Best Ways to Save Money

Don't tip.

That's it.

I have more money to spend elsewhere or to get another meal.

Most of my friends have finally caught on and have also stopped tipping.

They genuinely seem happier.

Try it at a restaurant near you!

Sometimes there isn't anything else to cut and you need to increase income.

Cooking by myself instead of eating out

Trace your expenses. This is the first step. Once you know what you are expending on you can properly cut

Lately I’ve been trying to cut back on spending and realized some small habits add up way faster than I thought. Things like brewing coffee at home, using cashback apps, or even swapping subscriptions with friends.

I’m curious, what’s your go-to money saving hack that actually makes a difference? Could be something super practical, something sneaky you discovered by accident, or just a little trick that feels almost like cheating the system.

Would love to steal some ideas from you all, what’s been working for you?

Cancel subscriptions you forgot about (streaming services you don't watch, app subscriptions on auto-renew). Also switch to a cheaper phone plan - most people overpay for data they never use.

Second thing is negotiate your insurance rates annually or shop around, and lower your thermostat a couple degrees in winter. Those are set-it-and-forget-it cuts that actually add up.

I regularly see people talking about eating out less and doing more meal prep as a top way to cut costs, and it really is effective, but I want to know what other things can one cut down on or plan differently or do differently or add to our daily life to save money. I don’t drink, don’t buy coffee out more than once a month if that, I get most of my groceries at Aldi, and the rest at Kroger, always shopping sales and planning around them. What else can I do?

Check out all the local library has to offer.

If you switch to cloth diapers, consider flats with a hemp doubler and a shell. The doublers are expensive, but they hold so much pee! The flats dry super fast and do not need any fancy folds. They are also relatively cheap.

What do we do? We hang dry everything. We track every mile and drop of gas aka we combine trips. We swap with neighbors for items. We live in the basement during the Summer (no AC) or in community cooling spots.

We do not waste food ever. Everything gets used and often sequentially.

We have very, very honest discussions about why we're doing what we're doing, our resources, etc.

We work as a team.

Reduce or avoid drugs/alcohol/cigs or other vices.

48 hour holding period before I buy anything. I usually forget.

I'm interested to hear how others are making their dollar stretch during these times and what hacks are working best for them. I'll go first. Some of the hacks that I have implemented are,

-Buy a freezer so you can stock up when food items go on sale

-Plan my grocery budget. Figure out what the sale prices are for items that you purchase regularly. When these items go on sale, stock up and buy enough to get you through to the next sale (ie. toilet paper - NEVER pay full price for toilet paper)

Shop in bulk at Asian grocery stores, it's where I get my rice, lentils, and spices. Much cheaper. Learn how to make cheap and healthy meals from pantry staples (lots of beans, pulses, whole grains).

Cut out all of your subscriptions, use Libby/Kanopy.

Use buy nothing groups.

Do free activities (parks, libraries often have museum passes, outdoor concerts, etc.)

Cloth diapers are a great idea, make sure you have a washing machine with a sanitize or ultra hot feature.

Don't buy yourself things as a treat or because you deserve it as a reward. Think of other ways to treat yourself that are free.

Get a CSA since you want to focus on quality produce, cheaper to buy ahead of time than to buy every week.

Carry snacks on you at all times so you aren't tempted to eat out because you're hungry.

Remember that we humans are very adaptable, there are things that I thought I couldn't live without ten years ago that don't even cross my mind anymore. It's not about depriving yourself, it's about living within your means so you don't have to stress so much about money and you can focus on enjoying life and being present with your family.

I'm sure this comment section will be full of great ideas!

My family is needing to cut down on spending in the near future. There are a few things we will not skimp on such as organic grass fed milk for our son, certain organic purchases on fruits, veggies and nuts, etc. we’re considering switching to cloth diapers because we currently have 2 under 2 in diapers, and it’s extremely expensive. We also mainly eat vegetarian, and buy things on sale often. I’m just wondering what other people do to save the most money! I guess I’m looking for ideas to trim our budget!

Edit: Thank you for all the responses so far! I just want to clarify a couple of things.

1) I should have said our family would like to cut down on spending not needing to. We’d like to have some more wiggle room in our budget.

2) I have a budget, but I wasn’t wanting help with trimming my budget in the way of posting it and having people tell me where I can save. I can definitely do that. I also think it’s ultimately not the best way to go about it because I know what I’m not willing to spend less on, and someone else might feel it’s unnecessary spending (like our organic purchases). I was more so asking to see what other people have done to save money to see if there are any odd things I haven’t thought about. For example, several people mentioned about phone plans and switching to Mint Mobile. I’ve already switched to Visible, but that wouldn’t have been something I thought about on my own, my very frugal friend told me about it. Just looking for things like that!

OK I’m 20 i’m good at saving money but I just need to know better ways at saving large sums of money. I know it might sound unrealistic but it’s realistic to me. I want to save up half million-$1 million dollars what is the best way to do this and how would you do this?

Put as much money as possible into a savings and investment account. Repeat.

Where you are saving it makes a big difference. Your money should be making money.  

Increase income, keep expenses low, invest passively (first in tax advantaged accounts then taxable brokerage), and live life.

And when you get raises or better jobs. Don’t spend all the new income.

I’d say I got a 75k job when my previous one was 50k, I split the difference and live like I made 62.5k.

So 12.5k(after taxes $9k or so) goes straight to savings / retirement. Plus I now have about $9k or so extra per year for quality of life improvements