Inflation Cents

10 Creative Money Saving Tips

money saving tips

You’ve got a budget to stay on top of, but how much time do you spend searching for ways to cut corners? With these 10 Creative Money Saving Tips, you can cut back on your spending without giving up on your lifestyle.

From finding ways to save money on food to getting rid of unneeded items, these tips will help you keep your costs low while still enjoying life’s little luxuries. If you’re like me, you’ve tried all sorts of money saving strategies. Here are some cool, creative ways to save money. If you’re ready to start saving money, we have some great money saving tips to get you started!

Some of these money saving tips are quite creative and you may not see the point or the savings right away. Some of these are ones you have heard about before. However, our goal is to save money, we will show you why you are doing these and how to put the money away before you spend it on other things.

To be successful in any area of your life, whether it’s your finances, business, family, career, or anything else, you need a plan. In order to make sure you’re on track to achieve your goals, you need to budget. Planning and budgeting are really just two sides of the same coin. Planning is the process of identifying what you want to achieve, while budgeting is the process of setting aside the money needed to get there.

You can start planning your monthly budget by estimating your monthly expenses. Then, you should calculate your monthly income. Once you have both of these figures, you can figure out how much money you need to save each month in order to reach your financial goals. While saving money is important, it’s not always possible to save a lot of money all at once. Hence our website’s tag line, “Turning cents into dollars”. It’s important to prioritize where you want to allocate your money. For example, if you want to put $100 per month towards your emergency fund, you’ll need to spend less than $100 on other things in order to do so.

Budgeting has to be your first priority if you want to build up your savings vehicle. On the first of the next month start tracking all your spending. I find it easy to do if I put everything on my charge card and get a reciept for everything you purchase in that first month. Even for the smallest of small items you buy. Do this for one month and you will be able to see where you are spending it all.

Conserve Water and Save

These are two words that might sound like something your mother told you when you were growing up. But, in reality, they’re some pretty awesome tips to live by in the long run. So, start practicing these habits today. You’ll save money and water and get yourself off to a good start finding that extra money to save.

In order to use this money saving tip, You need to know how much you spend every month on your water bill. Once you know the cost you can measure the difference each month. Here are a couple Money saving tips that will also conserve water.

Don't Flush Until You Must

You have, most likely, heard the old saying “If it’s yellow, let it mellow. If it’s brown, flush it down.” In our county, the water and sewer bills are combined and I believe it is that way in most areas. Usually the sewer costs are more than the water. That means every flush not only uses more water it causes the sewer bill to be higher.

Shower With Your Partner

When my grandkids were much younger, my daughter had them all shower/bath together. She did this for two reasons. First, so she could get it all done once and for all reach day. Second, they had a well and their pump sucked. Once they grew up, a little more, that was no longer something they could do. They ended up buying a new pump.

However, Our purpose for this article is to save money. Therefore, why not shower together as a couple? One 15 minute shower instead of two 15 minutes showers will save a lot of water. You also might find that you and your partner grow closer, as you wash each other’s back. Some of the side benefits of showering together can be exciting and fun as well.

Other ways to conserve water and save money is to put in a water saving toilet, or put in a couple of clean bricks in the bottom of the tank, so less water is used at each flush. You can buy a shower head that conserves water. Personally, I prefer showering together, but no harm in doing both.

Remember, to compare your before and after water bill and put the difference in a saving vehicle. Even if it is a few cents. Our goal is to change cents into dollars.

Pull-Up Your Big Boy Pants and Cover the Crack

This has nothing to do with your undergarments, but it does deal with filling the crack. Grandma and grandpa, probably, had some towels on the floor in front of the door cracks to keep the cold air out in the winter time. Believe it or not, this idea can save on both heat and cooling costs. You can see how to easily make these crack fillers HERE.

