Yes I am serious, these are the best ways to save money in 30 days
Well I used most of these money saving hacks listed here
What happened to me and my wife were very astonishing
When I got married I was working in IT making 48 K while my wife was working as an account receivable making 35 K annually
We were able to save money of around 40 K in 2 years and manage our budget efficiently with household total income of 83 K better than our current combined income of 157 K, but how?
Actually I was thinking about how could we save money and manage our budget and finance efficiently with an income of 83 K
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Now we earn 157 K and struggle financially
I was able to find the answer after reading Dave Ramsey’s book Total Money Makeover
Throughout his book, he has some famous quotes
I adore them so I started to copy them to my personal notes, he says which I believe is the answer to why we are struggling now
I am sure that the problem with my money is the guy in my mirror. If he will behave, he can make the money thing work
From Dave Ramsey’s book Total money makeover
First let me start with the below
If you want to jump to the 101 best ways to save money then click right here
- Why you have to save money?
- How can I really force myself to save money?
- How can I set the right mindset to save money?
Why you have to save money
Do you remember the story of the 3 little pigs?
Where one pig built his house from straw, another pig build it using sticks from the forest and connected them together
The third pig was the wisest as he build his house using brick and mortar
Finally the big bad wolf destroyed the 2 houses but he couldn’t do anything to the house built with brick
Moral of the story, you have to save money to be able to overcome the following inevitable like
Face financial crisis like economic storms as known as recession
You have no control on recession and you don’t even know why or when it will happen
You can get laid off even it is reputable organization
It can take up to 2 years for the global economy to pick up itself again
Emergency funds to protect you and your family
You cannot predict the future so you need to create an emergency fund in case something God forbids occurs to you
So you need to have an operation for you or your closest family member
Prepare for retirement
If you believe everything will be fine when you retire even if you are not saving money yet
I would like to be the bad guy to wake you up and tell you
If you don’t invest in your future, the government pension will barely put food on your table
You will regret for not saving money where it is too late
Challenge the unforeseen expenses
Unforeseen expenses that can occur anytime like your car requires immediate repair
Your basement floods or your roof needs to fixed after an aggressive storm
I think you got the idea
Prepare for your kids’ education
If you have kids or expecting to have kids
You cannot escape the fact that they will one day go to colleges or universities
Even if you are not working with a bachelor degree
Definitely you won’t want the same destiny for your kids
Buy a car is an ongoing process
I always buy used cars
I know I can pay its price in full and not incur any debt and pay interest
But again whatever you prefer to buy new car or used one
Planning for buying a car is necessary as you don’t know when you would need one
I had a car accident in 2019 and it was total loss
I took the insurance money and added extra to buy another used car
Buy your home without paying 2.8 to 4% extra mortgage
Some home buyers defer their buying decisions till they save the 20% of their down payments towards their home
By doing that home buyers waive the 2.8% to 4% Mortgage Default Insurance or CMHC Insurance which gets added to their mortgages
It is a wise decision to save money to avoid adding the Mortgage Default Insurance to your mortgage
Plan for recurring annual expenses
You should know that buying birthday and Christmas gifts are something that happen every year so it is not a surprise to you
Also taking your annual vacation whatever it is an out of the country trip or not
These are all things you have to plan for so they don’t put you in debts
Enjoying a life free of stress
Imagine after some time of long saving of money
You have accumulated more than $200,000, would you be worried if you get laid off
The stress of any lay off is the feeling that you will not be able to pay your mortgage and your bills
So why you put yourself into this particular situation
How much you should save
The simple answer is as much as you could save
If you create a budget and stick to it, you should save around 20%
That’s why in Canada, RRSP which stands for Registered Retirement Savings Plan is set to 18%
The government will not set an impossible to reach amount
How can you really force yourself to save money
Nothing on earth can force you if you don’t want to save money willingly
But if you are fighting the temptation, you can follow the below tips
1) Practice the 30 days rule on non essential items
First, what is the 30 days rule?
The 30 days rule is simply if your have an urge to splurge on a big ticket item
Wait for 30 days, put the item you want to buy back on the shelve and leave the store right away then wait for 30 days
If you still feel like you want to buy it then go for it
2) Setup a plan for the Tax refund season
Right now, some companies deduct taxes from employees’ payrolls assuming they are all married and having kids
You end up getting a tax refund
Question is, do you have a plan on what you should do with this money?
