Like me you’ve probably read every possible tip on ways to save money and found them a bit disappointing. For me the worst tips start with the advice to set up a budget. While budgets are important, I’ve known very few people who didn’t budget.
While there’s no magic formula everyone can follow, we each find ways to make a difference in our situations. I wanted to share ideas that have helped me save money for both short-term and long-term needs over the years.
1 – Split Direct Deposit
If you’re working for a company that offers direct deposit, you can set it up so that part of your paycheck is deposited into a savings account and the rest into a checking account. I took this a step further and had the money deposited into 2 separate banks. Although I can transfer money from one bank account to another, it may take 1-2 days for that money to arrive. So I find it’s less easy for me to spend money I want to save.
If you’re unable to request direct deposit from your employer, or if you are a freelance or self-employed worker, you can still create your own direct deposit arrangements. That is, you can schedule automatic transfers once or twice a month from your checking account to a savings account.
It helped me to have a dedicated business account from which I paid myself.
The idea behind splitting your paycheck is simple: you want to see only as much of your income as you absolutely need to get by until the next time you are paid or pay yourself. While about half of all Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck, anyway, splitting your deposits gives you a little more control over that situation. Your savings deposits can be as small as minimum deposit accepted by your institution, so long as you don’t turn around and take that money out for normal everyday spending.
2 – Use A Credit Card for Expenses
This is risky advice for most of us. When I first began using a credit card for everyday expenses, I found myself spending too much money. It was very easy to think, “I’ll adjust my budget to pay for this extra thing.” That strategy never worked for me.
What did work for me was using my credit card to pay bills that I already knew were coming in advance. And if I was following a grocery budget, I felt comfortable using the credit card to pay those expenses, too.
Of course, the trick is to pay off the credit card every month so you’re not running up interest fees and late charges. That takes discipline and forethought.
One advantage of using credit cards to make planned, budgeted purchases is that many credit cards offer rewards that you can redeem to reduce your account balance. These redemptions don’t count toward your monthly payment obligation, but they do help reduce the overall cost of purchases. Think of them as rebates on your purchasing for which you don’t have to fill out any receipts and receive 1-time use debit cards.
As long as you’re not paying interest and late fees on your purchases it’s okay to use a credit card for your regular expenses. Using a credit card reduces the chance you’ll overdraw your checking account, too.
3 – Use A Buy Now, Pay Later Plan – But Rarely
These plans look like great deals on the surface but if you’re already maxed out on your monthly spending the last thing you need to do is add another obligation to your budget. I’ve found that BNPL plans work best for large expenses I know are coming a few months in advance.
For example, I’ve used the Care Credit card to take care of large veterinarian bills like annual shots and checkups. While some people criticize pet families who struggle to pay their bills and save money, pets do make positive contributions to both our mental and physical well-being. A pet can literally save your life by giving you purpose, companionship, and a reason to take regular walks and do other physical activities.
More importantly, learning to schedule a large BNPL purchase a few months in advance helps you practice good long-term planning. You begin thinking about which bills you can pay off before you incur that next big expense. And the great thing about BNPL purchases is that most of them give you 6 months to pay off the balance before you’re charged interest. Just know that you do pay a little extra up front for this arrangement.
If you are renting, your landlord may have signed you up for a BNPL offer where you can pay half or none of your rent at the start of the month and borrow the payment instead. That’s a very risky option because if you cannot make the rent payment at the start of the month, what guarantee do you have that you’ll be able to pay it off by the end of the month? Do your best to avoid going into debt to pay the rent every month.
4 – Switch To An Annual Pre-paid Phone Plan
I know people who pay $100-200 per month for their phone services. That used to be me as well.
Honestly, I never really needed to use my phone for much. If I’m connected to safe Wi-Fi I can browse the Web or watch videos without using any of my own bandwidth. Hence, I don’t need that much cellular bandwidth.
You can sign up for an annual pre-paid phone plan that costs less than $200 per year – sometimes less than $150 per year. You may even find a deal that includes a modest Samsung or similar phone that has the basic features (5G service, camera, microphone, apps, etc.).
