Review These Tried and True Ways to Save Money:
In this article, we present five ways for you to save money.
1. Keep Track Of Your Accounts
One of the easiest ways to save is to know how much you have to work with as far as your finances. Budgeting is an important part of managing your finances properly, and keeping track of the money coming in and going out can be made easy using tools and resources such as You Need A Budget.
This is one of the simplest budget systems to set up. You can link your bank account or just input the information. It helps you to keep your money divided into different buckets – like housing, clothes, food, auto, etc. You’ll be more likely to hit your savings goals if you have a tool that helps you manage your spending
However, no matter what your plans are, having a budget is the best way to start tracking your accounts and finding more money to save each year.
Once you’ve got a handle on how much you have to work with, you can either stop spending money on unnecessary items, find ways to lower your bills and expenses, or even make plans to pay off debt so you have more money to add to your savings.
2. Know Your Credit Score
You most likely already know that having poor credit can affect you in many ways, including higher interest rates and paying more money towards deposits. The first step to knowing whether or not you need to be improving your credit is to check your credit. You can check your credit for free once a year, with all three bureaus.
If you know that you have to improve your credit score, there are many ways to do so. If you have errors on your credit score that are hindering you (and costing you more money in the long run), it’s important to get those errors removed.
3. Save On Insurance
Don’t let health insurance, high prescription costs and taking care of your health keep you from saving.
Save on Prescriptions
Blink Health is the new way for all Americans to save on their prescriptions. And it’s a FREE service. Their technology lets all patients, regardless of insurance status, access lower prices on more than 15,000 medications. Simply pay for your prescription online at Blink Health and pick them up at their preferred pharmacy. Blink Health is accepted at the most popular pharmacies in the country such as Walgreens, Walmart, Rite Aid, CVS, and most independents.
Save on Health & Life Insurance
While health insurance premiums continue to grow, and deductibles seem extreme, there are still ways to save on taking care of yourself, and your family. First, don’t forget that you can always compare health and life insurance plans using tools like PolicyGenius.
We like PolicyGenius because they are not just a lead generation website. They are a full-fledged insurance brokerage company. They represent dozens of different insurance companies. Plus they make it super easy for you to compare prices.
They can help you save money with a variety of insurance coverages including:
– Life
– Health
– Disability
– Long-Term Disability
– Renters
– Auto
– Pet
Check with PolicyGenius and see how much they can save you.
Save on Vision Insurance
Need more than just health insurance? You can also check out VSP for vision plans that fit in your budget and needs. Their average member saves about $200 per year. Getting started is fast and easy. You can enroll online in minutes and start using your benefits within just five business days. You’ll be able to save money on eye exams, frames, lenses, contacts, and more.
Tax-Free Medical Savings
Also, remember that you can save money in a Health Savings Account (HSA) if your insurance policy qualifies. This is pre-taxed money that you save in an account that you can then withdraw for expenses such as deductibles, co-pays, and more. Because the money isn’t taxed, it can lower your overall cost of medical expenses, which means more money that you can add to savings instead.
4. Side Hustle / Work On Your Own Time
If you still find it hard to save more money, you may need to bring in more income. That doesn’t mean you have to get a second job, or even a part-time job. Side hustles are becoming popular and for good reason. They are flexible and allow you to earn more money on your own time.
Some popular side hustles include:
Drive Other People in Your Car
Becoming an Uber driver. Once you sign up and download the app, you can start earning money as often as you want by just driving people in your car. It’s not uncommon for Uber drivers to earn between $20 to $35 per hour when they are driving.
Rent Your Room or Your House
Whether you’ve got a guest room, guest house or rental property, you can be making extra income with short term rentals through Airbnb. The listing process is very easy and the fees that AirBnB takes from each rental are very small. The price for renting a room varies from between $20 to $75 per night – depending on time of year, amenities and location. Whole house rentals can range from $100 per day to more than $1000.
Selling Old Technology
If you have old cell phones, tablets, computer or gaming devices you can turn them into cash through Gazelle. Gazelle buys old technology. Just log into their site, tell them what you have and they’ll make an offer. They’ll pay for shipping and pay you with Amazon Gift Card, PayPal or check.
Now, these side hustles won’t get you rich any time soon, but they will allow you to make more money, and save more money.
A great rule of thumb is to live off of the money you make at your current job and save the side hustle money. That way, you aren’t having to allocate your regular funds towards saving more money, but you also aren’t tempted to spend all of your side hustle earnings.
5. Start/Continue Investing
If you’re late on the investing train, now is the perfect time to start. The best place to start is by setting up your own retirement plan. Even if you don’t plan on retiring, or if you’re currently retired, investing is the ultimate way to save money, plan for the future, and keep more money in your pocket. Investing even allows you the opportunity to save money on your taxes.
Investing using tools like WealthFront and Betterment, and of course, taking advantage of maxing out your Roth IRA and 401(k) are all smart bets. Investing doesn’t have to be hard, or scary, and is better than just a typical savings account, as your money gets the opportunity to grow, which means more money for you when you’ll really need it.
6. Put It On Autopilot
It’s hard to miss the money that you didn’t even know was in your account. By setting up an automatic savings schedule, you can avoid mindlessly spending money or forgetting to save money that you could have.
No matter the route you choose, whether through saving per paycheck or saving each time you swipe your card putting your savings on autopilot is one of the easiest ways to save more money this year, without even realizing that you’re saving it.
Saving more money doesn’t have to difficult, and it’s easy to save money based on your lifestyle and what works best for you.
Check out this list of the higher interest paying bank accounts.