I suggest to put the money in your RRSP in case of Canada or IRA in case of US
You will get a tax refund next year as any contributions lower your income
3) Maximize the transfer to your retirement account
So many companies these days offer an incentive to their employees
They match fully or partially your contributions to your RRSP or IRA up to a certain percentage
I would like to maximize your contribution to match this percentage
4) Trick yourself that you did not get a bonus
Assume that you did not get a bonus and its money to add it to an investment account
It is highly recommended to be an IRA or RRSP type of account so you invest for your retirement
5) Automate to transfer money to your saving account
Best approach is to ask your bank or authorize your investment company to transfer a certain amount of money at the beginning of every month from your checking account
6) Get rid of your change in Piggy bank
if you have any change in your pocket
Just put them in a PiggyPiggy bank bank and that’s it
7) Use apps to transfer your change to an investment account
There are so many mobile apps that can help you save by rounding up your transactions which you make on your credit cards or from your checking account and invest them into a saving or investment account
I know about Acorns for US and Wealth Simple for Canada
8) Find a buddy to challenge you
So many people get things accomplished when they are put in challenge, but what kind of challenge
Well, you can find a buddy to do the 52 weeks money saving challenge
9) Save your discounts you got on your receipts
All stores display at the end of their receipts the amount of savings you got on your purchases
Let us assume that you did not get any discounts and transfer all discounts from your checking account to another saving account immediately through your bank mobile app
10) Use a cash reward credit card and save its cashback
Opt for your cashback to be sent to you as check and save the money right away
How can you set the right mindset to save money
Yes you can set the right mindset to live and breath into saving money
There are certain reminders and actions to practice that hone your mindset
1) Remind yourself why you are saving money
Nothing can act as a great enforcement to you for saving money
If you don’t reminding yourself of why it is important to save money for the short term and long term
I always imagine the feeling of going on pension without any savings
It is a gut wrenching that keeps me tentative for every dollar I spend today
2) Set short and long term goals
Without setting goals, you are like someone driving in new city without GPS
It is almost impossible to reach your long term goals without setting and fulfilling your short term goals
For example, some people take the 52 weeks money saving challenge as a short term goal and once they complete it successfully
They consider continuing the challenge for another year or they consider switching to $5,000 or $10,000
3) Track your progress on a visual board
Having big visual board on a very known place like sticking it on your kitchen fridge
This can help you establish a very strong mindset and achieve your goals easily
Nothing is better than seeing your saving money progress in front of your eyes every minute
You breathe it and when you go to sleep, you dream of it
4) Educate yourself about budgeting, finance and investment
Anybody can read about how to do a simple budget
Taking care of your finance and investment, I read few books about finance and I still learned a lot
According to Dave Ramsey’s quote from Total Money Makeover
Winning at money is 80 percent behavior and 20 percent head knowledge. What to do isn’t the problem; doing it is. Most of us know what to do, but we just don’t do it. If I can control the guy in the mirror, I can be skinny and rich.
Dave ramsey
5) Surround yourself with close friends who save money
I don’t think any person can overcome the effect of surroundings
If you are surrounded by successful people
They will meet and speak about their success, you get motivated and it will change your mindset
Same thing for saving money
Stay away from those who splurge money carelessly and stick to those who really appreciate the importance of saving money for their life
6) Differentiate your wants from your needs
I know some people who cannot tell the difference between their needs and their wants
Your need is anything crucial that keeps you alive like buying your drugs
Your essential grocery but if you have a craving to buy a caviar that turns out to be a want
Although you should focus more on your needs compared to wants if you want to stick to your budget
You may be tempted with a desire to look for your wants, this is based on emotion
7) Analyze your spending
There are so many apps to analyze your spending, for example Mint, Dollarbird, and PocketGuard can help you analyze your spending

Now let’s say you analyzed your spending and found splurge on clothes
Ask yourself why you buy clothes, do you want to impress people around you?
Christopher Nicholas “Nick” known by Pogo has a famous quote
We have met the enemy and he is us
Everything that we do have a reason behind it
Be honest to yourself and find your weakness which is money spent on wants and not needs
I discovered that I am addicted to Starbucks morning cup of coffee
It was really hard for me to take a decision to treat myself only once a week
How to save money on a Budget
The sad truth is that so many ignorant people think that making 12% return on their invested is impossible
If you realize that investing in 5 stars mutual funds that yield an average of 11%
Would this encourage you to start saving some money to invest by doing the following
1) Create a budget
It is time to sit down and create a budget to monitor your expenses against your income and to track that everything is working for you as expected
I know with your previous spending, it is easy to create a new budget from scratch
Just go to your credit cards and checking account statements
Try working on creating a realistic budget based on your past expenses
2) Automate transfer from checking to investment account
I really liked this quote from Dave Ramsey
Savings without a mission is garbage. Your money needs to work for you, not lie around you
It was really a surprise to me to know that the S & P 500 is an index with 500 of the largest companies in the US economy of average 11.69% per year
To make my above statement simple and clear
You can automate your checking account to transfer let’s say $100 on first day of every month into an investment account
Invest this money in mutual funds of moderate risk with yield return of 9% or more
3) Analyze your spending
How you expect to save money if you are not analyzing where you are spending your income on
For example, If November consumption of gas is $250 then you notice a surge in gas of $450 on December due to shopping for Christmas, Hanukkah, or other gift-giving holidays gifts and travelling across the country for few days then back to $242 in January
