Saving money can be hard, especially when you try to make drastic changes to do it. But sometimes all it takes is changing a few habits to help you save money slowly, but surely. Here are 5 small changes that lead to big savings.
Planning Meals
Planning your meals for the week before you go grocery shopping can help you save a lot of money. By planning out what to cook for the week and buying, you are diminishing the desire to get takeout on those nights where you just can’t figure out what to cook. Additionally, when you plan your meals in advance, you know just what ingredients to buy for those meals; therefore, nothing goes to waste. It sounds simple, but I’m willing to bet a majority of people out there do not plan their meals for the week before doing their grocery shopping.
Order Groceries Online
To continue on the point above, I like to plan my weekly meals based around sales. While you can obviously do this by looking through the grocery store flyers, I find it easier to shop sale items online. Grocery delivery is available through so many outlets now that you should actually be able to pick the store you would like your food from. I personally find that the savings I get by grocery shopping online far exceeds the cost of delivery.
Get Rid of Memberships/Subscriptions You Do Not Utilize
People have memberships or subscriptions for so many things now. Make a list of all the subscription services and memberships you have. Take everything on that list into serious consideration and determine if you are truly utilizing these subscriptions/memberships for what they are worth. Here are some of examples of subscription services or memberships you may be paying for, but could easily cut out because of underutilization:
- Cable
- Gym membership
- Amazon Prime
- Sirius XM Radio
- Birchbox
- Credit cards with annual fees
- Stitch Fix
Pay Your Credit Card in Full Each Month
This one is easier said than done if you already have a large amount of credit card debt. However, for those who can afford to, pay your credit card balance off. Even more, make sure you only charge things that you can afford to pay off in full each month. While you may think you are saving LESS money by paying a larger sum of money to pay off your full credit card balance, you are actually losing money by paying interest on that balance. Charging only what you can afford to pay off ensures you do not pay anything more than the cost of what you are buying and, therefore, leads to saving money.
Use a Credit Card that Offers Cash Back/Points
As long as you are only charging things you can afford, you should use a credit card that offers cash back or points. With these types of credit cards, you earn points for every dollar you spend. Some credit cards offer a simple 1% cash back for every $1 spent, meaning you earn $0.01 for every $1 you spend. Many credit cards offer more incentive than just 1%. For example, you may find a card that offers 5% cash back at grocery stores, 3% cash back for gas, 2% cash back for travel, etc. These points can then be used as cash to be applied to your credit card balance, to purchase gift cards or gifts or to trade in for travel (i.e. you get 1.5 times your point value when you book a hotel through your credit card’s website).
What are some habits you suggest to help save money?
