Save Money Live Better With These 17 Money Saving Hacks

Do you want to save money live better and finally get rid of all that debt getting you down and holding you back? Do you get to the end of the month and find there was nothing left?

With so many bills to pay, it’s a struggle to live comfortably, let alone save! It can sometimes feel like an endless cycle of working, spending and feeling bad that you can’t’ save.

According to the Huffington Post, half of twenty-somethings have no savings

Don’t worry, I used to feel the same, but I found 17 quick strategies that helped me boost my savings.

If you are looking for other ways to save money, read these articles:

 

Budget Travel Tips That Will Save You $1,000

How to Reduce Credit Card Debt (5 Effective Methods)

How to Save Thousands of Dollars on Your Mortgage

Best Frugal Living Tips To Help You Reduce Debt

 

Also, here are saving articles for travelers:

 

How to Study Abroad For FREE!

Free accommodation for travelers

 

Save Money Live Better- 17 Effective Strategies

 

1. Cancel your gym membership and use free exercise tools (or get paid to exercise
2. Save money live better with lower bank fees
3. Never buy books, rent or download them
4. Earn money from your car
5. Repair clothes instead of buying new ones
6. Get creative with gifts instead of buying them
7. Become a rate player
8. Take up a side hustle
9. Choose something to save for and plan
10. Earn money from your bank account
11. Automate your savings
12. Plan your meals
13. Get on the homemade coffee wagon
14. Cancel subscriptions
15. If you really love it, you will come back for it!
16. Plan free activities
17. Live on one income

  

1.Cancel your gym membership and use free exercise tools (or get paid to exercise)

Exercise is important and I used to justify my expensive gym membership because I thought, you can’t put a price on your health.

Turns out, you can and it’s a lot if you are paying pricey membership fees.

You can save money live better by canceling your gym membership and exercising for free.

It’s one of the best ways to save money on a tight budget

Instead, you can take up virtual fitness training or fitness apps, which are all free.

 

FREE Fitness Apps

• Abs Workout– This helped me turn my 6 packs of flab into what looks like a faint outline of abs. Abs Workout divides workouts into 4-8 minutes, so it’s more manageable.

     You will be grating cheese off your abs in no time

 

• Gaia yoga-Super cool mindfulness app which also helps you with yoga.

• Nike Running– Allows you to track your running and you often get motivational speeches from celebrities after your workout. Kevin hart is my favourite- he tells me I’m awesome all the time! Teee heee 🙂

• Down Dog– Another free yoga app which has 30,000 yoga poses, so you can stretch like a pro.

• 7 Minute Workout– Helps train you by planning 7-minute body workouts. Great to get the heart rate up and start sweating like a warthog.

FREE Fitness Videos on YouTube

I have discovered fantastic FREE YouTube fitness channels that help you work out from the comfort of your own home.

 

A few really good ones I follow are Boho Beautiful and Yoga with Adrienne.

They both provide videos on specific issues like back pain, yoga for stress, tight joints and they are all FREE.

 

Get Paid to Exercise 

 

Sweatcoin will pay for you to exercise. For every step you take, you earn sweat coins, which can then purchase fitness products.

It is an excellent way to save money and have good health.

 

2. Save money live better with lower bank fees

 

Have you ever sent money aboard or taken out cash from an ATM when you travel?

 Do you know how much you pay in bank fees?

 Too much is the answer!

I used to work in a bank, and I know the bank earned lots of money from bank fees.

Money that you could save, invest, or even buy super cool toys for your cat.

Cheaper and safe alternatives to send money internationally are TransferWise and Xendpay.

Also, if you want to take money out of an ATM abroad, get a free debit card with Revolut, Monzo, or TransferWise, as they allow you to withdraw money abroad for cheap.

Please note*  All the money providers I recommend are protected by the government and are legitimate.

 

 

3. Never buy books, rent or download them

Reading is incredibly important. It helps you open your mind to new perspectives and ideas.

I would have never learned to quit my job and work online if hadn’t read about how to do it.

However, you can save money live better by not buying hard copy books.

Instead, you can rent them from the library or download a cheaper version of the book to your kindle or phone.

I saved lots of money buying books this way.

 

 

4-Earn money from your car

 

• Rent your car out

Cars normally cost money but you can actually make them work for you, so you can save money live better.

You can earn extra cash by renting your car out with these car rental apps.

• Turo
• Getaround
• Hyrecar

The car rental apps insure your car so if anything happens you will be compensated for any damage.