Make an estimated gas consumption on a monthly basis as $250 as shown below
Estimated | Actual | Difference | |
Gas | $250 | $242 | $8 |
$250 | $253 | ($3) |
One of the best way to save money is to check the spending of a specific item throughout the entire year
Then add a buffer of extra amount to your estimated amount to compensate the surge of spending during peak months
For example, if you notice a surge of gas spending on July, August and December
It is clear that this is due to Summer time with the family and Christmas, Hanukkah, or whatever shopping and taking few days off to travel somewhere
You can distribute the surge in gas throughout all the months leading to having the deficit in few months balances the planned surplus in normal months
Or you can plan to build an emergency fund for deficit months
Again, there is no right or wrong method here
It is up to you to choose what method best suits you
4) Make extra income by starting a side hustle
Some people believe not all advice listed here are easy to follow
Still they are looking for the best way to save money so they look for ways to make an extra income from their hobbies
That’s why I talked earlier about how to make 200 dollars per day
5) Refinance your mortgage or negotiate your rent
I know it is not practical to switch any fixed mortgage during its term
As you will have break your current mortgage and pay a penalty to the lender
Best way to save money is to wait for your mortgage at renewal time
Then negotiate with your current lender or bank based on your shopping around rate
Most probably you best option is to switch to another lender or bank
They will do their best to attract you
If you are renting, ask your landlord if the rent price is open to discussion
6) If you rent and single, find a roommate
Although I always target families with with or without kids
This is something I felt it is good way to save money as you will slash your rent by half
7) Save your spare change
A lot of people underestimate how much their spare changes can save them money
most of the times, you empty your pocket
You don’t know what to do with those dimes and nickels so you end up leaving them on the counter top
Get yourself a Piggy bank and save your changes
8) Try the 52 weeks money saving challenge
when I first knew about the 52 weeks money saving challenge
I thought it is useless as you don’t save that much but I realized its effectiveness to use that money as an emergency fund
9) Analyze, negotiate and bundle your recurring bills
Like if your subscription can have the same phone and cable as a bundle
Although I am not a big fan of keeping the cable plan
You can check all the bundle deals with your internet service provider and see if you can get good saving
In US, you can use AskTrim, ClarityMoney, BillCutterz, BillFixers and Bill Shark
In Canada, you can use Bill Busters
10) Cut the cable subscription
Currently there are so many families who are not aware that you can get an IPTV provider for $30 annually instead of paying this same amount for a monthly cable subscription
11) Cancel magazine subscriptions
Even if you are paying less than $10 for magazine subscriptions
Do you feel it is not worth to cancel it
Think about it this way
Do you have really the time to check your subscribed magazine
If you don’t read it and you just skim it, find out how to cancel your subscription and save your money
12) Replace your home phone with VOIP phone
Since the day I switched to VOIP phone, I never though to return back to regular home phone plans
I pay around $36 annually for my VOIP plan
Currently I am using Magic Jack before that I was using Vonage
Magic Jack is way cheaper
If you are in the US, You can keep your existing phone number, it is called porting out your phone number
By the way, you can totally save the VOIP phone if you own one or two cell phone plans
13) Set reminders to pay bills and credit cards
Never miss a payment by setting up a monthly reminder on your cell phone to pay your utility bills and credit cards
I found that I have a monthly reminder for 21st and 22nd of every month to pay all my credit cards in full
14) Never finance anything
Why you have to finance and pay interest for 1 or 2 years
if you want to buy a new TV that will cost you $900
If you save $150 per month, you will be able to pay cash
When you do so you can negotiate the price and ask for a discount
If the store disagrees, you can shop around
Remember you are paying the amount in full, if you finance you can never negotiate the price
15) Use HSA or FSA
Many employers offer what is called Health Saving Account or Flexible spending account
You can never image what these HSA or FSA covers for you
You can pay for any remaining balances on your medical or dental
For example, if you go for dental cleaning and you have 20% unpaid
You can use your HSA to pay your remaining balance
16) Pay mortgage and student loans biweekly or even weekly
So many people don’t know that paying their mortgage biweekly or weekly save them interest
Majority think it is just a matter of preference, It is not
The more you pay your mortgage or loan frequently, the more you save
17) Maximize your retirement savings
If you are really keen to maximize your retirement savings then do the following
– Automate your contributions at the beginning of every month
– Check if your employer is matching your contributed amount
– Consider using your contributed amount in an investment account type
18) Look for no fees bank accounts
Please don’t do the same mistake which I had before thinking it is really a hassle to switch to another bank
All banks want you to keep your money and your transferred salary to them
They will do their best to provide you with best possible offers
Once you have an offer from one bank, take it to your existing bank and show it to them
Most probably they don’t want to lose you so they will do their best to match it
How to save money on Grocery shopping
According to United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Americans spend on average around 9.7% of their income
According to the above statistics
It leaves me to bluntly claim that there is more room for saving money and I will list below best ways to save money on groceries

19) Write your grocery list
This is one of the best way to save money
Nothing is better than going to the supermarket with a list of what you have to buy and stick to what you have on your Shopping list
I found a nice shopping list app called AnyList
I love it especially I can integrate it with my Amazon Alexa to ask Alexa to add grocery items to my shopping list every time I remember anything

One of the best thing is that you can keep the crossed items which you bought them already or you can hide them by clicking the icon in green square

you can add bulk items one time as shown above

Meal planning features, I haven’t used it but it is worth for you to explore it
20) Buy the no brand supermarket items
Most of the supermarket stores carry their own brand
Like Walmart has the Great Value, in Costco it is called Kirkland
