All about saving money! Saving money so you can retire, have kids, buy a house, go to college, pay for college, take that vacation, buy that car or boat, and become debt free! All of these things are common financial goals and this page was look at all the ways I’ve learned and used to save money. Whether it’s a money saving strategy for a specific night out, home owner money savings, my 5 year plan, or just for this week’s groceries, here is where you’ll find all of the ways I’ve been able to save myself extra money over the last few years. If you have a strategy that works for you and you don’t see it on this page, please share!
How to Stay on Budget when You’re Going Out:
Over time while trying to make myself better at budgeting and actually sticking to it, I have made myself some good habits that really help!
- If you’re going out to eat, look at the menu and decide what you’re going to get before you arrive at the restaurant. This helps you stay within budget without feeling the pressure in the moment of ordering and possibly making a bad decision.
- Going out on the town! Seriously, pick a bar that has a nightly special and choose from the drinks on special for the night. Enjoy your night on the town and leave the night spending less!
- Date night can always be expensive. My wife and I try to have a date night at least twice a month, I’m talking about a real date here. Where it’s just the two of us at a restaurant with no sports or fast food. It gets expensive though, dinner with one drink each, an appetizer and two entrees, you’re looking at $80-$100 after tip! Our trick is to find the happy hour food specials or other early bird specials. The food is the most expensive part of date night (usually) so we try to find the places with $5 plates and we share 4 or 5 small plates, one drink each and you’re finishing date night under $40! Movie and dinner date? Hit the matinee movie and happy hour dinner, you’ll thank me later:)
- Pick your drink. Just like we talked about picking your meal before you get to the restaurant, pick your drink. If you know what specials the bar has or you can look it up, do it. Choose a drink that you know the price of. Without knowing the price, it’s easier to order and just not pay attention until you get hit with a huge bill at the end of the night. Pick. Your. Drink. Or better yet – don’t drink. Have a water instead of a soda.
- Eat before you go out. There are many reasons to go out only after you’ve eaten, but specifically for budget friendly purposes, it’s so you don’t spend money on the pizza you probably shouldn’t be eating at 2 am! It’s hard enough to budget for going out, so don’t blow it at the end of the night because you decided not to eat before you went out. Eating pizza at 2am is bad for your wallet and other things (I think you know!)
Budgeting is hard, especially when you don’t want to sacrifice your social life. Set your budget, stick to it, and when it comes to going out, and just be prepared!
Home Owner Money-Saving Tips
Being a homeowner for decades has helped me acquire many home owning tips along the way. Here are 10 tips I’ve learned that could help you save big!
- Automate your thermostat or use a post-it note
The Nest learning thermostat learns your schedule to keep your home comfortable when you are home. Nests’ are pricey, but according to the Nest website:
Some energy companies send you a $249 Nest Thermostat at no cost when you sign up for certain plans. Others give you an instant $100 rebate – no paperwork necessary. Even more energy companies offer traditional mail-in rebates
Check with your utility provider to see what might be available in your area.
Set your thermostat as high as you feel comfortable – try 78ºF or higher when you’re at home, and 85ºF when you’re away.
If you can’t get a free or discounted smart thermostat from your utility provider, you can go the manual route like I do. Go get a sticky note, and put it on the door you take to leave your home. Write a reminder to change the thermostat as you walk out the door. Simple and free.
Savings: $173 year (average for a programmed thermostat)
2. Give your air conditioner some fresh air
Have you ever tried running really fast with a rag over your mouth? I haven’t either, but that’s what most people are expecting their AC units to do.
Many AC units are surrounded by shrubbery that can restrict the airflow needed to make the systems run optimally. Take a few minutes today or this weekend and look around your AC’s outdoor unit:
- Provide at least 1’ of clearance all around the units.
- Trim any bushes that are touching the units
- Remove any leaves and dirt around the unit
- Remove any other obstructions like that rotting pingpong table leaning up against it
If there is significant mud or dirt inside the unit have it professionally serviced. Savings: $20 / year
3. Use fans
A ceiling fan can make your room feel up to 7 degrees cooler. Fans will allow you to turn your AC up a couple extra degrees, saving even more money.