Since we are on the subject of heating and cooling, let’s not forget the thermostat. First, I would never recommend a smart thermostat but rather a programable one. The difference is, I get to control the programable 100%, without worry of the utility company or the government, taking it over like can and has happened with the smart thermostats.

Here is how my wife and I set our programable thermostat. In the winter months, we set our daytime temp to 68 degrees and bedtime temps down to 65 degrees. Sounds cold, but you will be surprised how you will adjust to those temps. We do turn it up when we have guests, especially overnight, so that they are comfortable. 

During the hot summer months, we set our thermostat to 72 degrees day and night. Of course, our reasoning is that the A/C does not run as often, saving us quite a bit in electricity costs. 

Of course, there are many other things you can do to save on your gas and electric bills each month. Save on your electric bill by doing your laundry and other high usage items during off-peak hours between 7pm to 7am. Heating and cooling makes up 45-50% of all your gas and electric usage. Make sure you do a before and after comparison. Put the difference in your savings vehicle. Use these money savings tips for your advantage.

Search the Pantry First

Shelf Life

When you are getting your shopping list together make sure you go through your pantry. There is no sense buying something you already have. And, usually, you don’t have to worry too much about the expiration date. Look at the image of exp. dates to the left. I cannot remember where I got that list so I cannot give credit to where credit is due. I would bet that a lot of food is wasted because they have “expired” and gets thrown out. Many times it is not necessary.

Search pantry

I was out and about the other day when my wife sent me a text. She had just made a sandwich, and noticed her jar of mayonnaise was have empty. She texted me to buy a new jar so when it was empty we had a spare. Since I love to please my lovely wife, I stopped at the store and picked up a jar. When I got home and opened the pantry. low and behold, there was another full jar on the top shelf. We don’t use a lot of mayonnaise, so two full jars will last us over a year. I see this as a waste, because, the few dollars I paid for that jar could have gone in our savings vehicle to help build it up. Don’t forget, we are trying to turn cents into dollars.

Eat your leftovers.

I know quite a few people, guys mostly, who refuse to eat leftovers. Personally, i think that is a huge waste and not very bright. My wife made a rather large pasta meal for us the other day. Since there are only two of us, I knew we would be eating leftovers. While the meal was very eatable, my wife is a great cook, it was rather bland. The next day she added more mushrooms, roasted red peppers and some different spices. These were all pantry items. It was so much better the next day and still enough for us to eat for lunch the day after. Two and a half meals from the same dish. We don’t do this every day, but it is a great money savings tip.

Bottom line, your goal is to save on your food bills. Since, you already have a budget set-up, you know what you spend each month on your food/grocery bills. Do that before and after comparison and sock away the extra savings.

Eat At Home and I Don't Mean Take Out

Yes, this goes along with the creative money saving tips above, yet it is so different. We can spend so much eating out that it is crazy. I have no issues eating out, in fact, I enjoy taking my lovely wife out on a date every so often. However, if we are not careful it can happen way too often. 

The cost to eat out has increased in the last year as inflation has skyrocketed. I remember when we could go out and eat for $40. Now it is closer to $80 with the service so much slower, because of the shortage and cost of workers. I have also noticed that the food is not as good and there is less of it. Inflation, shrinkflation and skimpflation has been forced upon restuarants because of the high cost of help and food. 

We now only eat out every couple of weeks instead of weekly or more. Now when the credit card bill comes each month, it is a little easier to pay off. You do pay off your credit card balance every month, don’t you? If not, start doing it and bank that interest charges each month. I put all my expenses on my credit card so I have a complete record every month where I spent our money. Much easier to keep track and I can compare month after month.

Walk it or Bike it and Save On Gas

This may be one of the best money saving tips we share in this article. If you are in an area, that is close enough to work, town or shopping facilities and you can walk or bike it, you will save. 

