How to Save Money on Almost Anything you can Buy

Saving money is one of the most essential parts of your life. At times we have so many expenses that we cannot save money easily. However, for every way to spend money there are just as many ways to save.

There are some practical ways by which you can save money on any purchase you do.

Shopping Tricks

Whenever you go shopping, never overpay or buy extra food such as vegetables, fruits or any other groceries. For the clothes section, you should always wait for the sale as this makes the prices lesser than the original. Even you should always negotiate for whatever you buy, if possible.

Use Coupons

You should always check the available coupons for the purchases you make. It will help you to save a lot of money. It’s better to make a list of the best coupons and discount sites and apps to use everywhere you go.

Entertainment for Children

Most children can be entertained at a very cheap rate. Play basketball in the backyard, go to the park, plant in a garden, teach them to ride a bike etc. Rather than buying expensive toys these activities are healthy and fun at the same time.

Realize that what your kids want most of all is your time, not the toys, and you’ll find money in your pocket and happiness in your heart.

• Borrow books, movies, and CDs from the library.
• Read your favourite magazines online instead of buying the actual copy.
• Use a service like Netflix to watch movies.
• Eat out less.
• Go to restaurants that offer a free meal on your birthday.
• Play board games.
• Use an Entertainment Book.
• Go out for lunch instead of dinner.
• Go out for dessert instead of dinner.
• After eating at a restaurant, bring home leftovers to have for lunch the next day.
• Watch movies at home instead of the theatre.
• Eat out at “kids eat free” restaurants.
• Have a few drinks at home before going out.
• Go to a bar/club that doesn’t have a cover charge.
• When you have people over for dinner or lunch, make it a potluck.

Avoid Outings

Instead of eating fast food or just some prepackaged dinner when you get home, try making some healthy and easy on pocket meal. It will take only an hour for each weekend, and can leave you with a ton of cheap and easy dinner and snack options for the following week. For those times, when you can’t avoid dining out, maximize your savings with restaurant coupons and rewards that gives a bonus for restaurant spending.

Vacations

If you want to go on a holiday which sounds expensive, then you save money by searching for the cheap countries which are not that expensive compared to others. Then book a flight by doing some research and early as well, which comparatively is less costly than the urgent ones.

Also, check the dates of your trip and see if the price would go down if you tweaked the dates a bit. 

Cards

By using a travel – friendly card, you can gain free entry to top visitor attractions, discounts at restaurants and shops, skip the waiting options at busy attractions, free public transportation, and even free guidebooks.

You can also use reward or discount by paying through your credit card in some places and some shops where they offer cash back reward. It means you will get a specific percent of cashback instantly on some purchases.

Refurbished Gadgets

Most of the people want to buy new gadgets, but that newness will cost you a lot. Then why not purchase used or refurbished options first? Buying an open-box TV will cost you a lot less compared to a new one. Likewise, purchasing a refurbished laptop can potentially save you hundreds of dollars, especially on a brand that usually doesn’t go on sale. These refurbished or open-box items are just like the brand new ones, complete with the usual company warranties.

In any case, buying something older whether it’s used or new will save you money, especially where technology is concerned.

Compare Prices

Nowadays, in every shop or websites, they have similar products to sell, which means that you can compare the prices easily. It is beneficial as wherever we get the product at a lesser price; we can choose that store for shopping.

To save time and money, you should rely on price comparison search tools to help you get what you want for the lowest price.  You can log onto any trusted search tool, type in what you want and within seconds find what you are looking for and make the purchase.

Check Reviews When Buying

When customers give reviews, they are telling other potential customers how good or bad the company and their product is. It helps you to understand how exactly the product is quality wise. It will lead you to decide whether to buy it or not. It saves you time and money because reviews are equal to word of mouth advertising.

 Install CFLs or LEDs wherever it makes sense.

Energy-efficient light bulbs might cost a bit more initially, but they have a much longer life than normal incandescent bulbs and use far less electricity. It might be hard to decide which type to use, but either type of bulb will probably be an upgrade from whatever you’re using now.

CFLs, which use a quarter of the energy of incandescent bulbs and last for years, are the next cheapest option after traditional bulbs. But they also have some drawbacks: They take a while to warm up to full brightness, and they also contain a small amount of mercury.

Meanwhile, LEDs are more expensive. However, they’re getting cheaper all the time, and they are easily the best lighting option available: They light up instantly, are efficient as CFLs, produce a warm glow without getting hot to the touch, and can last for decades.

You don’t even need to replace every bulb in the house at once. Even swapping just your four or five most-used light bulbs can save you $45 or more a year.

Install a programmable thermostat.

Installing a programmable thermostat is a no-brainer if you want to cut down on energy usage while you’re not at home, or simply regulate the temperature in your home. By setting it to heat or cool your home at certain times, you can ensure that your utilities aren’t being wasted while you’re at work or asleep – and save money in the process.

Buy quality appliances that will last.

It’s worth the time to do a bit of research when you buy a new appliance. A reliable, energy-efficient washer and dryer might cost you quite a bit now, but if it continually saves you energy and lasts for 15 years instead of five, you’ll save significant money in the long run.

When you need to buy an appliance, do research: Start with back issues of Consumer Reports at the library. An hour’s worth of research can easily save you hundreds of dollars. Additionally, consider utilizing a professional to install appliances to ensure they are installed properly and will last in the long-run.

If you know you’re going to spend a significant amount and you already have the cash on hand, you might want to consider applying for a credit card with a generous signup bonus. Buying a $2,000+ refrigerator can help hit that spending minimum quickly. It’s a simple way to earn some money on a purchase you were going to make anyway.

Clean or change out your car’s air filter.