These no brand items are cheaper than the original items
Most of the times I buy the no brand over the original items
21) Buy grocery items in bulk
Some grocery items when they go on Sale
It is a good opportunity to buy them in bulk like Rice, Sugar, Flour and all spices
Store these dry and non expiry foods inside your Pantry when they go on sale
22) Track your consumption on essential products
Milk, yogurt and Eggs are essential products for you to keep track of your consumption
These items are available in gas stations and convenience stores
I don’t buy them from there because I know they are more expensive than supermarket stores
To avoid running out of these essential products
I manage to keep track of them and I buy them in advance based on knowing when I will run out of them
For example, if I know that my kids consume the 4 liters milk bags weekly
I plan to get 2 bags with extended expiry date so I don’t run out of milk
If I am left with one bag in my fridge
I tend to buy a new bag on my next visit to the supermarket
It is not rocket science and easy for anybody to follow this approach
23) Search for cheap groceries using coupon apps
I hate it when it comes to searching flyers for deals on groceries
I believe it is the same for everyone, I am not a freak here
It is very challenging to go through each flyer from every supermarket to search for deals
Not anymore with these mobile apps as they made our life very easy
You can use Flipp or reebee as they made shopping for grocery fun and rewarding
They are one of the best ways to save money on groceries as it is zero effort on your side
I recommend you read about them on my saving money on groceries post
24) Get cash back using grocery apps
These mobile apps Ibotta, Savingstar, Checkout 51, Receipt Hog and Krazy Coupon Lady are the best ways to save money on groceries by giving you cash back
I have a detailed explanation of how you will collect cash back
25) Stop buying bottled water
Speaking about my family, we don’t see anything wrong with tap water
Even I don’t feel worried for my kids to drink from this water
Again it really matters from one province/state to another
Sometimes from one city to another, save your money on buying bottled water and if you are worried invest in getting Brita filter
26) Buy from Supermarkets that do price match
Almost all of the supermarkets do price match
Just bring your cell phone to show the other supermarket flyer and they will match the price for you
This will help you to get all the deals from your favorite supermarket plus the only 1 or 2 items that are already discounted in the other grocery store
27) Bring your own grocery bags
I always make it a habit of keeping reusable bags in my trunk
No only you save few cents but also you save the environment
28) Plans your meals weekly
This will help you save money by going to grocery stores once per week
Again with shopping list app like AnyList
You can plan your weekly meals and it will add to your shopping list all the groceries you have to buy for this week
29) Buy cheap meat cuts
Not all meat cuts are the same price
This is obvious but it is very easy to avoid some cuts and you do it yourself at home
For example, fast fry meat is cheaper than the stir fry one
You can still buy the fast fry one and cut it into slices, trust me if won’t take much time
How to save money on Food and Restaurants
According to US Bureau of labor statistics
I have a proof below that you have more room to save money on eating outside your home
For the average household, spending on food at home accounted for about 57 percent ($4,015) of all food spending, while food away from home accounted for the other 43 percent ($3,008)
US Bureau of labor statistics
30) Use takeout coupons
Although I am against buying take away and eating in restaurants
But in reality you have to treat yourself from time to time
That’s why it is better to take advantage of coupons offered by chain restaurants
You can use so many mobile apps to help you in the process of finding takeout coupons, I found Groupon and Restaurant.com to be a good fit for coupons hunting
31) Go for family portions in restaurants
I always check with my wife in any restaurants we go for items on the menu with portions that say good for 2 persons
These plates are cheaper than 2 orders on the same menu
32) Cook your food in bulk
The amount of saving here is not significant
But what is really important is you saving effort cooking common things multiple times
For example, if you are cooking ground beef for Spaghetti and Lasagna
Why you waste effort to cook one portion of ground beef for the Spaghetti and another day you cook another portion
Always cook extra portion and freeze them
33) Use left over dinner for lunch
Every household knows their dinner portions
Why don’t you cook extra portions and take the left over for lunch next day
I am very practical because I know if I don’t have lunch, I will definitely buy one
34) Eat breakfast
This is a surefire way to keep you healthy and manage to satisfy your hunger
So you can eat your leftover food from dinner without the urge of buying any extra snacks for your lunch time
35) Avoid meat and poultry one or twice a week
Some families try to skip meat and poultry once or twice a week, never imagine how much you will save
Of course those who go completely vegan pay way less on groceries than those who buy meats and poultries
36) Buy a large freezer
I was against my wife when she told me about buying a standalone freezer
Then I realized how smart she is
Meats and poultries when they go on sale, you can stock them if you have a large freezer
I found that Homedepot sends offers every once in a while to pay for items which exceeds $299 on 18 months no interest
37) Plan to cook cheap recipes
Me and my wife work so we thought how can we cook easy and delicious recipes
Actually we found so many recipes that are really cheap and easy
I proved before that you can enjoy cheap weekly meals $75
38) Cut drive thru coffee and restaurants
I love technology and always to think how can I make my life easy
Because I am a coffee addict
I used to place my Starbucks coffee order on my mobile app and pick it from the store under my work building
I realized when I stopped buying my morning Starbucks coffee that I saved easily $45
Don’t believe me, do the math of $2.25 for tall coffee daily
I replaced my craving for coffee with Keurig K-cup and I buy the Starbucks K-cups from Costco when they go on sale
How to save money on shopping
If I tell you, don’t go to the mall, stop visiting online retail stores
Would you listen to me
That’s why I love Dave Ramsey’s quote that says It is all about the man in the mirror

39) Upgrade your Costco membership
I know what you are thinking, the title above is asking you to save money on shopping
Now I am telling you to upgrade your Costco membership, OK let us do the math
I was exactly like you
Just paying for $60 membership to give me access to enter Costco and just from there, I get nothing special
Then I upgraded and paid an extra $60 where I get 2% back on all my purchases
