The Young Money Club

Everybody knows that it’s beneficial to have a healthy amount of savings, but more than half of Americans have less than $1,000 in savings and about 34% have none at all. In fact, a survey by the carried out by the Federal Reserve found that 40% of Americans would have trouble covering a $400 emergency.

While it’s common knowledge that saving is a good practice, very few people make it a priority. The majority of people would rather buy the newest iPhone or a pair of shoes than set that money aside for the future.

Regardless of your motivation for wanting to save, whether you are saving for retirement, a rainy day, or even for something you’ve been wanting for a while, these tips should help you get started.

10 Easy Ways to Save Money

Subscriptions 

Now hear me out, I’m sure that box of hand selected coffee beans from Venezuela is a nice surprise every month, but is it really necessary?

Subscriptions are a simple and easy way to cut down on monthly expenses. Go through your bills or bank statement and figure out what subscriptions you have that you don’t use or could life without.

Worst case scenario you can always restart a subscription later if you find yourself missing it.

Save on Utilities

This one is for those who have to cover their own utilities. This includes your electric bill, water bill, gas, etc.

There isn’t much to this one other than just being mindful of your utility use. This could be anything from making sure that all your lights are off when you leave the house to not spending too much extra time in the shower.

It may not seem like much money being saved but an extra $30-$40 a month can definitely help with whatever your saving goals are.

Automate Your Savings

In the current age of online banking and saving apps, it’s incredibly easy to save without even thinking about it. Apps like Acorns and Chime can automatically put away small amounts of money for you every time you swipe your debit card.

These apps do this by rounding up purchases to the nearest dollar or even setting aside a designated amount every time you make a purchase. The equivalent of a few coins may not seem like much but the amounts can definitely add up.

Sign up for Acorns here and receive a 5$ sign up bonus.

Eating in

The title for this one is pretty self explanatory. If you’re one that likes to eat out all the time, eating in can save you a whole lot of money. Depending on how often you typically eat out, eating at home could save you hundreds of dollars each month.

So next time you think about going out to eat, do yourself a favor and head to the grocery store instead.

Creative Dates

For those of you who are in relationships, getting creative with your dates can save a lot of money. Date night doesn’t have to be only movie nights and expensive dinners. Replacing these with cheap or preferably cheap alternatives can lead to more money in your pocket as well as new experiences.

Instead of your typical date night check online for special events in your town. This could be something such as an art festival or a public sporting event like a bike race.

If you can’t find one of those for free you could always go for a hike or have a picnic somewhere.

Make Buying Harder

While most of us like to think of ourselves as reasonable consumers, in reality many of us are impulse buyers. An easy way to stop yourself from buying things is to remove your payment information from all websites.

This forces you to either not buy or think a little bit more before making a purchase.

Buy Generic or Off-Brand Goods

Lets be honest for most goods, the generic alternatives work just fine compared to the name brand goods.

I understand that some items aren’t worth giving up for their generic alternative but for items such as toilet paper, trash bags, etc. it makes little sense to spend the extra few dollars for little to no increase in quality.

Sell Stuff

Although this falls more under the making money category, selling your stuff can pocket you some extra cash as well as freeing up some extra room around your house.

This one may be hard if you don’t have a lot of extra stuff laying around. But for those of us who have a little bit of hoarder in our genes, selling our extra junk or items can be a great way to save space around the house as well as turning unused items into cash for saving.

Shop Smarter

After eliminating all the unnecessary spending, you’ll still need to buy certain things you deem necessary or not worth giving up. It’s with these purchases that you can attempt to shop smarter.

This could mean planning meals to avoid over spending on groceries or looking for coupons for household items. Sales are basically going on constantly so if you see a good deal feel free to stock up.

Even billionaires like Mark Cuban will buy household goods like toothpaste in bulk to get a better deal. So don’t think you’re a “baller” for buying that smaller pack of premium toilet paper rather than bigger cheap one.

Budget

Setting a budget and sticking to it is the most powerful money-saving tool in existence. If you like organizing, this may even be a fun activity for you.

Budgeting can take many forms, from a simple pen and paper all the way to complex online applications.

Mint from Intuit is a great option for those looking for a starting point. It offers an array of integrated features that can help you track and manage your money from a number of different banks, credit card companies, and other financial institutions.