There are times in all our lives when we need to save money fast.
It could be you are facing a sudden drop in income, you’ve had your lightbulb moment and want to kick debt once and for all.
Or you just know you haven’t been spending wisely and there is plenty of scope for you to be saving money right now.
No matter your income, low or high, there is always scope to cut your spending down and to start saving more money.
Money Focus Day
It’s a really good idea to start by having a money focus day or hour.
A time where you really dig into your finances, see where you are spending and leaking money.
Focusing on your money with laser intent, just for a couple of hours, can make a huge difference to your finances.
You gain a much better understanding of just where you money is really going
You can see where your money weaknesses are, and make a plan to strengthen them
A deep dive helps you join the dots to see spending patterns
With the knowledge you gain from this focus you will identify the necessary action to fix those leaks and start building your savings.
To save you time right now I have listed 7 things you can do to save money fast, that you can start doing today.
(This post contains affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, I may make a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. You can read more here)
1. eat at home
When you eat at home you have total control over how much you are spending. If you don’t buy a food item, you cannot eat it.
But too many times you can get sucked into going to a restaurant for a meal instead. It’s all too easy to justify someone else cooking your food isn’t it?
You’re tired after a hard day at work
You’ve had a bad day at work and deserve a treat
A meal out is better than the meal you haven’t yet planned
You have nothing in to make dinner so it would involve another trip to the grocery store, might as well eat out eh?
Thing is, restaurant meals and take out costs big money compared to cooking and eating at home every night.
A meal for two can easily set you back $50, do that twice a week and that’s over $400 a month! More than your entire grocery bill for two could be.
Fill your freezer
And I totally get that whole ‘too tired’ to cook thing as that was me for many years.
What I did to overcome this, because I truly didn’t have the money to spend on restaurant meals, was to batch cook at the weekends and fill my freezer.
Each night I could then come home to a meal that just needed heating up or a gentle cook, something every tired person can manage.
Get help with filling your freezer with
The idea of
Try
Get help meal planning
My hubby is not a fan of batch cooking or filling the freezer with the same meal. When he is in charge of meal planning he’s all about different meals every night.
If you are more like my hubby than me, then
Why? Because you will be eating at home. No wasting money you don’t have on mediocre restaurant meals and no wasting money on groceries you throw away uneaten.
Your weekly menu will always include one slow-cooker meal, a 20 minute meal (hubby’s favorite) and a freezer-friendly recipe.
There is a
Try before you buy by taking advantage of their
2. cut bills
You have bills that have to be paid every month but it doesn’t mean you can’t save money fast on these too. In fact many bills are ripe for cutting back on right now.
Most companies rely on us not questioning our monthly bills, including internet, wireless and TV providers. However in many countries and states you have a choice of companies to provide these services.
This makes for a great way to save money as these companies always offer new customer discounts. You don’t always need to change company, just contact your existing provider and request a discount.
Recommended products to help cut your bills
Monthly bills can really eat into your budget. These products will help you reduce the amount of energy you use and bring your bill payments down.
Power Strip with 8 Ft, POWLIGHT Surge Protector with 12 AC Outlets and 4 USB Ports
Organize all your electronic wires in one place and protect your gadgets from power surges with this surge protector power strip.
SYLVANIA ECO LED Light Bulbs, A19 60W Equivalent
Long lasting eco friendly LED bulbs with a soft white light for your home. Cut your monthly energy bills with these.
Frost King V73/9H Indoor Shrink Window Kit
Create your own extra window insulation and cut your heating costs. Shrinks to fit using your hand held hair dryer.
Eco Power High Pressure Water Softener Filtered Handheld Showerhead
This water saver shower system cuts consumption by up to 35% (great for your bills and the planet). Connects to any standard hose.
Honeywell Home 7-Day Programmable Touchscreen Thermostat
Heat and cool your home only when you need it. & day program to account for your busy life. Save money and keep heating costs down with this thermostat.
Foldable Laundry Rack for Air Drying Clothing
Dry clothes inside without a dryer and save on energy costs. When you can't dry outside, this laundry rack will get the job done, cheaply.
3. drink water
The water that comes out of your taps at home is nigh on free, certainly by comparison to buying bottled water. So why buy bottled water?
Switching to using the water at home instead of buying bottled will help you save money fast starting right now. Filtering your water can improve it’s taste, especially if you live in a hard water area.
Keeping a
When you are off out of the house, use your Brita to fill your
If not, this is yet another way to be saving money quickly from now on.
4. collect free money to save money fast
Free money is well, free money! Take advantage of these free apps to collect (almost) free money which can go towards your savings goals.
Ibotta
Sign up to
Spend as you usually do, upload a photo of your receipt to
fetch
No hoops to jump through. No scanning barcodes, just scan your receipts and you’ll earn points! You can cash out rewards as low as $3. Use the same receipts for both Fetch and
Reward Survey
Get $30 in
KashKick
Companies are eager to get their deals in front of consumers like you, and to get your feedback. In fact, your opinions are so valuable, they’ll even pay you for them! All you need is a few minutes and an internet connection.
From answering surveys to watching videos, there are always great, easy tasks for you to choose from with
Survey Junkie
With
In the UK?
Yet again, some of these cash back offers exclude the UK. However there are UK specific ones you will want to take advantage of, because again, free money right?
Quidco
- Check the
Quidco clicksnap grocery offers, buy the ones you want, upload a photo of your receipt and receive your cashback. - Whenever you are shopping online (something we do more and more right?) go via
Quidco and earn cashback for all your favorite retailers
5. Dump the junk
Too many times we justify small purchases by saying “it’s only….”. Doing that once a month might be okay, but multiple times every week? If you want to save money fast you need to get out of this mindset.
Starting thinking like a frugal person, build your frugal mindset. Treat everything you earn as a precious commodity not to be handed over for some cheap thing that won’t last and you’ll get bored of in double quick time.
Not buying a ton of stuff also means you house will feel less cluttered, you’ll have more time too as you won’t be spending it trying to find something that “was only….”
6. Wait to buy
Like buying junk, we are often all too quick to see something we like and buy it immediately. Not giving any thought to whether we had wanted it before we saw it. Or whether we do actually need it!
You know it’s all about want versus needs but still, you’ve seen it now and you want it so what can you do?
Wait to buy it.
Sometimes it’s good to employ the 30 day rule and sometimes it’s enough to just press pause. To wait a little while to see whether perhaps you don’t want it so desperately after all.
If you see something you suddenly think you want, make a deal with yourself to wait for a few days and revisit whether you do want or need it.
This gives you the chance to a) forget about it – more often than not this happens – and b) to decide whether you do want to hand over your money for that thing – and often you don’t.
We often buy in the heat of the moment. Let that moment pass, and you look at things differently. You can still think that something is really nice, but with the moment past, you may well not feel you need to buy it.
Money well saved.
7. simplify life
The more stuff you have, the more things you try to cram into your life, the more your life costs you. Slow down, have less going on, simplify your life.
Simplifying your life helps you save money and focus on what matters most. Because the things that are important to you are not crowded out by everything else.
Look at your average week. How much have you got going on each day and evening? What are they costing you in terms of money and time?
Prioritize those that are most important to you and dump the less important.
save money fast today and every day
These 7 tips will help you save money fast right from the get go but don’t scrimp on that money focus time. It will help you identify even more ways that you can save money, that perhaps apply to you alone.
Knowing how you spend money gives you a huge amount of knowledge and information that you can turn into action and create savings goals that matter to you.
Grab your copy of the money saving mini bundle to start identifying your savings goals
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Last Updated on 5th January 2022 by Emma
