12 EASY WAYS TO SAVE HUNDREDS EACH MONTH

I promise that these easy ways to save money will NOT include playing online games to earn money from home, like so many other blogs try to get you to download. It also will NOT include extreme penny pincher tips like wearing two different sets of one legged panty hose to stretch them farther (you would understand that tip if you read the same books I did in my search for ways to come up for air while drowning in bills and debt).

This also will not be a How To Budget, or Saving for Retirement lesson.  Though both ARE extremely important, I will leave that particular subject to the experts like Dave Ramsey.

*Disclaimer- As an Amazon Associate, I earn money from qualifying purchases.

THIS post, however, IS geared toward the average family living paycheck to paycheck trying to get out from under the burden of debt, looking to be able to breathe freely and gain as close to a debt free quality of life as possible for their family. Before looking for quick ways to earn money, let’s start by not flushing the money we already have and work so hard for, down the toilet.

I fully understand that not ALL of these tips will apply to everyone’s situation, but I hope that you will find some of them useful in your daily life and that they will serve as a blessing to your home. For the tips that don’t apply to you, I hope they at least inspire you to think outside of the box and motivate you to focus on a financial goal and run straight at it.

Keep in mind, even if something saves “just” $5, that $5 adds up. Saving even “just” $5 a week, gives $20 for the month which could be and probably in most cases SHOULD be an extra credit card payment.

In fact, I’m going to challenge you. In the age of instant electronic payments this should be very doable for most. Pick a bill any bill, ideally your smallest medical, credit card, or loan bill. Each time you save $5 or more take a moment, even if it’s while you’re sitting on the toilet, to throw on that savings as an extra payment to that particular bill that you have in mind. I can’t wait to hear the success stories of when and how that bill got paid off faster than you ever thought it would!

LET’S GET SAVING!!

12 Easy Ways To Save Money

1.GOOD RX

I should probably save this first one for last given that it definitely won’t apply to all families but due to the amount that it could save MANY families or someone that you may know (PLEASE spread the word) I can’t hold this one back. Our family personally saves over $700 a month with this first money saving tip.

Good RX is discount program that is free to use and you don’t need to meet any financial guidelines to qualify. Anyone could sign up for free and use their website or app (I love the app!) to instantly compare prices at different major pharmacies (CVS, Walgreens, Walmart, Price Chopper, etc…) for your medication at significantly discounted prices. (Example: Abilify out of pocket at Stop & Shop is $927, using Good RX there it’s $14 for the exact same pills. At Costco $9.99, At Walmart $18.10, and CVS even with Good RX $218.79.

See the cost instantly across stores and pick where to put your money and how much to spend. Metformin goes from $40 down to $4. You get the idea. ) It’s insane to see the price variations and the fact that they could even sell pills for 10 bucks that supposedly should cost over $900 just shows that we are being completely taken advantage of by this industry.

This doesn’t work for all medications but worth a shot to do a quick search on it for whatever you or a family member is taking and definitely something to keep in mind for future use if you ever have a need for a prescription. If you have insurance you could use it as well in place of your insurance IF the price is lower. I can’t say enough that I think this option is worth every minute of your time to look into if your family has even one prescription.

If you get medication on a regular basis this has the true potential of being a giant game changer financially for your family regardless if you have health insurance or not. ANYWAY!  This is one of those “sounds too good to be true” type things but I have used it for several years and swear by it.

2.Car/Home Insurance

If you own a home or drive a car this one pertains to you. Loyalty does NOT always pay off when it comes to Insurance. Did you know that it’s recommended to compare quotes at least once each year on your insurance?!? Given how fast these two post-covid apocalypse years have gone, I bet the majority of people were not even second guessing their auto insurance policy. Companies rely on us getting too busy with life to question, change, or cancel.

Many if not most ( or perhaps even all) companies offer a discount when you bundle your insurance policies with them, so when getting quotes get them for both your house and car combined if that pertains to you.

Do you even know what you pay for Home Owners Insurance each year?? Silly question to some perhaps, however our Home Ins is paid with our mortgage through an escrow account. So our mortgage payment includes our house, house insurance, as well as our property taxes.

It’s extremely easy to lose track of what portion is getting paid to who and periodically and seemingly random we would get a letter saying that our escrow account needed to increase and our mortgage payment would slightly go up…….and up….and up. This could be due to tax rates going up which happens all the time in Connecticut, or insurance rates going up, or mortgage interest rate going up.