 

• Drive people around

You can save money live better and earn money in your own free time by driving people to their destinations.  

Two companies that pat you to use your car is :

 

• Uber
• Lyft

Tip– Think about peak times when people need a car.

It is normally busier on Friday and Saturday nights, during concert events, trips to and from airports.

If you can make yourself available during those times you are most likely to be booked.

 

• Rent your car space out

If you use your car to go to work .. there is an empty car space just waiting to make you money.

You can rent your car space out on these apps :

 

• Parkpnp
• Bookgaragetime
• Parkme
• Justpark
• Parkwhiz

• Use your car as an advertisement

Your car is a prime piece of advertising property. Think of how many people see your car in rush hour traffic every day.

You may as well save money live better and earn money from your car by car wrapping.

Car wrapping involves you placing advertisements from companies on your car.

You can earn up to $1000 doing it!

 

Her is a list of companies that pay you to advertise on your car:

 

• Carvetise
• Wrapify
• Freecarmedia –Canadian
• Adstogo– Canadian
• Pay Me For Driving
• Sticker Ride
• Car Bucks
• Referral Cars
• Car Quids

• Save money live better by carpooling

You can save on commuting costs by carpooling. It reduces fuel or transport costs.

The best part is, some of these carpooling apps even match drivers and passengers according to musical preference.

Here is a list of ride-sharing apps.

• Treesforcars
• Zimride
• Gocarma
• Side

5.Repair clothes instead of buying new

Are you prone to buying new clothes every time something rips?

You can save money and live better and learn how to sew with this tutorial

Sewing by hand is super easy and cost-effective, it has saved me hundreds over the years.

 

6. Get creative with gifts instead of buying them

Buying gifts is a nice idea, but it turns into an expensive one if you add all the gifts up.

You could make homemade gifts using these 100 homemade gift ideas

Alternatively, you could give them the gift of labor and offer to babysit or make them dinner.

You can make cute vouchers and write your gift of labor on it.

I cut voucher hearts for Valentine’s Day and offered little gifts of labor, like a head massage, folding all the laundry and cooking a three-course meal 🙂

 

7. Become a rate player

A what?

A rate player is only faithful to the best interest rate offered to them by banks.

So, whichever bank offers them the lowest interest on credit cards and the highest interest on savings- they will follow.

Sometimes it’s only a matter of asking for the best interest rates.

Just call your bank up and ask for a better rate.

I used to get calls like this all the time when I worked in banking and was given the discretion to raise to reduce interest rates for certain customers, but ONLY if they asked for it.

 

 

• Make a financial plan

Write down all your expenses. Then work out the expenses that are necessary to live and which are nice to have. For instance:

Needs

     Rent

     Mobile phone

     House bills- electricity, water, WIFI

     Transport

     Groceries

 Wants

    Manicure

    Meals out

    Activities i.e. yoga, dance classes, football training 

Now it’s time to analyze your spending. What expenses can we cut down on?

 It’s unrealistic to cut out all the wants in your life. Allocate a maximum of 30% of your salary for wants in the month.

You can then choose between them every month!

 For example, if I want to have a fancy manicure, I will need to miss out on having a nice dinner out one weekend to make up for it.

So, it should look something like this:

Income

–

Necessary expenses

–

Wants (max 30% of your salary)

=

Savings

 

Tip – Use the free Excel Budget planner, I downloaded it for free!

 

10. Earn money from your bank account

 

• Open a separate savings account that pays interest

 

Open a savings account that pays interest on savings. Preferably one that is a fixed or notice account.

 

A what?

 

 This means that you agree to save the money in the bank and cannot withdraw it before a date agreed.

 

For example, I put my savings in a fixed deposit account that lasted 6 months. It paid 4.25% on anything I saved. #freemoney!

 

For 6 months, I couldn’t withdraw the money without incurring a penalty fee and I earned interest on the savings.

 

After 6 months, I could choose to save it for longer or withdraw it.

 

If you are worried about not having access to your money, have a fixed and regular savings account.

 

One which you can’t touch, and one which you can access without penalty if you need to.

 

 

• Tax-free savings accounts

 

It’s important to note that all the interest you receive on your savings will be taxed, as it is classified as income

 

Solution: Certain countries offer tax-free/ lower-taxed savings accounts. For instance, in the UK, there is the ISA (Individual Savings Accounts), in NZ the PIE (Portfolio Investment Entity ).

