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Learning to save Money can be hard. I’ve been there and I’m still there.

Whether you’re Saving Money to buy a house or to pay off debt, saving money is challenging, especially if you never really learned how to.

Yes, saving money is a skill you can learn.

Thanks to these money-saving tips, I’ve been able to save thousands of dollars.

I’m not exaggerating. I’m a college student, and over the years, I’ve learned a quite a few tips, tricks, and hacks to saving money.

How to Save Money

Before we get into my money-saving tips, let’s talk about how to save money.

This comes down to one thing:

Spend less than you earn.

The more you spend, the less you save. Reading that, you might be thinking “Okay, obviously…” but sometimes, it’s not that obvious.

If you’re making all of these little purchases without keeping track of it, you could end up spending a lot more than you think you are.

I remember being a college student taking a trip to the vending machine more than I like to admit. Whether it was to get a candy bar, water, or whatever.

One day I reached into my wallet and I realized I didn’t have any ones left, and I know for a fact I had a lot.

I starting thinking about where the heck they could have gone. Then, I realized I had spent all of my money getting waters from the vending machine.

Day by day, it didn’t seem like I was spending that much, but it added up.

Ultimately, if you want to know how to save money, you just spend less money. But it’s not that easy. That’s why I’m going to give you some of my best money-saving tips that I’ve used to save thousands over the years.

Money-Saving Tips

Use Cash Instead of a Card

I don’t know about you, but when I use a card to pay, I walk out to my car and I can’t even remember how much I just spent.

But when I use cash, it literally hurts to spend it. I start sweating after I hand them bill after bill and realize I probably shouldn’t have bought that.

This is why I’d suggest using cash instead of a card if you’re trying to save money. If you have to sit there and count it out, you’re much more aware of how much you’re actually spending.

Cash Envelope System

Going along with paying in cash, use Dave Ramsey’s cash envelope system. This is a way to track everything you’re paying for.

You create different categories like groceries, restaurants, gas, etc. and write it on envelopes. Then create and write the amount you want to spend in that category per month.

Here’s the tricky part. Whatever you do, you cannot go over the budget you set for that category.

Pay Off Debt ASAP

Even if you have a 30 year plan, you need to be working to pay off that debt.

I know, debt is stressful. I’ve been a college student for 6 years, so I have student debt piled up. But before I go spending money on a new car or other things I don’t quite yet need, I’m working on paying on my loans first.

This goes for any debt. Credit cards. Car payments. Whatever you have, work on paying it off ASAP.

You should also look into debt consolidation or refinancing your loans.

Debt consolidation means that you combine all of your loans onto one bill, which makes it a lot easier to pay.

Refinancing a loan is a way that you can get a lower interest rate, which could save you a lot of money over time.

Create a Budget

If you want to start saving money, one of the best money-saving tips is to create a budget.

You can start a budget to determine how much you want to spend on what. If you stay within your budget, you can have extra money to put into your savings.

Make a Shopping List

Have you ever gone to the store and gotten everything except what you went there to get?

Me too.

That’s why you could make a shopping list… and stick to it.

You’ll keep yourself from buying all of the unnecessary stuff if you do this.

Stop Eating Out

Eating out at restaurants is one of those things that doesn’t seem like it costs that much for a meal, but it slowly adds up.

If you go out for lunch, it’s usually going to cost around $6-7. But if you make your food at home, you could easily make that $6-7 dollars last for a whole week of lunches.

If you work, it’s hard to go home and cook dinner. One way to help is to meal prep your food. On Sunday, or whatever day you prefer, prepare your food for the week so all you have to do is heat it up and you’re ready to go.

Buy a Water Bottle

Going back to my story earlier, buying individual waters can get expensive. You’re paying a dollar at minimum per water bottle when you could get a pack of 36 for $5.

But there’s a way you can save even more money. I bought myself a water bottle that has saved me a good chunk of money over time. Instead of buying so many packs of water, I just fill it up in our filtered sink.

You’re not only saving money, but saving plastic as well!

Free Entertainment

If you usually have plans every weekend to go shopping or go to the movies, cut that out. That is so expensive, and if you do that every weekend it really adds up.

If you look hard enough, there are plenty of free things you can do for fun. You could go play a sport, go for a hike, or have a picnic. Go search free things to do in your area that you could check out!

Check Your Subscriptions

You could be paying for subscriptions and not even realize it. Or you could be paying for subscriptions that you’re not really using enough to get your money’s worth.

Go through all of your subscriptions and see if there’s anything worth cutting. We recently cut off our cable because we only use streaming services now.

You might be surprised by the monthly payments you could cut out.

Use Coupons

If you plan on eating out or going grocery shopping, check and see if there are any coupons for something you plan on getting.

Coupons seem like they don’t save that much money and can be a headache, but over time they can save you quite a bit.

Some of the best websites for finding coupons are Groupon, Coupons, and Swagbucks (get a bonus if you sign up using this link).

Coupon Browser Extensions

Even using the above websites, coupons can be hard to find. This is where a browser extension can come in.

If you do a lot of online shopping and want to save money, but you’re sick of searching through pages of coupons only to find that they don’t work or they’re expired, you can user a browser extension to help.

My favorite is Honey.

Check your Bills

If you haven’t already, you should be checking the companies you use for things like utilities and car insurance. Check around to get quotes and see if you’re actually getting the best deal.

You could be paying more for your bills than you really need to and who wants that?

Use Cashback Apps

There are apps that will reward you for shopping. My favorite one that I started using a few months ago is Ibotta.

All you have to do is take a picture and upload the receipt to the app. You can buy certain things that will give you cashback. You get .10 cents every time you upload a receipt, plus you can get up to $5 back per grocery.

Start a Side Hustle

My favorite way to save money is to start a side hustle. I personally make an extra $250 a month working just one hour a day.

You can sign up for this side hustle to make extra money here (it’s super easy).

There are so many side hustle jobs you can do. Even if you don’t make a lot, you can use that extra money for gas, bills, or a shopping trip.

Here are some other side hustles you can do to make extra money

InboxDollars– Watch videos, take surveys, or play games to earn cash. Get a $5 bonus when you sign up today!

Swagbucks– Get bonus $$$ when you sign up today.

Avoid Sales

That one might sound a little crazy, especially if you love to shop. But this is one of the main money-saving tips I swear by.

But if you want to save money, you can’t just cave in for every little sale. If you were going to get whatever is on sale anyway, go for it. If you didn’t plan on getting it, don’t get it.

You might be thinking that you’re saving money by getting it on sale.

If you’re only buying something because it’s on sale, are you really saving money?

You’re paying more than what you would have if you didn’t get it, and I’m telling you if you’re only getting it because it’s on sale, you probably don’t need it.

DIY Projects

You can save a lot of money with do-it-yourself projects.

You can make your own cleaning supplies, furniture, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

Another plus is that making your own things can be good for the environment.

Thrift Shop

If you ever do feel the urge to shop, try thrift shopping instead!

You can find some really good stuff a lot cheaper than you could shopping at regular stores.

Let me know if you use any of these money-saving tips, and don’t forget to pin it for later!

The post Money-Saving Tips to Save Thousands Each Year appeared first on Thriving Wonders.