We’re all too familiar with gas prices, and when they go up, we automatically begin to think of ways we can save on our gas consumption. Whether it’s switching to a hybrid vehicle or carpooling with friends, there are plenty of ways to save on gas. One of the best ways to save on gas and money is to walk or bike to your destination. Walking and biking are great options because you won’t spend as much money on gas, and you also don’t have to worry about your car breaking down.

Not only will you save money, you will also get in better physical shape. Here again, if you do not know what you regularly spend on gas for your vehicle, you won’t know how much you saved. Most of us use our credit or debit card to purchase our fuel. Start walking or biking and after a month get your before and after credit card bills and notice the big difference in gas charges. Then put that savings into your savings vehicle as we turn cents into dollars. 

Buy In Bulk If You Can

While, it is not always advantageous to buy in bulk, when you can do it. Some things are easy to store and buy in bulk and some are not. We buy our paper products in bulk, things like toilet paper, paper towels, napkins, etc. etc. Of course, we are careful to make sure the bulk price is lower. I like my Sam’s Club Membership.

With inflation, going higher and higher every day, it just makes sense to stock up. Obviously, things that spoil easily are not bulk buys, things like milk, bananas and salads. However, if you can get your hands on fresh fruits and vegetables, you can freeze them. Just make sure you don’t overpay. I’ve found that farmer’s market is usually overpriced and roadside stands are cheaper. If you can find a decent stand, get to know the owner and see if you can buy larger quantities for a better price. No harm in asking.

When you calculate the savings, by buying in bulk and freezing your fresh produce, but that money into your savings vehicle.

Watch What You Watch

What I mean by this is to calculate what you can save by dropping your cable or satellite TV plans and going streaming only. I know, you get 200 plus channels on your cable. I also know that you only watch, at the most, 10 of those stations. If you do some research, you can, most likely, find those 10 plus stations on a streaming service for $5 to $15. That’s a huge savings on the $100 to $200, you are paying for cable, to not watch those other 190 channels. I use my Amazon Prime to watch the movies and other specials from Amazon. I already pay for it to save money on my shipping costs from those purchases I make from them.

All you need is a good internet connection. I know, I know, you get your internet cheaper because you have a plan with your cable company and get a “savings” by combining. You can still get your internet from them just cancel the TV. You will pay about $20 more for your internet. However, you will still save, close to $100 or more, by only streaming those channels you watch.

Don’t forget to put those savings into your savings vehicle.

You Get Coupons In the Mail or email, Use Them!

If you want to become a coupon diva or gent, go ahead, if you enjoy it. I don’t, so I just flip through the coupons I receive and use the ones that meet my needs. I don’t use coupons to buy what I don’t need. Be careful, just because it is a good deal doesn’t mean it is a good deal for you. We get coupons from our local supermarket, because they know what we buy. Last week the coupons had a .75 cents off our coffee brand, .30 cents off bananas, etc. etc. Of course, we are trying to turn cents into dollars, so put that .75 and .30 cents into your savings vehicle.

Health Money Saving Tips

This may be one of the easiest ways to save money, if you shop around. it is always good to take care of yur health and do not skimp on finding the best doctors and facilities to get the best care. 

However, use generic prescriptions rather than brand name, whenever possible, and you will save a bundle. Of course, check with your medical providers to make sure it is advisable. You should also check around with the different pharmacies to see what the difference is in price. We use a mail order pharmacy and try to get our every day scripts set for a 90 day supply. Thus saving money.

When you purchase over the counter meds or supplements make sure you purchase the store brand. They are usually 2-3 dollars less than name brand.

Keep Track of What You Save

I have stressed repeatedly, that once you know you have saved some money on a purchase, you need to immediately put it into your savings vehicle. Make sure you write it down! This way you will know how much you are saving and turning those cents into dollars. 

If you can, make up a spreadsheet on you computer and put what you bought and how much you saved on each purchase. if you can’t set-up a spreadsheet, write it down on good old fashioned paper. Perhaps get a journal and track it all!

Have fun, as you see your savings grow, as you use these money saving tips.

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