If you’re paying $100 a month for cell phone service and need to save money, I think a prepaid plan is exactly what you need. My provider allows me to buy extra bandwidth, air time, and text messages in low-cost increments.
Although I don’t buy many things from QVC, we’ve found that you can get great deals on Tracfone pre-paid plans through QVC. In fact, it’s been less expensive to buy a new Tracfone every year than to renew the annual plan directly with Tracfone. The deal is even better if you qualify for the Easy Pay plan where they break the purchase price up into multiple monthly charges.
5 – Buy A Digital TV Antenna Booster
Gone are the days of having your kids stand next to the TV to adjust the signal. Digital signal amplifiers or antenna boosters are very inexpensive. You can buy an indoor antenna for a smart TV with a 200-mile range for less than $50. If you can’t afford to pay for cable TV service, or just want to save a lot of money, consider buying a digital indoor antenna for your Smart TV.
In most metropolitan areas you’ll have access to over 100 channels and stations and the picture quality will be comparable to whatever you can get from your cable provider.
You won’t get any streaming apps. You still need an Internet connection for those. But if you’re using a smart TV, a Roku, or an Amazon Firestick then you can watch several streaming apps that provide ad-supported live broadcast channels. Pluto.TV is probably the best known as it’s now owned by Paramount.
Whether you’ve been paying $50 a month for streaming apps or $200 a month for cable, Internet, and phone service, you should be able to save a lot of money by switching to a one-time purchase of an indoor digital antenna.
6 – Exercise for Free
The human body is capable of doing many things. The idea you need a machine to help you exercise is obviously someone’s way of making money. Most people from 12 years to 99 years old will benefit from being their own exercise mavens just by:
Walking 7,000 steps or more per day
Climbing 5 sets of stairs (50 steps) per day
And simple body-weight exercises requiring few or no accessories
You can easily work up to 1-hour workouts in the comfort of your home (or your workplace if they’ll allow it) without paying for gym memberships or hiring personal trainers. You don’t need to engage in risky exercises or dangerous maneuvers. Simple exercises like walking, squatting, pushups, and carrying small loads will help you improve your general fitness, burn calories, and use and tone muscles.
You can also perform basic stretches that help your body maintain its flexibility and resilience.
If you haven’t been paying for gym memberships then you won’t save money when you exercise at home but if you haven’t been exercising then starting now will help you improve your health and ward your body against future chronic issues. You don’t need to worry about rain, hot weather, or cold weather if you do simple workouts at home every day.
And you’ll find you save a lot of time by exercising at home because you’re not driving to the gym or the park.
Use Your Savings To Make Irregular Income Feel More Regular
I believe strongly in the “Pay Yourself First” principle, where you deposit all or part of your income into your savings account. When you’re self-employed or engaged in a lot of freelancing work, it can help to use your savings as an income reservoir, where you make only 1 or 2 scheduled withdrawals a month.
Even if you’re only leaving behind one dollar from your most recent deposits, the idea is to make it a habit to save, save, save so that you never have to think about it. Regardless of how little you leave behind when you begin, as you become accustomed to not spending that money you can gradually increase how much you leave behind.
That may sound ridiculous in times when inflation keeps driving prices up, but your goal should be to develop self-discipline.
Conclusion
Many businesses are now seeking ways to get customers onto recurring billing plans. This is a great model for them but a terrible way for you to manage your life. People forget what they’re paying for. And, sure, personal finance experts tell you to check your bills every month but the more subscription plans you sign up for the more likely you’re going to forget about some recurring charges.
Saving money shouldn’t be an impossible challenge. Most of us make poor spending decisions throughout life. When you learn from these experiences you find ways to manage your money better. There was a time when you had to pay a monthly phone bill. Now you have a choice. There was a time when everyone signed up for gyms because that was where we thought you had to go exercise. Now we know you can exercise wherever you go.
If you’re spending money for any reason other than that you have to, that means you have a choice. Exercise the power of choice and reclaim your personal financial power.