At the time we had Geico auto ins (I never questioned that cute little green Gecko) and received a discount when using them to get our home insurance with another company that they work with. I fully trusted their big name, slogan, and commercials. Well over a few years our home insurance went from $1,000 a year to $14,000 a year. Yes! You read that correctly!

And we had been paying it, struggling with the mortgage, going through our crazy daily lives without realizing what gradually had happened or why!! When I discovered this, I felt so violated (I told them that VERY graphically as well over the phone). The only explanation given was that we had ONE home ins. claim from a bathroom leak, that after our deductible the ins. company literally only paid out $200. So somehow that $200 justified charging us THOUSANDS more each year continually increasing.

I immediately switched to AAA for another bundled plan and was quickly back to paying $1,000 a year for home ins. While there was no retrieving the money lost throughout the years of being robbed, it instantly saved us over $1,000 PER MONTH to make the switch.

3.Think before you Claim!

While we are on the insurance band wagon here….before filing a home insurance claim ask yourself “Is it worth it and is there any way I could make the repair without filing a claim??”.

I was told by an ins. broker that we should think of it as catastrophic insurance only. Big $$$$$ claims for truly major damage like fire, tree taking out a portion of your house, etc…and to never file a claim for something that will cost less than $5,000 to repair (some even say $10,000 ) because it may or may not be worth the increased premium that you will see after making the claim. Now to some families even $2000 worth of damages could seem catastrophic so it really is your decision to weigh, just know the potential repercussions.

4. Auto-Pay (The Good & Bad Kind)

I am typically not a fan of auto payments. I feel like they are too easily forgotten about, could cause over withdrawals on your bank account if not kept track of well, and could cause you to spend more money unnecessarily if you eventually stop using the service……in many but not all cases of course. I find the first and last reasons happening a lot with gym memberships and random subscriptions.

Do you have any Auto-Payments set up for things you never use anymore? No? Are you sure? Are you really REALLY sure? I think it’s best to periodically double check your bank statement. A lot of times people and/or their spouse sign up for Free Trial Memberships then totally forget about them in time to cancel during the trial period. Out of sight, out of mind and two years later you may still be paying for something that you don’t even realize or use.

On the flip side- for larger more important bills Mortgage, Vehicles, Insurance, Cell phone ect.. switching to Auto-pay could save $5-$35 (amounts from personal experience) per month off your bill. That could mean an almost effortless additional credit card payment each month to start getting out of debt quicker. SCORE!

Do you find that you repeatedly remember a particular bill the day AFTER it’s due? CRAP! Another $35 late fee for absolutely no good reason except for loosing track of time. The funds were in your bank account and there was no reason to not pay it but yet here we are again. If that happens to you, AUTO-PAY THAT BABY! Do NOT flush another late fee down the toilet. What a waste of money!

5. Going Paperless

While some may say it’s companies trying to lower their cost (of paper, postage, and manpower ), or responsibly “Going Green”, I tend to believe that the push to go paperless is also companies wanting us to forget about our payments. Maybe it’s the borderline conspiracy theorist in me but they make more money when we forgetfully miss a payment OR if it’s paperless AND auto-pay and they could continually month after month take money from our accounts even if we no longer use their service or product.

Raise your hand if you pay for Hulu, Netflix, Disney+, or any of the zillion streaming services but haven’t watched a show on them for months because you already binge watched the show which was the reason you subscribed in the first place!

HOWEVER, if you could keep track of what’s going out and it’s purpose, and if you mark your calendar or set an alert on your phone, going paperless often has tiny financial perks $1-$5 savings per month with each paperless bill. This will also save you the time and aggravation of shuffling piles of paper in mail drop off spots in your house. Depending on the bill, perhaps go paperless AND auto-pay even.

6. Cell Phone Plan

For most of us, cell phones have become a necessary evil. Treat it like an insurance policy and yearly see if you have the plan that’s right for you.

Ask about any discounts that you might be eligible for. Did you know that some give Veteran’s discounts even to extended family members of the Vet? Do they give a discount depending on who your employer is? How much data do you average? Do you REALLY need that Unlimited Data Plan?

It doesn’t hurt to ask, and may actually save you a lot in the end.