Savings: $35-$53 / year
4. Block out the sun
All of those windows in your home are the largest source of heat flowing inside during hot summer days.
Closing the blinds and/or curtains blocks the sun from coming inside in the first place and will help prevent it from heating up, reducing the need for the AC to cool it down. Blocking the sun is especially important on the western and southern facing windows that receive the most direct sunlight.
Savings: $15-$35 / year
5. Shower power
Do you take a hot shower in the summer steaming up the bathroom mirrors? If so you’re adding heat back into your home that needs to cool.
Take a quicker shower. And take a warm shower instead of a burning hot one. Using less hot water will also save energy.
Savings: $50 / year
6. Replace air filters
Replace your HVAC filters at least every 6 months, preferably every 3. Clogged, dirty filters block airflow and reduce your system’s efficiency. In the worst case scenario, a wrongly sized filter or dirty filter can cause your system to burn out, requiring replacement.
Never use a higher rated MERV filter than the one you replace, unless a licensed professional tells you otherwise. The MERV rating is listed on the filter, and it will be something like 8, 11, 13, 15, or more. The higher the rating the more dust the filter collects, but the harder the system has to work. Using a higher rated filter for a system not designed to handle it is bad news.
Savings: 5% – 15% / year on energy
7. A bright idea?
LED lighting runs cooler than incandescent bulbs. Only about 10% to 15% of the electricity that incandescent lights consume results in light. The rest is turned into heat, and that heat needs to be cooled by your AC system.
Savings: Varies on usage
8. Grilled to perfection
In the summer consider cooking primarily using the microwave, crockpot, or grilling outside to avoid heating up your home with the oven and stove.
Savings: At least a few bucks and your kitchen won’t be as hot.
9. Remove gaps under your doors
There is probably a hole under your door and you don’t even know it.
Most homeowners don’t even think about the bottom of their doors, and instead focus on the sides and top. But the bottom of the door sees just as much action each day as the sides and top, and it’s got that rubber gasket which is prone to deteriorating faster because it has more exposure to dirt and moisture.
On a windy day take some incense or a match and run it near the bottom of any exterior doors to see if there is air movement.
To fix you’ll need to replace your door sweep. Take pictures and measurements of your existing door sweep before heading to the home improvement store.
If it’s a nice day just take your existing one off and bring it with you so you can match up the size perfectly. They are pretty easy to replace. I’m not Mr. Fix-It and even I managed to do it.
Savings: Up to 11% of outside air is blocked
10. Insulate leaky kitchen and bathroom sinks
If you have a sink, toilet, cable or phone line in an external wall, chances are they are uninsulated around behind the wall. Warm and cool air is escaping from these exterior openings.
This one is a bit trickier to determine if you have an air leak. You can use a thermal leak detector to determine if there is a temperature difference by comparing the area near the hole and then the hole itself. If there is a big difference you might want to fix that leak.
Or if you don’t want to spend the money on a thermal imager you can do what I do as soon as I move into a new house. Buy some expanding foam insulation and spray it into every crevice I can find in my exterior walls.
I use Great Stuff. Around the bathroom sinks in your house, spray where the sink drain goes into the wall. Also where the water lines come out.
Savings: Up to 17% of your energy bills per year
How Meal Prepping can be Amazing for Your Body and Your Wallet
It’s 2020 and it is time to get some of my old healthy habits back! I used to meal prep a lot and for some reason I got away from it in the last couple years and it really hurt. Really hurt both my body and my wallet. I never really did a comparison on meal prep spend vs. no meal prep spend.
Now that I’ve done the price comparison, there’s absolutely no question about it that meal prepping is totally worth it for your wallet.
If I break it down, the numbers are insane. The amount of money I could have been saving is absurd.
No Meal Prep:
Grocery Store Spend: $30
Weekday Lunch: $11 x 5= $55 ($11 was on the cheaper side. Went up to $16)
Weeknight Dinners: $20 x 3= $60
Saturday breakfast: $15 ($15 is on cheaper side. Went up to $18)
Saturday Dinner: $25
Sunday Dinner: $20
Grocery’s wasted: $10
Weeks Total: $205
Maximum Weeks Total: $233
Meal Prepping:
Grocery Store Spend: $93 ($93 is on the expensive side. Been as low as $59)
Includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks for all weekdays, weekend breakfast and lunch and at least one weekend dinner.
