When you need to find ways to save money every month and your budget is tight it can seem like a daunting task.
You have your budget, you’re trying your best to spend only what you earn.
But you want more, you want savings in the bank.
Fortunately, there are some tips and tricks that can make it much easier than you may expect.
Making just a few adjustments to your regular spending habits can help you to put away a significant amount of money.
Why Savings are important
Living from paycheck to paycheck is no fun.
If you spend every penny of your paycheck then you have nothing left for life’s little emergencies.
Or big ones.
You are just one paycheck away from a big financial problem.
That is why you need to be finding ways to save money every month, no matter the size of your paycheck.
And let’s be honest, it’s no fun worrying about money and whether you are going to be hit with a bill when you least expect it, or can afford it.
For sustained savings why not try a 52 week money challenge?
3 Easy ways to save money every month
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1. Give up One Regular Indulgence
We all have things we like to indulge in.
Sometimes these indulges can be quite frequent, maybe even on a daily basis.
Maybe it’s your morning trip to Starbucks to get coffee before work.
Perhaps you like to pamper yourself with pricey salon treatments, such as a facial or acrylic nails a few times each month.
For me it was tanning salon sessions. Yes I know how bad these are for your skin but they were my treat, until I gave them up.
These things are great if they’re not impacting your budget in a negative manner. It’s good to treat yourself when you can.
However, taking time to assess your spending on such indulgences is wise.
Let’s do our sums to see how giving one thing up can add up in savings.
You have a salon manicure twice a month.
Cost $20 each time
Yearly cost: $20 x 26 = $520.
Now your manicures may be very dear to you and that is fine. I am not picking on manicures specifically!
Work out the annual cost of your treats and indulgences and see which ones you could drop.
You may decide that you can give up one or two in order to save more money and to be more in line with your life’s goals.
Related post: 15 Things We Gladly Gave Up To Become Mortgage Free
2. Cut Things You’re Not Using
Another way to save some money that can be quite painless is to review your budget on a regular basis to look for things you can do away with.
Our lives are constantly changing.
Maybe that gym membership you signed up for wasn’t such a great idea, after all.
If you’re not using it and aren’t likely to, it’s probably a good idea to scrap it.
Take a look at subscriptions to services like cable, streaming and cell phone plans.
Are there things you can reduce or cut out completely?
Ask yourself these 3 questions:
- Do I get value from this service (or product)?
- Can I find it cheaper?
- Do I need it or can I do without it for now?
Cancel any that fail these questions, even better, get TRIM to do this for you.
Trim is a virtual personal assistant that constantly works to save you money.
Need to cancel your old subscriptions? TRIM can do this for you
Need to set spending alerts to keep your spending on track? TRIM can do this for you.
TRIM can even help you fight fees.
For each line in your budget add up the costs and weigh them against the benefits you are receiving from them.
Chances are, you’ll find a few expenditures that could easily be cut right out or at least reduced.
3. Change Up Your Grocery and Eating Habits
Do you eat out a lot?
That’s a sure way to spend a lot of money quickly.
Each trip to a restaurant or order of takeout adds up.
Even if you don’t want to stop eating out completely, doing so less often is a great way to increase your savings each month.
Taking a little time to plan and prepare will lessen your temptation to spend money at restaurants.
Menu planning ahead for the week, shopping for the ingredients and prepping in one day can help you set up your entire week’s worth of meals.
Menu planning help
If you are starting from scratch with planning meals then even this might seem too much when you’ve got a 101 other things to fit in.
It is very easy to feel overwhelmed by the idea of meal planning and worried that you just won’t be able to do it.
When you are feeling the overwhelm, don’t try and do it alone. Take the chance to use a meal planning service that suits you.
My favorite is Myfreezeasy because not only do you get a meal plan, you get to prep your meals in advance and quickly (10 meals in just an hour!).
You can grab yourself a free sample meal plan when you watch the free Freezer Cooking 101 Workshop.
If freezer meals and meal prep is not your thing then the
For just $5 a month you not only get a weekly meal plan, you get a grocery list of all the ingredients you will need to make those meals.
Given we can waste up to 30% of all the food you buy, $5 a month for recipes and a grocery list emailed to you every week is the perfect way to save money every month.
There is also a 14 day FREE trial to kick start your money saving if you use this service.
Oh, and if you are in the UK you can definitely use this!
Finding ways to reign in your spending on food can help both your budget and your waistline, if you’re strategic about it.
Ways to save money Every Month on a tight budget
Now you might be thinking – I’m already doing a lot of these and it’s not making a difference.
Firstly, be truly honest with yourself, are you doing these, always?
Maybe these 3 money saving tips only save you $20, that’s okay though, isn’t it?
Because it’s $20 more than you were saving before.
But of course I know you want to save more money and your budget is already tight.
The next step is to ramp up your creativity and see how you can save money in different ways.
These posts will not only show you ways to save money on a tight budget, they’ll also provide you with loads of money saving tips that I am sure you can apply right now.
How To Save Money Without A Budget
How To Cut Monthly Expenses: 35 Ways To Save Money
45 Creative Ways To Save Money (You Need To Know)
How To Survive, Thrive And Save Money On A Tight Budget
how to save money fast
Those 3 simple tips will help you save money this month.
But if you want to save more money fast then you need to make more changes, and fast.
The more changes you make (and stick to), the more money you can save.
The ball is in your court.
If you want to save $500 in 30 days, then you need to make $500 worth of changes.
You need to not spend $500 that you would otherwise have done.
Swap budgets
How to save money fast?
First things first. Cut your budget to the bone.
I am presuming you already have a budget that you’ve just tweaked to take account of the tips above.
If you don’t then this post is what you need to read: How To Budget Your Money When You Don’t Know How
When you don’t have a lot of money to play with and you are wanting to save more money fast, your normal budget isn’t going to work.
What you want is a survival budget.
A budget that doesn’t have any excess in it at all.
No luxuries, no fun things.
Because it’s not for ever.
A survival budget is one where you have cut everything to the bone to keep you going until you reach the money goal you have set yourself.
These posts will help you get started:
How To Survive, Thrive And Save Money On A Tight Budget
How To Live Fabulously On A Budget (And Save Money)
Cut Your Bills
Most companies rely on us not questioning our monthly bills, including internet, wireless and TV providers.
In many states and countries 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 even need to change company, you can contact your existing provider and request a discount.
Even better, get Billshark to ask for you.
Billshark negotiates lower prices on your monthly bills to save you time, money and hassle.
You could save hundreds each month with the help of professional bill negotiators at BillShark, starting today!
Stop spending
Stop spending. Period.
If you want to save money fast then you need to stop spending money fast.
If you don’t spend it, you’ll save it.
Have a week long no spend challenge, or aim even higher and go for the full month.
Worried that you won’t stick to this?
Start with some no spend days. I know you can do at least 2 no spend days this week if you wanted to.
Money saving goals
Keep these three simple tips in mind if you want to set aside more money each month.
Even better, create yourself a financial goal for how much you want to save and by when in order to keep yourself accountable.
There’s nothing like a goal to get you examining where you are spending your money and making different spending decisions.
Give these 3 different ways to save money every month a try and see how they make a difference in your bottom line.
Feel free to tweak and make adjustments that suit your lifestyle.
Grab your copy of the Money Saving Mini Bundle to set your goals and get saving:
Come and follow me on Pinterest for more money saving hints and frugal tips!
Last Updated on 11th June 2021 by Emma
