We all go through a period in our lives where we want to save more money. With life being so expensive, prices continuing to rise. Finances differ based on your own personal situation. You might say to your self there is no way that I can save anything with all my expenses. There are practical changes to your daily routine that can slowly start saving you a couple of dollars that will grow over time.
Here are 5 easy to do tips that can start the savings process with minimal effort.
- Groceries: When shopping for your groceries be mindful that you can shop for the same product without purchasing the big name brand and save a few dollars. If you pay attention to the label you can get the same product, same nutritional needs at a lower price. You will be surprised to see that you can easily save $0.49 – $0.75 on each product.
- Coffee: Most of us are big coffee drinkers. We start off each morning stopping by our favorite coffee spot to pick up our favorite latte. Instead of making that daily stop for coffee. Purchase a traveling coffee mug, a bag of your favorite coffee, your favorite syrups, and start brewing your coffee at home. Most brands are offered in a k-cup also. Cut the amount of your coffee purchases, instead of 5 days a week cut your visits down to one day. You will be surprised on how easily you can save anywhere from $2.00 – $5.00 a day on coffee. That is a saving of $40-$100 a month!
- Reusable Water Bottle: If you’re drinking the recommended 64 ounces of water a day, that means you’re going through a 24-pack of bottled water a week, per person in your household. With so many places that offer a filtered water station, there is no need to purchase bottled water anymore. Purchase an at-home filter for your sink or a filtered water pitcher. You can also invest in a quality reusable water bottle that can run about $10-$20. Depending on the number of people in your household you can easily save about $0.55 – $0.74 on each bottle of water. In my home of 7 family members, once we converted we began to save $140 a month on bottled water.
- Lunch: I have to admit that in my home leftovers are not a big hit. So having leftovers for lunch the next day is just not something that would go easy in my home. I had to find another way to prepare fresh lunch without using leftovers. Eating out for lunch every day can easily run $5.00 – $10.00 a day. You can select one day of the week that you would treat yourself and bring in your lunch the other four days. If eating leftovers is something you enjoy then prepare a extra portion the night before. If you are like the members of my household, preparing a fresh selection of lunch will easily cost you less then $5.00 per day. You can easily save anywhere from $100 – $200 a month of lunch per person.
- Library: Who doesn’t love a good book? We all enjoy going to our local bookstore, skimming through the pages, and purchasing our favorite books. Many of us donate our books after to the local school or library. Some of us store them on a bookshelf and maybe never touch them again. Books are expensive and the majority of the time they are for one time use. Instead of purchasing books, pick up a free library card, and rent out the books. Many libraries carry the most recent selections and if they don’t have something that you are interested in reading. Many libraries will even order it for you at their own cost. If your a big reader you can easily save $20 -$55 a month.
Make small changes and you will see the cents turn into dollars!