10 Ways To Save Money For The Average Person

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Everyone wants to save more money, right? In reality, I haven’t met to many people who say that they save too much. In fact, now that I’m thinking about it, I actually never have, haha!

If you’re looking for money saving strategies, then you’ve come to the right place.

As a personal finance expert, I see a lot of ways that people may be wasting their money, or, at least, not saving money to their best potential.

Even if you’re already taking part in some of these money saving strategies, if you could just find a couple more ways, you may be able to reach your financial goals a little more quickly.

Here are 10 money saving strategies so that the average person can start saving money.

 

1. Find a quality bank.

Not all banks are created equal.

Some offer many more valuable benefits than others.

A bank you may want to look further into is CIT Bank. This bank gives consumers competitive deposit products, such as CDs and a high-yield savings account, which can help you to save more money.

In fact, they have a new product called Savings Builder.

Savings Builder is a tiered savings account that offers a competitive Annual Percentage Yield for customers that carry qualifying balances or commit to a monthly qualifying deposit.

You can earn up to 2.15% with Savings Builder. This is MUCH higher than the average bank – 26 times the national average to be exact!

This can be a great way to save for your emergency fund, a financial goal, and more, so that it’s not just sitting there earning nothing.

The minimum to open the account is $100 and there is no opening, monthly servicing, online transfer or incoming wire fees.

 

2. Pay yourself first.

Paying yourself first is when you put money into savings as soon as you receive your paycheck. Or, I know some who “pay themselves first” by putting extra money towards their debt as the first thing they do each month. There is no right or wrong answer – basically just pay off or save towards whatever you think you should be doing and do it FIRST.

This is the first thing you do with each paycheck – you don’t even pay your other bills first. Try to think of savings (or debt) as the very first bill you have to pay each month.

This is a great money saving strategy that can help you be better with your budget.

 

3. Create a budget.

A budget helps people manage their money better, so that their money doesn’t control them.

A budget can keep you mindful of your income and spending. With a budget, you know how much you can spend in a specific category each month, how much you have to work with, what spending areas need to be evaluated, among other things.

Budgets have helped people reach their goals, pay off debt, make more money, retire, and more.

 

4. Have an emergency fund.

An emergency fund is something I believe that nearly everyone should have, and this is one of the easy ways to save money as it can help you greatly in the future.

An emergency fund can help you if you lose your job, if your hours are cut, if you have a surprise expense, and so on.

Learn more at The Ultimate Guide On Emergency Funds.

 

5. Start bringing your lunch to work.

I read an interesting statistic that said Americans, on average, spend around $3,000 a year on lunches. That is a mix of eating out and eating in when at work.

That is a lot of money, just spent on lunch! And, I’m sure some of you had no idea that it could add up so quickly.

And, that’s the thing about buying lunch at work – it’s a small purchase that doesn’t seem like it would add up to much.

By bringing your lunch to work, you may be able to save a significant amount of money every year.

Related: The Ultimate Guide of Over 50 Money Saving Tips

 

6. Think before you make a big purchase.

Before you make a big purchase and spend a good amount of money, you may want to ask yourself a few questions to make sure that it is actually worthwhile. The questions you may want to ask yourself include:

• Do I actually need this?
• What else could I spend this amount of money on?
• Can I afford it?
• Can the large purchase wait 24 hours?
• Can I borrow the item from someone instead of buying it?
• Is there a return policy?
• What else is the item going to cost?

 

7. Quit paying for TV.

The average monthly cable bill is over $100. By the year 2020 (that’s really not far away at all!), the average cable bill is expected to be around $200 a month.

If you are looking for money saving tips that will change your life, no longer paying for TV is one of my top tips.

We don’t pay for any form of TV (not even Netflix!), and it definitely helps us to live simply and save money.

 

8. Start investing.

You want to invest your money so that you can:

• Retire in the future- and possibly even retire early!
• Prepare for unexpected events in the future.
• Allow your money to grow over time.

Read more at How To Start Investing With Little Money.

 

9. Don’t keep up with the Joneses.

Another easy way to save money is to stop buying things just because others are. When trying to keep up with the Joneses, you might spend money you do not have. You might put expenses on credit cards to “afford” things. You might also buy things that you do not care about.

The problems can go on and on.

This can lead to an excessive amount of debt and potentially set you back years with your financial goals, if not decades.

 

10. Go to the library.

A library can be a great way to have fun without spending any money.

You can check out the latest bestseller, a classic you’ve been wanting to read, or borrow a movie, which you can then bring home and have a fun night in with friends and/or family members. I’ve even heard of libraries that rent out outdoor gear, such as for hiking!

This is definitely one of the easy ways to save money as all you need is a library card.

What is your top money saving strategy?