5 Awesome Ways to Save More Money

Cutting down cost and being able to save money is what everyone desires irrespective of their financial status. It will be unusual to find someone willing to pay more for an item if they can get the same item with the same quality and features for a lesser price. It is even stranger to find someone just throwing money out or burning their money just because they are rich. So, whether you are wealthy, in the middle class, or poor, you want to ensure you are getting the biggest bang for your buck. There are two sides in the equation of money management. There is incoming side which deals with the money you earn, and there is outgoing side, which deals with the money you spend. Here are some awesome ideas that will help you to stretch your dollar further from your expenses side of the equation.

1. Reduce your bills:The bills you pay on a monthly basis is on the outgoing side of your financial equation. Cutting down can be painful sometimes, but the reward in terms of improving your financial status can be gratifying. Here are some less painful changes that you can make on your bills, and by doing this, I guarantee that you can save on average about $100 each month.

• Insurance:The insurance market place especially on the auto and homeowner side is very competitive. You are the boss here, and you need to make the insurance companies compete for your business. Just like Geico slogan, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. Using the approach below, you can easily save on average about $20 on your monthly premium. Here is what you should do immediately. Go to “Nerdwallet” website to compare rates. For your homeowner insurance, I want you to head to “Quote wizard” to get the best rates.
• Electricity:An average family spends $1400 every year on electricity. You can achieve a saving of about $10 each month on your electricity bills by choosing the ideal power provider for you at less price. You can use the “Power2switch” website to compare rates. Here is the link. Additionally, you can save energy consumption by using energy saving light bulbs and equipment or motion detected bulbs for areas such as conveniences. Also, adopt the rule of turning off the light when not in use.
• Internet and Cables:The average cable TV and internet package in the US is about $150 each month. Many people subscribed to TV packages that they do not use or need. You can make significant savings by cutting your cable TV subscriptions and going for the streaming services instead. SlingTV, DirecTVnow, Hulu, and YouTube offer several TV packages at lower cost. You can also watch on demand, unlimited movies on Amazon Primenow or Netflix at a very cheap cost. You can easily save over $40 each month by making this switch.
• Phone bills:According to a study from CouponCabin.com, 46 percent of cell phone owners have a bill of at least $100 per month. The big 3 “AT&T, Verizon, and Tmobile” are mostly on the higher end of the cost especially if you use the unlimited data, talk, and text feature.  If you’re looking to save money on your phone, consider going for the low-cost, no-contract options offer by your current network providers and then you can scale up the services as need arises. Nowadays, there is no real need to worry about coverage, either, as many of the low-cost options use the same networks as the larger providers and therefore you will not be sacrificing coverage for price. You should also determine if you need the unlimited plans to begin with. If you go to the low-cost provider, you can save an average of about $30 each month.

A Total Monthly Savings on Bill Management from $100 to $150 or more, will give you a Total Yearly Savings of $1,200 to $1,800 or more

2. Take lunch to work: Packing your lunch to work can save you hundreds of dollars every year. The cost of going out for lunch varies depending on the choice you are making – you may spend as low as $5 if you go the fast food route, or as high as $20 if you decide to go to a restaurant. Just for the sake of being conservative, if you eat McDonald Burger every day for five days of the working week, you will spend $25 each week and that translates to $100 per month. You can prepare varieties of good meal at home that will last you a whole week for less than $50. You can therefore save $50 every month if you decide to take you lunch to work. Brown bagging does not only help you to cut down cost, but it also ensures that you are eating healthy. You will also be saving money on gas as you drive to and fro the lunch spot. I am not advocating that you should bring lunch to work 100% of the time, but if you are ever going to eat out, look for online deals at https://www.restaurant.com/ you may be able to save up to 40% of the original cost.

A Total Monthly Savings on Lunch from $100 to $250 or more, gives Total Yearly Savings of $1,200 to $3,000 or more

3. Make your own coffee:Americans love coffee. Do you know that an average American worker spends about $15 a week on coffee? Depending on the store you go, whether it is a mom-and-pop store, Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts, you can expect to shell out a minimum of $3 per visit. Your coffee fanfare can cost you up to a $1,000 per year. It is okay to love your coffee, but your wallet shouldn’t have to  feel the pain of your splurge. You can enjoy your coffee in a cheaper way. You should consider brewing your coffee at home, this way you can save about 50% on cost of coffee. If you employer provides coffee at the workplace, ditch the store-bought coffee and rely on your employer to supply your morning coffee need. You can also bring your coffee machine to the office if your company does not provide coffee. The debate around whether coffee is healthy or not is still brewing, you can consider reducing your coffee intake and drink more water instead.

Making your own coffee will give a Total Monthly Savings from $50 to $80 or more, this will give you a Total Yearly Savings of $600 to $960 or more

4. Consider DIY: Taking out time to get some of home maintenance and repair work done by yourself can save you thousands of dollars each year. For example, you can save about $50 on average each month by mowing your lawn, $30 each month by cutting your hair, $40 each month by getting your nails done at home, $50 for doing your laundry at home, and even achieve further savings by changing the oil in your car by yourself. You can take on more challenging repair work at home to save a lot more money. For example, I had to fix my garage door by myself last summer. The garage door often get stuck or open involuntarily. I searched out the make and model of my garage door and learn how to troubleshoot it by consulting Google and I was able to resolve the issue. I also did some research on YouTube and I was able to watch videos that gave me step by step instructions on how to fix the garage door. I was able to save about $100 by doing this myself. A friend of mine recently moved to a new house. He needed some paint job in his house, I encouraged him to consider the DIY approach. He did, saving couple of hundred bucks in the process. There are other DIY projects that you can undertake at home to achieve more savings, for example, you can make your homemade laundry detergent, deodorant, and hair conditioner.

DIY can give you a Total Monthly Savings from $100 to $200 or more resulting in a Total Yearly Savings: $1,200 to $2,400 or more

5. Cancel your gym membership:I’m a fitness enthusiast. I enjoy using the treadmill and lifting weight, but I have access to free gym in my neighborhood. I was a member of the LA Fitness and I was spending $35 each month to keep my membership at the club. Yes, they have a lot more equipment than my community gym, but I was not using more than 3 different machines when I was a member of the club. Why would I continue to pay $35 each month on gym that I only use three times a week when I can do just the same exercise for free? To me, goodbye to LA fitness means more money in my pocket. So my advice is that you consider canceling your gym membership immediately if you have access to the gym in your neighborhood. If you struggle to go to the gym as a result of work or time constraint, it is time to cancel the membership. If you do not have a community fitness center, you can build your own home gym, it is quite easy to do. Get on YouTube and Pinterest and you will be able to watch exercise training videos and tutorials. If you love the outdoor, please hit the park and enjoy natural light and breeze as you run down the trail.

Canceling your gym membership will provide a Total Monthly Savings of $35 to $75 or more and an annual savings of $420 to $900 or more

If saving money and getting to keep more of your money is your goal, then any of the above approach should work for you. You can save as little as $420 to as much as $3,000 every year using this less painful options. You can put yourself in a better position financially by managing your expenses, making sure that your expenses are less than your income from month to month. If you consistently ensure that you are in control of your spending, you will be able to keep more of your money, and if you invest the excess for a long haul, you will be able to add more money to your retirement portfolio and someday retire comfortably.