Well I spend around $250/month from Costco buying some groceries, detergents and household products
They are cheaper there than anywhere else
That’s worth $3,000 which is the $60 extra membership
Actually since I joined the executive membership I was collecting around $70+ which means I pay less in my overall membership
40) Buy flowers from Supermarket
There are some occasion where you have to buy flowers, buying a bouquet from flowers shop is really expensive
I know supermarkets don’t sell fancy bouquets and they don’t have varieties
But if you are buying red roses they are quite affordable
41) Buy some items from Dollar stores
I added a habit of shopping from dollar stores to get some items for cheap
But what items you can really buy from dollar stores and save money
Well I consider it as one of the best way to save money on greeting cards, party supplies, notebooks, gift boxes and wrapping papers, storage containers, Christmas ornaments, mugs and glasses, picture frames, bagged and boxed candies, plastic food containers and some toys
Remember I said some toys not all toys
I learned my lessons and I started to be very careful about the quality when it comes to toys more than the price
42) Join loyalty programs
It is really worth to check if your desired stores have loyalty programs
I am still a big fan of Air Miles program although my wife doesn’t like it
I like it because you can simply watch for offers coming from their partners like Shell
Where you can fill 5 times in 6 weeks with a minimum of 7 gallons and collect 100 Air miles
You can book a hotel room with 800 Air Miles
I always tell my wife it is not an instant saving but it is something to accumulate in the long run
43) Buy cookware and skillets from discount stores
Look for discount stores like HomeGoods to buy your cookware and skillets for more than 50% discount
I always advice my friends to get your kitchen stuff at a discounted price if you are not looking to buy now
Create a shopping list similar to the grocery list but for missing kitchen stuff
Cross out the items you find in discount stores
44) Shop around for the best cell phone plans
I am very realistic as I say boldly that I cannot live one single day without my cell phone
I remember once I forgot my cell phone at home
It was very boring day especially I take the public transit for 45 minutes each way to my work in downtown, Toronto
There are so many people that claim they are able to live without their cell phones
I will not tell my readers to do that because I respect my readers and their self controls
What you can do is a couple of steps to pay less that what you are currently paying
For example, you can check if you and your wife can go for a bundle plan
I noticed that my wife consumes less than 1 GB per month and I consume around 3-4 GB monthly so if we bundle for 8 GB plan that would be a huge saving for money
45) Plan buying your gifts ahead when on Sale
Every one has a set of events during the year where you have to buy gifts especially on Christmas or Hanukkah
I started with my wife a new process where we buy too early for some gifts when on sale
Usually we have a list of all the people we want to buy gifts for
Buying gifts very last minute is not going to save you money at all
To be fair the only gifts we buy too close to the event are clothes because we want to make sure that we get gift receipts
46) Buy gifts from your own gift cards
Some occasions I get Visa or Mastercard gift card
I love it because I can hand them to someone else in his/her birthday
What is really funny
I remember a Visa gift card that kept rotating for more than a year between our family
It was unique, it was a Visa gift card for $75 in a purple cover
Finally, when it came to me in my birthday
I decided to buy a gift with a gift receipt to break the cycle
47) Rent your dress
I know not every woman can accept renting a dress instead of buying a new one
Actually wise women know that they cannot wear the same dresses if they have a new event so renting a dress is the best way to save money
I know what you are thinking what if someone likes my dress and asks where did I get it from? It comes to me David Ramsey’s quote that says
People were running around buying things they couldn’t afford with money they didn’t have to impress people they didn’t even like, and they were doing it in record numbers
48) Consider buying used items if possible
Some used items you can buy online from Amazon or eBay like used electronics and kids toys or you can check Thrift store
You can also consider Facebook Marketplace to buy used items and pick it up from your neighborhood
Sometimes you can get it for free
I remember I found a lot of toys for free on Facebook Marketplace
These are people who have grown up kids and they are lazy to dump these toys
49) Check what you can get as free stuff
Yes who said that there are nothing free, I found free stuff online
Check these 100+ websites to get free stuff online
50) Shop from discount stores
Like TJMaxx where it is under the name of Winners in Canada and also Marshall store
You find a lot of deals as long as you are not looking for a specific brand
It can happen that you find a good brand but not your size so you have to be flexible
51) Get cash back on your online purchases
Some credit cards are designed to pay annual fees but they reward you up to 5% on gas and groceries, drugs and then they offer 1% on everything else
Here is what I do, either me or my wife can only get one card
We don’t opt for supplement card
This means you don’t have to pay more for getting a supplement card
The catch here is that you can still have your credit card loaded on your cell phone or your spouse cell phone
I am using Apple Pay so I can still use a credit card that it is not mine and collect cash back
52) Shop off the season
Like winter jackets end of January, buying barbecue in fall, Christmas decorations after Christmas
53) Check public libraries before buying books
Actually I found so many books which I purchased online to be in my local nearby public library
Even if you want to own the book, consider buying the Kindle version, it is way cheaper
54) Switch to non disposable napkins
I have little kids and I still need to use paper towels if they throw up
But all cleaning purposes around the kitchen I use a good type of non disposable napkins where you can wash them multiple times
55) Buy generic drug
If your medical insurance does not cover good coverage on drugs
Ask your doctor to prescribe generic drugs as they are always cheaper
56) Stop buying alcohols and cigarettes
Take care of your health and stop smoking and excessive drinks of alcohols
I remember very well an article which I read for someone living in New York city
He claims that he saved $1,000 a month just for quitting alcohols
He stopped hanging out in pubs with friends to buy drinks plus a couple of wine bottles and beer which he used to buy every month
57) Buy refurbished laptop and TV
let us understand what does refurbished laptop or refurbished TV means?
