Saving money doesn’t have to be an arduous task.
When we have a large savings goal in mind, the idea of saving anything at all becomes completely overwhelming. But with a few simple saving hacks, you’ll save money before you even notice.
Here are 7 ways to save money without realizing it.
1) Automate your Savings
The easiest way to save money without realizing it is to automate your savings.
Every week, I automatically have money put into my savings account. Automating my savings is not only easy, but it helps me to reach my savings goals much faster. With my savings account automated, I am able to save money I might otherwise be tempted to spend if I had to do a manual transfer.
Whether it’s your goal to save $10 a week or $1,000 a month, automating your savings is the easiest way to meet your goals.
2) Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Being conscious about what you use and how you use it can go a long way into saving money. Instead of heading out to buy every little thing you need, keep reduce, reuse, and recycle in mind.
Reduce your usage of things that cost money. Turn off the lights, forgo seconds at dinner, and skip the shopping trip. This mindset can go a long way in saving you money.
Reuse whatever you can. Can you breathe new life into old clothing to reuse it? Are you able to switch to reusable baggies instead of expensive plastic Ziplock bags? These are just a couple of examples of how to save money by reusing what you already have.
And finally, recycle. When you’re thinking about getting rid of something, consider if there if you can repurpose it before throwing it out. For example, I use old t-shirts as cleaning rags, raggedy blankets become the dog’s bed, and I refurnish old furniture into something new.
This might seem frivolous and frugal, but when you shift your mindset to start thinking like this, you’ll realize how much you save.
3) Use Digit
Digit is an app that you connect to your checking account. Every few days, it sneakily transfers some money (usually $5-50) from your checking account into a secure Digit savings account.
The app uses algorithms to figure how much you can afford to save, and has a no-overdraft guarantee. For people who tend to spend money before they can save it, digit is a great way to trick yourself into saving money. Plus, it’s fun!
4) Re-evaluate your Hobbies
It’s a good thing to have hobbies and interests, but many people find time don’t have enough time for all their hobbies.
Evaluate yourself to figure out which hobbies you truly enjoy and which ones you can cut back on. Many hobbies require a lot of expensive equipment or memberships that will cost you year-round, while you might only indulge in this hobby once or twice a year.
Take a look to see if you can cut a golf membership, magazine subscription, or sell equipment from hobbies you no longer have time for or don’t fully enjoy.
5) Switch to Lower-Maintenance Clothes
If you have to dress business professional for work, you likely are a frequent visitor of the dry cleaners.
Make the switch to lower-maintenance clothes. Look for clothes labeled as “stain-resistant”, “wrinkle-resistant”, and that aren’t “dry-clean only”.
Not only will you save a ton of money, but you’ll save yourself a lot of time and effort, too!
6) Save your Coins
Remember when you were young and put all your coins in the piggy bank?
Use a stylish container as an adult piggy bank and add all your loose change to it. though it doesn’t require much effort, you might be surprised at how quickly this adds up!
As an added bonus, you have one place for all your loose change so it isn’t weight down your purse or pockets.
Editor’s note: My wife does something somewhat similar to boost savings, but ties it to a specific action. Each time she posts on instagram she puts $2 in a jar. We use the spare money for dates or doing something fun on vacation. This can work for Facebook posts, tweets, or any other social media action. Give it a try!
7) Make Extra Money
Since we are all about side hustles here at Young Adult Money, we will always advocate finding ways to make extra money.
Whether you choose to work a second job, start blogging for income, or freelance writing, increasing your income while refusing to succumb to lifestyle inflation is a sure way to save more money quickly.
Live off your full-time income and save whatever you make on the side. By doing this, you’ll motivate yourself to work harder to save even more money.
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In all, the easiest way to save money is when you don’t even realize you’re doing it. Make a few lifestyle changes and put the difference into savings and you’re on your way to financial freedom.
What do you do to creatively or automatically save money?
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We’ve either done, or are currently doing, many of these things. The only thing we don’t automate is money into our Solo 401(k)s as we don’t know what we’ll contribute each month & needs to be done manually. That being said, I hate hearing the excuse it’s difficult to save money – there are so many options out there to do it that it should be simple for many to do at least 1-2 things.
Agreed! Saving money really doesn’t have to be hard. No excuses!
David, that’s a pretty cool idea your wife has to pay herself $2 in her jar for every IG post. I’m afraid if I did that for every time I posted to FB that I would be rich/broke at the same time, lol! I would have no money because that jar would have all my coins!
I really love the automatic savings of an app like Digit (or another app I use called Qapital). Having small chunks of money get pulled out every few days is a really easy way to see your savings grow without you even noticing it.
I think the best way to save is when you aren’t realizing it! It’s an awesome surprise to find later!
These are all really great tools. The only thing we can’t automate is our water bill which unfortunately must be paid with a check. Otherwise we automate everything :)
Automating makes life so easy! I don’t even know the last time I wrote a check.
Switching to lower maintenance clothes, I haven’t heard that one before! Now that I realize it, I haven’t bought clothes in the past 4 years (excluding work clothes). I think my wardrobe will need to be slowly adjusted in the coming years but that’s a story for another day.
Making extra money can make all the difference in the world! I’m in the savings mode right now but I will switch over to the earn extra money mode later on. Even an extra $50 a month will do wonders!
#s 1, 2, & 4 are actions my wife & I have taken this year. We realized there are certain things we will not do in the near future now that we are parents and it was better to sell our old treasures before they became obsolete (& to make more closet space).
We also have automated savings setup where we transfer a few dollars on the same day each month to automatically invest and put in a savings account, that way we don’t think it is grocery money or fun money.
I have been using methods (1) Automate your savings and (3) Digit Savings. Both work great. With these two, you don’t even have to think about saving. They happen automatically.
Regarding hobbies – my suggestion would be to explore if there are ways to monetize one’s hobby. If you can do that, then you could be earning some money while having fun.
I’ve never heard of Digit but it seems pretty awesome. I tried Acorns for a while but stopped because I was interested in learning more about investing and wanted to put a little more work into it. Great tips Rachel!
I’ve been saving my coins ever since I was a kid and empty it all into my bank account when my piggy bank is full. There’s always at least $100 that’s accumulated over time and it’s a nice little surprise. Great tips Rachel!
Great article Rachel!
Digit sounds like such a great idea, I didn’t know an app like that existed!
So I know i’m saving every week, I always pay myself first and transfer $15 of my paycheck into a separate account i’m not allowed to touch. It definitely has been accumulating over time :)