A clean air filter can improve your gas mileage by up to 7%, saving you more than $100 for every 10,000 miles driven in an average vehicle. Cleaning your air filter is easy to do in just a few minutes – just follow the instructions in your vehicle’s manual and you’re good to go.

If yours is beyond help, also consider changing it out for a new one. At most stores, a new air filter goes for less than $10.

Make your own gifts instead of buying stuff from the store.

If you want to save money while also giving generously, creating your own homemade gifts is one way to accomplish both goals. You can make food mixes, candles, fresh-baked bread or cookies, soap, and all kinds of other things at home quite easily and inexpensively.

These make spectacular gifts for others because they involve your personal touch — something you can’t buy from a store — and quite often they’re consumable, meaning they don’t wind up filling someone’s closet with junk. Even better – include a personal handwritten note with the gift.

Plan your meals around your grocery store’s flyer.

Instead of creating your meal plan out of thin air, plan all your meals around what’s on sale in your grocery store’s flyer. Look at the biggest sales, then plan recipes based on those ingredients and what you have on hand. Do that for a few months and you’ll find yourself with a much smaller food bill than you’re used to.

Do a price comparison – and find a cheaper grocery store.

Most of us get in a routine of shopping at the same grocery store, and we may not even realize that we’re not getting the best deal. Fortunately, there’s a simple way to find the cheapest store around. Just keep track of the 20 or so things you buy most often, then shop for these items at a variety of stores. Eventually, one store will come out on top for your purchases – just make that one your regular shopping destination and you’ll automatically save money.

Make your own when you can.

Before I tried it myself, I thought making homemade bread would just be a complicated waste of time. But after I tried it, I found that it was pretty easy and it was actually much cheaper, healthier, and tastier than buying a loaf from the store.

We rarely ever buy bread at the store these days, mainly because the bread I make is not only cheaper, but much better too. Figuring out what you can make it home is a great way to save some money – and learn new skills along the way.

Avoid stress-spending.

It’s easy to justify spending money just to wind down from a stressful day at work. However, it’s rarely a good idea. Instead of buying things you don’t need to make yourself feel better, it might be wise to find other ways to de-stress instead.

Exercise is always a good option, as is meditation and even a good old-fashioned nap. Read, watch movies, or work in your yard if you’re stressed out. Spending money won’t reduce your stress in the long run.

 Share your dreams with the people you love.

This seems like an odd way to save money, but think about it. If you spend time with the people you love the most and come to some consensus about your dreams, it becomes easy for you all to plan for it. Set a big, audacious goal together and encourage each other to be financially fit – soon, you’ll find you’re doing it naturally and your dreams are coming closer than ever.

Do a “maintenance run” on your appliances.

Check them to make sure there isn’t any dust clogging them and that they’re fairly clean. Look behind the appliances, and use your vacuum to gently clear away dust. Check all of the vents, especially on refrigerators, dryers, and heating and cooling units. The less dust you have blocking the mechanics of these devices, the more efficiently they’ll run (saving you on your energy bill) and the longer they’ll last (saving you on replacement costs).

Cancel unused club memberships.

Are you paying dues at a club that you never use? Like, for instance, a gym membership or a country club membership? If you’re on the fence about any of your memberships or find that you’re not using them very often, cancel them. Remember, you can always renew the membership at a later date if it turns out that you actually do miss it.

For heaven’s sake, quit smoking.

If you’re still a smoker, you have to know by now that your habit is not only expensive, but potentially deadly as well. If you want to add years to your life and save a boatload of money, the easiest thing to do is to stop smoking altogether. You can quit cold turkey, try some of the many anti-smoking products that are out there, or switch to an electronic cigarette to buy some time. Whichever path you choose, you will be much better off.

Make a quadruple batch of a casserole.

We all know that casseroles are nice, easy dishes to prepare. The next time you make a casserole, make four batches of it and put the other three in the freezer. Then, when you need a quick meal for the family, you can grab one of those ready-made casseroles and just heat it up.

Preparing a few at once allows you to buy the ingredients in bulk, which can mean additional savings. Meanwhile, having several casseroles in the freezer makes it less likely that you’ll turn to fast food or junk food when you’re in a hurry.

Turn off the lights.

Keeping the lights on in your home may not be expensive on a per-watt basis, but it sure does cost money over time. To save as much as you can, turn off lights any time you leave your house – or even when you leave the room. Turning off lights when you have plenty of natural sunlight can also help keep your electric bill down over time. The bottom line: If you aren’t using a light, turn it off.

Swap books, music, and DVDs on the Internet or at the library.

You can very easily swap the books, CDs, and DVDs you’ve grown bored with online. Just clean out your media collection, and trade them with others online using sites like PaperBackSwap. If you live near a library that loans DVDs in addition to books, you’ll be even better off. The more you can borrow and barter with others, the more money you’ll save over time.

Maximize yard sales.

Yard sales are a great place to score awesome deals on items you need anyway – think housewares, shoes, clothing, or even sports equipment. The key is, you have to be careful not to use the low prices found at sales as an excuse to buy things you don’t need. At your next garage sale, limit yourself to items that were already on your list of things to buy.

Move bank accounts to take advantage of perks and earn more interest

If you’re paying a monthly fee for your checking or savings account, you would benefit from researching some of newest banking offers out there. Not only do some of the best banks offer sign-up bonuses simply for opening an account and setting up direct deposit, but some offer attractive interest rates to new customers as well.

It’s true that interest rates are not what they once were, but it’s still worth a look. Some of the best free checking accounts and best savings accounts can be found online. Here’s a guide on how to make that switch.

Bottom Line

The most significant way to save money every day is by making small changes in your purchases. These small changes generally don’t take much effort but can save you hundreds every year. Anyone can use these tips, and more importantly, they don’t force you to make changes to your lifestyle.