7. TV

HD Antenea, Cable, Dish, or Streaming….which is best for you? I will admit, we are a TV family more than I’m proud of. But I absolutely HATE Cable. A zillion channels to scroll through with only a few that we would watch and a bill that kept climbing and climbing. But luckily there are a few easy ways to save money just by getting the right TV method for your family.

It used to be that Public Television was just a few channels with a lot of static as you adjust wire antennas to try to get a clear picture….well times have changed and so have antennas. There are now HD Antennas for about a $30 one time purchase, which gives you a wide range of free channels and much clearer picture than antennas past bad rap.

Cable/Dish sucked the life (and money!) out of me years ago, with their constant increases in pricing. We only wanted it for a handful of channels and it became obvious they weren’t worth the high cost. If you DO like cable/dish, then a few times each year call your provider and see if there are any specials or discounts that you could take advantage of.

Streaming for us has been a huge money saver. We use Amazon Sticks on the TVS that don’t already have built in streaming channels. We rotate our subscriptions between Netflix, Hulu, Showtime, ect…if a series that we want to watch is available on one of those services, we cancel one subscription to start another. There are no penalties or cancelation fees like with Cable & Dish contracts. Just start and stop as we wish. Usually I could keep us to under $40 each month by doing this which is a ton less than what we were paying the other routes. We have the HD Antenea as well in our living room for sports and local news mainly.

8. Plan out your running around for the week.

Gas at the moment is well over $4.00 a gallon. In some places it’s $5 and even $7 a gallon. Taking a few minutes at the beginning of the week to plan out your running around errands could save you a ton each month just by reducing your gas usage.

I find that if I don’t do this, I become a coo-coo-clock running out every single day and passing places that I had just went to the day prior.  This will not only save you gas money, it will save you time, will reduce the mileage you put on your vehicle, extend periods of time between oil changes, and reduces wear on breaks and tires…….all of which saves YOU $$$$.

9. Meal planning

I know, I know…By this time we ALL know that meal planning prior to shopping could save countless money but sometimes we all need that push of a reminder.  So HERE is your reminder! Don’t grocery shop multiple times a week. Aim to shop once each week WITH a list. This will reduce gas usage, as well as impulse buys.

10. Recognize your habits and plan accordingly

There was a period of time that I had to do a lot of running around each day. If I didn’t make a protein shake in the morning, without a doubt mid-driving I would wind up stopping at a drive thru, out of extreme hunger, and needing an energy boost STAT.

$5-$10 a day adds up quickly! $100-$200 at Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts each month was no big deal, apparently, but yet I was sweating the electric bill and having anxiety over the phone bill. Priorities! (*Smack my head*). 

Take a look in the mirror, be honest with yourself, then make a practical change.

11.Make Leftovers Great Again!

I talk about this in our Homesteading Kickstarter e-Book as well. FREEZE FREEZE FREEZE! Of course, everyone’s home runs differently, however I find in talking to families that most of the wasted money is on food in multiple ways.

Freezing leftovers right away if you know they will not be eaten the next day will benefit you greatly financially as well as your future time.  Sign up for our mailing list and receive our Free e-book Homesteading Kickstarter (title??for a more detailed strategy on how we freeze AND use what we freeze to save greatly both time AND money.

If you aren’t into leftovers or are at a loss for meal ideas try a meal swap with a friend. One day they make a meal that’s easy and cheap to make for more than 1 family (chili, soup, pasta, ect..) and another day you do the same for their family.

12. BBB Bring Back Bartering

A professional excavator and an electrician meet and shakes hands. One walks away with a cleared leveled building site and the other gets an upgraded panel and lights in his barn. BOTH just saved $$$ big time!

Same works for countless other professions. Even if you don’t have a skilled trade.. how about babysitting exchanges, pet sitting, and house sitting services? Hobbies that could benefit others in return?

Errands too! Two friends with busy schedules-one goes to Walmart weekly and the other goes to Trader Joes but both DON’T need to go to both places weekly.

Save time, gas, and money (from gas as well as impulse buys at yet another place during the week) by picking up each other’s needed items at a particular store and saving an added trip for the both of you. Divide and conquer errands.

Ok welp, that’s all the ways off the top of my head to start saving hundreds each month effortlessly and painless…..and remember, whatever amount you save, PUT IT ON A DEBT! 

Let’s Start Taking Back Control Of Our Lives One Bill At A Time!

 Do you have any easy ways to save? Big money saving tips? Not penny pinching ones, those we’ll save for another post, another day. Comment below and share!

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