Finding clever ways to save money is always underrated. You can literally save a reasonable amount of money by just practicing a few things that may sound ordinary but have quite effective results.
Where money is a source to fuel your life with joy, saving it may seem a little too hard. However, if you decide to save money, you'll see how everything aligns with your "savings thoughts." It will be more like an automation process. With that said, let's dig in to find 4 clever ways to save money.
1. Save Money on Bills
Your thoughtfulness to save money starts with taking care of everything. Whatever utilities you are using, whether electricity, water, or natural gas, taking account of their usage is necessary to save more than average. If you don't care about how much of them you are using, there's a chance that you will have to pay a huge amount on utility bills.
For instance, if you or your better half does laundry every day, you'll end up using more electricity. So to avoid this, you can only spare 3-4 days a month to do laundry. Similarly, if you keep your natural gas supply on the pilot, you'll still get into the trap of using more and paying more. Therefore, no matter what necessity you use, always ensure you are mindful of it and take care of every bit to avoid paying high bills.
Additionally, there are a few ways that you can adapt to reduce your bills:
Negotiate and Get Fixed Plans
Before switching to get pricing plans for utilities, always negotiate with your service provider. For instance, while purchasing an internet package, you can work with a negotiator to ensure more savings on the actual price. Consequently, getting fixed-priced plans for electricity and natural gas usage helps you get relatively less expensive energy. You can also buy time-limited plans, which allow you to save money by using high-end appliances such as your washing machine in fewer peak hours.
Installing Energy Saving Appliances
You can easily guess what you have to do here, right? Therefore, try to change your appliances and light bulbs to more energy-efficient ones. By doing this, you can save a lot on your bills even if you are using multiple appliances. On the contrary, if you can't afford to upgrade them, you can simply follow a rule of "use less" and "save more." So, avoid using your electronics all at once and try to sit together in one room for eating, studying, etc.
Find Bundle Packages
Buying utilities in bundle packages helps you save a good amount on bills. For instance, while installing internet in your home, try to get a cable connection from the same service provider. This will help you get both connections without spending huge down payments and paying an increased amount of bills every month.
Upgrading Water Accessories
To make sure you also get reduced water bills, it's important to change your bathroom and kitchen water accessories, such as faucets, taps, and showers, with low-flow accessories. And get all the pipes checked to fix any leaks that would end up an increased amount on water bills. Similarly, only use your dishwasher at the end of the day or when your basket is full.
Get a Programmable HVAC System
By installing a programmable HVAC system, you can control your home’s temperature per your preferences. For example, if you have to go out, you can simply reduce the HVAC system usage or lower the temperature of your house. This will help you get reduced cooling and heating bills.
2. Limited Grocery and No Storing
Don't get offended, but going for groceries with no limit just because it's all about "eating" and "necessities," you'll spend money way more than other people spend. As we said earlier, to save money, you must be a little more mindful about everything, from what you do to how you spend it. If you don't care about your expenses, you'll not be able to save money any time soon.
Therefore, whenever you go to the grocery, always have a list of all the important things you would need to run your kitchen for a month. And don't buy items in bulk with the intent to store them for later. However, if you go to a warehouse store for shopping, it's better to get things in bulk to avoid shopping for at least 2 to 3 months. Otherwise, never buy more items from the supermarket as it'll require you to spend more money compared to warehouse stores. Despite these, you can also practice a few things to ensure you cleverly save money on groceries:
Grocery Listing
Before you go to a supermarket for groceries, always set aside a limited amount of your total earnings or plan a budget. Afterward, make a detailed grocery list where you write the items in order from most important to less necessary. And always look over your pantry to avoid buying extra things and only buy items you need to run your kitchen for a month.
Search for Discounts and Loyalty Cards
A few minutes or an hour of searching can help you save a lot of money. So, find coupons, discounts, or loyalty cards. You can search sources like online platforms and newspapers to find discount codes as well as coupons to reduce your grocery bill. Another way to ensure you save more money on groceries is to apply for a loyalty card if the store offers it. By purchasing through the card, you get points you can use as discounts.
Never Buy Off-Season Items
Whether you want to buy fruits or vegetables, always ensure you get only seasonal items. They tend to be more affordable and fresh than off-season ones. You can also look for sales on farmers' markets to save a reasonable amount of money while shopping for veggies and fruits.
Adopt Healthy Lifestyle
Due to a tough routine, you might opt for processed foods that are not only expensive but less effective for your health. Apart from that, if you buy healthy food options, you'll be able to save more by stocking the leftover ingredients. And your health will also improve, giving you a combo of a happy life and a secure future.
3. Don't Follow Fashion Trends
Another clever but underrated way to save money is avoiding purchasing to keep yourself updated with the trends. And you'll agree, as soon as a new fashion trend enters the market, you may rush to buy clothes and shoes to satisfy the eyes of your surroundings. Children are especially into fashion and stuff to show around their friends and classmates. However, it may seem necessary to stay updated but not at the cost of your mental peace.
The more money you spend on things, the more you'll be under pressure and debt. Therefore, it's important to maintain a balance between your social circle's demands and your budget. Consequently, it's better to wear old jeans than skip a meal because you are short on money, right? A few things that you can do are:
Try Practicing DIYs
You might have clothes in your wardrobe that you haven't worn for months. If that's really a scenario, you can always utilize them to make more trendy and funky clothes out of them. All you have to do is go to YouTube or Google and search for the latest fashion trends. After scrolling through different clothes and styles, you'll be able to try things out for yourself or your teenagers. By doing this, you can maintain your social status as well as save money.
Buy During Sales and Promotions
Buying clothes and shoes for your whole family can be tough, especially when you are short on money. Therefore, consider it as your cleverness to shop only during promotions and sales. In fact, most stores give discounts from 30% to 70% on various products. So, instead of paying the full amount, keep an eye on your favorite store's sales to get discounts and save more money.
4. Avoiding Company and Social Gatherings
If you are serious about your money-saving journey, you would need to be more thoughtful about your company. As you might know, a person is defined by the company he hangs out with. So, if you meet people with similar goals and motives, you'll be more drawn towards saving money than spending.
On the contrary, if your company spends more money on unnecessary items and social gatherings, you'll also start spending even more. Therefore, it's clear that you would have to choose your company wisely to get effective results in the long run.
Additionally, talking about your social gatherings, it's quite common that you'll spend money whenever you go out for a party or when friends get together, right? Subsequently, if you don't restrict yourself from going out to unnecessary social gatherings, your savings account will remain empty. So, to save a good amount of money cleverly, simply avoid gatherings that aren't important and wouldn't cause any harm in leaving. Or else you can try:
Virtual Meetups
The only option to avoid social gatherings that empty your pockets is virtual meetups. Especially after COVID-19, people have started this trend of connecting with their families via online applications and platforms. Consequently, instead of organizing big parties to only please your company, having thoughtful discussions with them on your phone is better. This will help you maintain your relationships and save money. However, you can always switch to having gatherings once your financial status feels stable.
Final Words
Finding the best ways to save money starts with making up your mind and getting disciplined with everything you do. Everything requires you to be thoughtful to save money, whether you are going to do groceries, buying clothes, or getting an internet connection.
Therefore, next time try to adapt clever ways to save money, such as saving on utility bills, not following fashion trends, and avoiding gatherings that lead to spending even more money.