These are items that went out of their boxes for display purposes or they are very lightly used
You are still getting your laptop or TV with the same warranty time so there is nothing to worry about
58) Don’t buy extended warranty
According to a consumer reports survey, it is not worth the investment to buy extended warranty for a laptop or TV
You would rarely use them for repairs
Keep in mind, most of the times the single cost of one repair is equal to the amount of the extended warranty
59) Do Christmas exchange gift and put a limit on Christmas budget
I know not everyone will like that but at least we have 2 Christmas parties
One with our friends and the other one with our family
With friends, we go for Christmas exchange gifts
We agree to buy one gift as a family between the range of $25 to $35, every gift gets wrapped so you can not tell what’s inside
All friends’ names get written as a family name in case of a family or a person name if single in a box and a child draws one folder paper and reads the name
The selected family or person chooses any wrapped gift then the same child or another child draws another folded name
Now the fun begins as the new name can have the right to open a new wrapped gift or take an already opened gift from someone else
Then this someone who has his/her gift taken from, goes to open another wrapped gift and so on
60) Save shipping charges by using Amazon prime
I was very reluctant to go for Amazon Prime but I decided I have nothing to lose
You get everything online within 1 – 2 days with a competitive prices similar to Walmart and Costco
Plus you get Amazon prime video as a bonus
61) Use open source software if possible
There are so many free antivirus which are good for one year and open source office like OpenOffice
You can give it a try
Just check if you can find an open source software before you buy your software
How to save money at Home
Best ways to save money at home are to do the chores you hire people to do it for you
If you still young and capable of doing it, you can save a lot of money

62) Do your own garden
I am super lazy but I am totally OK to cut the grass
Because it is a process which I have to do it once every 2-3 weeks
I have never thought to hire a gardener
If you enjoy landscaping your garden then I will assume that you would enjoy doing it yourself
63) Plant your vegetables at home
I remember I planted mint in my backyard
I spent more than 3 years trying to get rid of all the mint stems that emerged out of my control
Right now, if I plant mint, I will use pots
The reason I am saying that because I realized that you can plant herbs that you buy from your local supermarket
Especially if you are not consuming a lot of them in your daily cooking
64) Plant Perennials
Here in Canada, winter kills every plant
So I am not a person who would go to buy new bushes every year
I looked for perennials plants to decorate my backyard and I add little of them if they rarely die
65) Start to use rechargeable batteries
Kids toys consume AA or AAA batteries like crazy, you should really invest in rechargeable batteries especially for toys
66) Switch to dry cleaning at home
Dry cleaning is expensive that’s why we do it for very few items
Why don’t you try Dryel to see if it works for you
67) Make your own gifts
I won’t tell you to do your own gifts if you are not talented
Some people they can paint or they love to do Canvas or assemble bracelets
if you paint, you can paint on mugs and it will be a precious gifts to friends
68) Mend your own clothes by yourself
You don’t have to do everything, just do the basic like fixing buttons and hems
I was surprised to find this cheap portable sewing machine that can do all the basic stitching around your home
69) Do your own renovation
I am not a handy man
I am on the zero scale but I find myself have to do so many things like I painted my kids room and it took me less than a day to finish it
If I had hired someone, I would have paid a lot
70) Make your home pet free if possible
Pets require extra care such as medical insurance, grooming and food
I know some families consider pets to be part of their lives
No pressure here and consider I didn’t mention that
71) Sell your used household items on Facebook Marketplace
I sold so many items on Facebook Marketplace that I lost track of them
Once I sold stroller and baby monitor
It is very easy, I list it a little bit higher than its fair price
Then I get interested buyers to negotiate the price with me
72) Rent your basement
I know not everyone will like sharing his/her home but some houses have separate entrances to its basements
It is good opportunity to make money from your home
73) Recycle for cash
Use Recyclebank for plastic containers and for electronics you can use on uSell, Gazelle
I mentioned earlier that I was able to sell few electronics on Facebook Marketplace
74) Trade babysitting
Definitely sometimes you need some time away with your spouse without the kids around
It is better to have a list of friends and family whom you can trade your babysitting job
Actually kids enjoy it, especially they know they are going to play with other kids for 2-3 hours
75) Do your nails at home
it is a 10 minutes process, you have to get cotton balls and nail polish remover as known as acetone
How to save money on Transportation
According to American Public Transportation Association, an average household spends 16 cents of every dollar on transportation and 93% of this amount goes to buying, maintaining and operating vehicles
That’s why there is room to save money on transportation as listed below

76) Try working from home
So many companies these days allow their employees to work from home once a week or perhaps more
If you are working in a company that has a flexible plan to work from home
Know your limit and stay within it
Imagine if you work from home once per week, this means you save 20%
77) Try carpooling