Saturdays Dinner: $25
Weeks Total: $118 with leftovers
Minimum Week’s Total: $84
Average Total Savings Meal Prepping vs. Non Meal Prep: $87
Highest Total Savings Meal Prepping vs. Non Meal Prep: $149
That is at least $348 saved per month!!
If you could save $87 per week for every week of the year, you would save $4,524/year!
I know what some of you may be thinking….She’s probably eating all frozen chicken, frozen veggies ground beef, etc. The cheap stuff, right? Wrong!
Every week I buy at least a pound of fresh salmon, 2-3 pounds of fresh chicken, all fresh veggies and fruits, milk, eggs, and the only frozen thing I buy is frozen shrimp. So all week I’m eating fresh seafood or chicken with fresh vegetables and maybe every once in a while, some black or white rice. I’m eating some amazing food!
When I break down the cost of each meal it comes out to around $6 each and that doesn’t include any leftovers or snacks. If you include the leftovers or snacks then it’s closer to $4-$5 each! To me, that is unbeatable. Especially because I’m already down 5lbs in 2 weeks, I have more energy and am feeling great.
How Many Different Savings Accounts do you Have?
But how many savings accounts does it make sense to have, outside of retirement?
You need at least three active savings accounts.
- Curveball fund. Automatically transfer at least 5% of every paycheck, to cover random expenses.
- Emergency fund. Ditto, but only tap this in a true do-or-die crisis. When they say, “Save three to six months’ worth of living expenses,” this is where it goes.
- YouNameIt fund(s). Set up at least one other account for a looming goal or project: a cushy reading chair for the bedroom, a holiday party (or get-away from the parties), a new car, etc.
I have 2 savings accounts now; I have an emergency savings account and a curveball fund. The emergency savings never gets touched (unless in a case of emergency) and the curveball fund I use for whatever comes up. Random getaways/hurricane escape trips, fixing my car, tickets to a game etc. There’s no excuse to have multiple accounts in the age of electronic funds.
How to Survive on a College Budget
This blog was written mostly for the younger, student readers. But, most of the key points still apply to my money saving habits today.
Budgeting can be challenging for anyone so don’t feel bad if you’re not a pro. The key is creating a budget that is realistic and you can stick to. By stick to, I mean try not to do things like dip into your savings, don’t break your own rules or overdraft your account. Instead ask yourself, “Do I really need this? Is it essential? Or could I do without?” These kinds of questions can help you understand the importance of a budget and help you track your expenses.
There really are many ways you can learn how to survive on a college budget but some of the more obvious ways are:
- Don’t buy other people drinks at the bar
- Plan out your meals instead of eating out and spending last minute
- Share rides to class and work if you can
- Walk or ride a bike as much as you can
- If you’re going out to eat, look at the menu beforehand and decide what you’re going to eat
- Decide on a certain percentage of your weekly earnings that you will put into savings and stick to it! -without dipping into it when you want to go shopping.
- Decide what you’re going to drink if you’re going out
- Make sure you eat enough so that you don’t buy food at 2am (more than one reason not to do this-I think you know!)
Why Refinancing your Loans could Save you Tons
How many of you have refinanced your loans?
There’s a difference between revolving credit loans and fixed credit loans. Fixed credit loans are like home loans or car loans. Revolving credit loans are like credit cards or college loans. These loans charge interest on your open balance daily!
Pay your credit card down every mont because it takes two months to get $0 interest. All you have to do to get $0 interest is to pay the amount due. Never pay the minimum, always pay the amount due no matter what the balance is.
If you can’t do that then you don’t need it! Use your second savings account to pay for those unexpected bumps in life like new tires or brakes on your car.
And never pay off a fixed loan that is in the last 1/3 of it’s life. It takes 22 years to pay off 50% of a 30 year mortgage. Say what? That’s right! And this means that the last eight years of your mortgage are essentially interest free so why use cash to pay it off when the interest has already been paid in the first 22 years!
Savings at the Grocery Store
Most of the time I ignore the flyer at the front of the grocery store. So many coupons! You can end up saving on a few things that you actually needed.