto with cash prizes of up to $1,000,000. Accounts are secure; all funds are FDIC-insured, held securely by Blue Ridge Bank.

How Much Does It Cost?

The Long Game Savings app is free to use and your money is always accessible. How does this work? When traditional banks offer savings accounts, they typically earn 3% interest off the funds in that account. Of that, only about 0.1% goes to you. With a Long Game Savings account, you still earn 0.1% interest, but also the chance to win real money.

How Do You Set Up an Account?

After linking your account, make an initial $5 deposit to activate your rewards. For every $ you deposit, earn coins to play in-app games. One game is a lottery-style drawing where you can use coins for more chances to win. The other is an adventure-style game that incentivizes good saving practices with in-game rewards.

Earn rewards for meeting your financial goals. Download the Long Game Savings app today and discover a new way to save.

Try Long Game Savings app 

Digit

Boost your savings with Digit. Digit analyzes your spending and automatically saves the perfect amount every day, so you don’t have to think about it.

Digit uses algorithms to learn how you spend, so you don’t have to change your lifestyle. Digit knows when to take a break and when to save. It also has you set goals and save up for a specific event or activity, which is super motivating.

Here’s what is in a Digit subscription today:

• Automated Saving – Digit analyzes your spending and saves the perfect amount every day.
• Unlimited Goals – Save for a vacation, an emergency fund, or anything you can think of. Set as many goals as you like, and Digit will get to work.
• Automated Debt Payments – Digit will save for and automatically pay down your credit card debt.
• Overdraft Prevention – Digit sends money to your checking if your balance dips below a certain amount.
• 1% Savings Bonus – Digit automatically rewards you for saving.
• Unlimited Withdrawals – There’s no limit to how many times you can pull from Digit, and you can upgrade the instant when you need it.
• Overdraft Reimbursement – The fee is on us if Digit saves too much.
• No Account Minimums – You can leave as little or as much as you want in Digit.

Try Digit

ways to save your money

 credit: themoneymanual.com

Bill Shark

See How Everyone Is Saving Money on their Cell Phone, Cable and Internet Bills

BillShark is an innovative service that can dramatically save money and reduce your monthly bills. You’ll enjoy lowered rates for the same level of service, without all the research and phone calls.

Common Ways To Save Money

These are just some of the many bills that you can have successfully reduced. Typically, you won’t have to alter your plans or change any settings. You’ll enjoy the same channels, the same data and the same excellent level of service from these areas:

• Phone plan
• Cable or satellite TV
• Home security system
• Monthly bottled water delivery
• Internet

If you use any of these services or if you have debt from credit cards, mortgages or leases, you may be overpaying each month without knowing it.

How BillShark Works

To start, you send your account information to BillShark. Their dedicated team of negotiators will help you cut down on monthly bills that are outdated or overpriced. Some providers adjust their rates to keep up with the competition, without informing their loyal customers. Other services can allow for negotiation based on your payment history.

Their services can provide huge savings for nearly every household, but you’ll see the most savings if you’ve had the same bills for a long period of time. Homeowners who haven’t moved frequently also generally see more savings.

If you’re ready to reduce your bills fast, sign up for BillShark today. You’ll enjoy lower payments without the hassle or stress of contacting each provider to ask for better rates. It’s easy to get started and even easier to save thanks to our team of bill negotiators.

Try BillShark

What else can you do to save money?

You can also start some side-hustles to earn extra money to save. This list gives you dozens of ideas!

Selling your old cell phones is another great way to boost your savings.

Here’s a fun infographic that shows examples of what people do to save money. Which of these have you tried?

Credit: www.wpdiamonds.com

Here’s another great infographic showing what you can sell/pawn to make money.

We are living in challenging times, more so for people who have lost their source of income. When you can’t find the support you need from traditional financial institutions, you can pawn gadgets and accessories that other people are willing to buy. The earnings should be enough to see you through a rough patch. We have to believe things will be better and anticipate a future full of promise. When you are ready to part with some of your possessions, it’s good to know which items are sought-after in pawnshops and have high resale value.

This infographic presents an interesting list of items that you can bring to a reputable pawn shop near you. Remember to always abide by minimum health protocols when going out, and to bring hand sanitizer and other necessities to ensure your safety. It’s time to check out the eight best items to pawn during the Covid-19 pandemic.

There are so many ways to save your money and lots of different money-saving methods you can try. From canceling subscriptions to using special apps, there are lots of creative ways to save money and lots more easy tweaks we can make. How are you working on saving money?