Even if you are not able to find at your work who is living near you for carpooling
You can search on Google for so many carpooling apps on both Android and IOS
There are so many apps that can help you save easily 50% on your commute
78) Get use of public transits and buy season tickets
In North America, especially in big cities, it is very hard to commute by car if you’re working in downtown
That’s why you have to take public transit for so many reasons
It is way cheaper than paying for parking your car even if you buy a parking membership
You will pay for the membership plus your gas and car maintenance
If you are not working in downtown
You have to figure out if it is worth it to use public transit or drive your car
In some cities like Detroit
It is one of the cheapest in North America for public transit, it can cost you less than $2 in transit
79) Shop around for better car insurance rate
Between me and you, I hate the moment when I have to call an insurance company to get a quote for my car
I cannot tolerate an hour over the phone speaking with an agent where you might end up still staying with your current insurance company as they are still cheaper
Well, take it as an advice
It is not worth to switch to another insurance company while the term is still effective
You can do this process once a year when renewing your car insurance
Here is what you have to do
Search Google for compare car insurances you will get many websites that can do the comparison for you
Although they are not accurate but you can use the 2-3 lowest rates and start calling them
- Always ask the insurance company to bundle your car and home insurance together
- Check with the insurance company if they have an app to monitor your driving habits, don’t be afraid, I asked so many insurance companies and they all told me that they will never raise your insurance if you are getting low score, you get 5% off if you install and use the app and another 5% if your spouse does the same
- Take advantage of the higher deductive, this is the amount you have to pay before insurance company fixes your car, you can raise from $200 to $500
- Make sure that the car you are planning to buy does not have high insurance premium
- Consider cancelling your collision and comprehensive coverage if you car is worth less than 10 x what you are paying for its coverage annually
- Consider asking for discount on low mileage, some insurance company reduces what you pay if you drive low mileage to your work, use it to your benefit, for example, if you have 2 cars and 2 daily commute distances let’s say 2 miles and 18 miles, use the car with the higher premium to drive the low mileage and negotiate the price again
I hope I showed you useful tips to save money on your car insurance
80) Buy used cars
There are so many benefits for driving a used car like
- When you buy a used car, you can negotiate the price
- You can save money for a planned used car and pay it cash
- Review the consumer report and choose a good performing model
- You can lower your insurance rate
- Reduce the registration fees as it is based on the price
I regret making this mistake of buying a new car when me and my wife were newly married
We traded our mini van worth $4,000 for a 30,000 new Nissan Altima
The dealer evaluated the mini van as $2,000
We didn’t know the real market price
Anyway on the day where we went to pick up the Nissan
They told us after checking with all the surrounding dealers and the mini van was worth $1,000
We ended up paying around $500 monthly for 5 years
81) Empty your car trunk
Any excess weight in your trunk can increase the gas consumption
Just keep a spare tire and that’s it
82) Look for cheap gas stations near you
It is a very good practice to fill up your tank from the cheapest gas station near you
It is not hard to find one with the use of GasBuddy app
The app will list all the nearby gas stations using your location
How to save money on Entertainment

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, those who earn less than 50,000 spend around $2,000 on entertainment
First, I stand firm and sturdy to get yourself a vacation every 1 or 2 years
Or to travel by car to another state/province to energize your life
All I want from you is just to plan for it
So you don’t end up getting a loan with interest just to go for a vacation that will last for a week or less
83) Plan for cheap nights in theaters
Most theaters have the cheapest day on Tuesday
Check your local theaters near you for any offer or discount and go on that day
84) Check for students discounts and admission fees
If you have a son or daughter who is a student
Look for the students guide listing all discounts
You can get discounts on restaurants, clothes and admission fees
85) Replace GYM membership with community centre
Ask yourself, what do you really need from a good GYM to keep your membership
perhaps you need a good treadmill, dumbbells and Incline bench press
If you have these tools in your local community centre then you can cancel your GYM membership

86) Pack Food for your road trips
Once or twice a year, we travel across the country and pack our food instead of stopping in service centres
We save not only money but time too
Any stop you make can delay you around 45 minutes from reaching your destination
87) Buy travel packages before its peak or based on deals
Simply, if you travel on Tuesday you will get the cheapest airfare ticket throughout the week
If you are buying a travel package, do your homework and shop around all travel websites, I remember I found when we were going to Cancun in Mexico
I found the same offer in 2 different travel websites
One website offered 100 gift card while the other website offered 100 Visa gift card plus a gas station points worth $35
We took the second offer
88) Watch free DVD movies from public library
Good news is you don’t even have to go to the public library