 

Ask your bank if they offer tax free savings accounts and read this article on how to get a tax free savings account

 

11.Automate your savings

Make saving easy by automating your savings. You should look into these Money Apps which round up any purchases you make to the nearest dollar amount.

So let’s say you spend $2.65 on a croissant every morning. These apps will automatically transfer $0.35 into your savings account.

Ps. Acorn and Robinhood also help with micro-investing i.e. small investments for those who want to invest but don’t have large chunks for money.

 Do your research and take an interest in your money and how it can work for you.

 

12.Plan your meals

Apart from rent, spending on food was my biggest expense. I would buy expensive, healthy ingredients’ or meals out.

I justified it with ‘ I’m nourishing my body, you can’t put a price on your health!’.

Actually, you can.

Every Sunday, I planned my meals. I then bought food in bulk which made it cheaper.

I also used the same ingredient for different dishes. E.g.; if you make roast chicken with carrots and potatoes one day, you can make a vegetable stir- fry with carrots and potatoes another day!

I also started making bigger portions for dinner, and used that for my lunch! The key here is not to compromise on eating healthy food, but planning the ingredients so you avoid nipping to the shops every other day.

Here is what my meal plan looked like:

 

Tip – Try Tesco’s meal free plan. I also use BBC Food’s meal plans for healthy simple meal ideas.

Tip 2- If you want insight into how to implement zero waste with your food, read this zero waste food edition article. 

 

13. Cancel subscriptions

Sit down for one hour and unsubscribe to all the online shopping emails.

You don’t need any reminders about discounts or sales- the objective here is to SAVE, not have distractions that trigger your spending.

Goodbye H&M, Zara and Sephora, HELLO cash for my future house!

 

14. Get on the homemade coffee wagon

To many, coffee is the holy grail. Its bittersweet liquid energy gets us through the day.

Fine.

 Invest in a coffee maker and enjoy your coffee at home!

 The average coffee price is $3.12 ( or $6.24 if you live in Copenhagen O_O), which totals $811 in one year if you drink one coffee per day from Monday to Friday!

Get used to drinking good coffee at home. Buy a Nespresso coffee machine, I think it works out to be about $1 per coffee. #bargain

 

 

15. If you really love it, you will come back for it!

 

The best way I avoid impulse spending is to wait and buy it in 2 weeks if I really need it.

 I tell myself – if I like it, I will come back for it!

 And I normally don’t return to buy it, which means I didn’t really need it.

It also helps to calculate how many hours of work the purchase represents.

It will make you question whether the item is worth your hard-earned money.

I also avoid certain places where I regularly spend money. For example, I refuse to enter Decathlon unless it’s strictly necessary.

 A cheeky browse always ends up in me walking out with 2 new hobbies and all the gear that comes along with it O_O

 

16.Plan free activities

It’s easy to spend money when you are bored.

Solution: Find and plan free activities to do in your free time!

Instead of going to the cinema, host a classic movie marathon where everyone brings one item of food.

Or instead of going for your usual brunch spot, pack a picnic and find a cool spot to enjoy the day with your loved ones.

The possibilities are endless 🙂

 

 

17. Live on one income

This is an old fashioned trick which still works!

I know quite a few friends and family who have chosen to live off one salary and save the other.

 This is relevant for couples, but to be quite honest, initially, the idea of not having my own money worried me. 

Then I realized the key is to use the first salary to pay all the necessary monthly expenses such as rent, bills, etc.  Each couple then gets their own spending money.

They can choose to spend it on whatever they want or save it. It’s your own money to play with.

 

Saving isn’t as far out of your reach as you think, it’s like any other goal you want to achieve in life. Taking control of your finances will help you save money live better and hit your saving goals. You visualize it, make a plan and go for it!

 

If you need more insight into how to make extra money, read these articles:

 

25 Quick Ways to Make Extra Money

How To Make $1,000 FAST: 6 Simple Tips

11 Weird Ways To Make $200 FAST

 

And if you to learn a new side hustle to earn money in your free time, these may be useful:

 

15 Best Stay At Home Jobs

How to Become an Online Teacher (and earn $6,000 per month!) 

How to Become an Online Editor (9 Easy Steps)

 How to Become a Well-Paid Freelance Writer

How to Become a Virtual Assistant With No Experience

 

 

 

Have I left anything out? Is there anything you do to boost your savings?

Please share it in the comments below!