Some apps like Hoopla can let you connect your library membership card to watch movies on your TV
89) Use Amazon Prime video and YouTube
If you already decided to go for Amazon Prime membership to buy most of your household necessary items online and get them shipped to you within 1 -2 days
You get Amazon prime video similar to Netflix to use it with your Amazon prime
Also you can use YouTube for so many online movies to Chrome-cast on your TV
90) Invite your friends over for snack
I know most of us go to restaurants to spend time with our friends
Why you don’t invite them to home to spend time together and eat snacks
You can rotate the invitation so you don’t invite them every time to your place
How to save money on Utilities
According to creditcanada.com, an average of $315 are spent on utilities per family every month
I know there is a room here to save money by applying efficient money saving tips starting from buying LED bulks to smart appliances

91) Lower thermostat to save electricity on your water heater
By lowering the temperature on your hot water heater and turning it off when you are on vacation
Practice taking shorter showers
Install low flow showerheads
Wash your clothes or dishes with cold water
92) Use slow cooker or crock pot instead of oven
If you are using an electric oven then you definitely without any doubt need to use slow cooker or crock pot to save money
Most crock pots use 200 watts per hour which is equivalent to 2 cents per hour
So it will cost you 16 cents for 8 hours, I believe there is no comparison to an electric oven
93) Turn off unnecessary light off
I would assume that you turn off your light after leaving the room
Teach it to your kids
It will take time to keep it as a good habit, it is really worth it
It is really frustrating to come back from a long day at work to find that some lights were not turned off for the whole day
94) Use LED bulbs
LED bulbs as not expensive, they were when they were first manufactured but not anymore
You can buy a 24 Sylvania LED for $23.46
95) Use major appliances on low peak and weekends only
During the day, there are 3 prices for your electric consumption, high, medium and low peak
Always use your dishwasher, washing machine and dryer during the low peak
96) Use smart plugs for some appliances
Some appliances like Iron and hair dryer require that you unplug them when not in use
Otherwise they will be running and wasting power
That’s why it is highly recommended to connect these appliances to smart plugs
You can switch them off when you are away
Also you can connect them to your Alexa or Google Home
It can save you money especially for appliances like TV or laptop, if you know that they consume electricity when they are powered off
As you can create a routine on Alexa to disconnect all of these appliance when you are away from home
97) Use energy efficient appliances
It is never to late
If you have to change any of your major appliances like refrigerator, diskwasher, washer and dryer
It is a good chance to look for Energy Star certified appliances
98) Turn off Air conditioner when not home
I know in hot areas, it takes time for your Air conditioner to cool down your home
But whatever it takes it is waste of energy and money to leave it on when you are away from home
99) Save electricity using a ceiling fan
If you are living in hot place like Florida
It would be wise to install ceiling fans and use them when weather is starting to turn hot
I am speaking about March, April and May, it all depends on where you live
100) Use Windows and doors blinds
This is something I knew it recently, blinds can reduce the effect of solar heat by 60%
Here in Toronto, Canada, if I am driving my car while it is sunny and 15 C outside
I put on the air conditioner on low because of the solar heat effect from behind the window
That’s why with blinds and ceiling fans
You can save money on electricity by not running the Air conditioner for those months like March, April and May in Florida
101) Check weatherstripping
Here in Canada, it is very easy to tell you in Winter, if I have any of my windows leaking by just moving my hand around the corners of my windows
Definitely I will feel the cold air coming to my hand, I use weatherstripping, it is something cheap and effective
102) Close doors and floor registers
This is something I tested myself and I know how effective it is
Hot or cold air moves throughout all of your ducts to every room
I noticed I don’t need to keep the floor registers open in my closets and all bathrooms
I move the floor registers in these rooms to the off position and close the doors
Not only you save money on electricity but you feel that your heating and cooling system became very efficient
Again, I had a great improvement after I had my ducts cleaned
103) Use smart thermostat
I never imagined how smart thermostat saved electricity for me until I installed one
The features in any smart thermostat are really stunning
You can set your smart thermostat to apply 3 different schedules during the day, you can have separate schedules on weekdays and weekends
Again you can setup a schedule for an upcoming vacation
Also you can control your smart thermostat from your mobile device
What else can I say, it is a complete save of your money
104) Unplug unused electronics
Yes some appliances as I mentioned earlier consume electricity if they are plugged and not in use
This consumed electricity is called phantom or vampire electricity
It is not practical if you unplug and plug them every time you decide to use them
That’s why I recommended to use the smart plugs and connect it to Alexa
Now all the above savings work perfectly if you learn how to budget your income and use those savings to manage your budget, saving and budgeting work together like carrot and peas
Let me show you how to start budgeting your family income
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