10 Practical Things You Can Cut To Save Money Faster

Word Of Warning; It Isn’t Easy To Save Money

       It’s always tough to save money, there’s always more things to buy or build or replace or fix, or whatever. So keeeping on top of saving your hard earned money isn’t easy, especially when the prices for everything seem to just keep going up. Groceries are more expensive, gas is more expensive, going out to eat or to the theaters has become a luxury for many that few can afford anymore. So how can we set aside any money for our future when we can barely mange to pay our bills? 

       First, it’s important to set up a budget to begin with. This website comes with a complimentary budget planner to help you start out. So feel free to check out that resource to help you get started. Setting up a budget is the first step in achieving money mastery.

Once you have a budget set up that you can reference regularly to help you reach your goals, you’re already the first step on your journey. Simply calculate how much money you make every month, and how much you spend every month. Write it all down, and see what needs to be cut. Some of these things might hurt, but in the long run, it’s very beneficial to your financial health and longevity. So buckle up, and let’s get into it! 

        What kinds of practical things can you cut out? 

1. Entertainment. 

        I told you this might hurt a bit, but how much do you want to get ahead in life? It can be very eye opening to look over all of your expenses and think about what you actually use every month and what you don’t. A lot of people have multiple streaming service in their homes as well as cable, spotify, amazon music, etc. I’m not saying you have to get rid of every form of entertainment you have, although there can be benefits to having more time playing board games or reading books with your family in comparison to watching shows or movies all the time.

But my point here is that it can be a good thing to look over all of your monthly or yearly subscriptions to different forms of entertainment, and deciding how much of that do you actually use. It might not be a bad idea to cut some of those platforms off. For example, a lot of families I know use both Disney+ and Amazon Prime, or Netflix, or PureFlix.

While each platform offers something unique, if you’re honest with yourself; do you really need multiple platforms for entertainment? If you do have several different memberships to these kinds of platforms, it’s worth reevaluating how much your money is worth to you and whether or not to cut out some of these entertainment options. 

 2. Gym Memberships

          Did you read that right? Is a personal trainer actually telling you to put away your gym membership and not renew it? That depends. Do you use it? Is it worth the money to you. The majority of Americans today buy gym memberships so they get motivated to go to the gym, but they never go. So they’re paying a couple hundred dollars a year (per person depending on what gym you go to) and they’re not getting anything for their money. I personally am a fan of home gyms myself.

Don’t get me wrong. As a fitness nut myself, I love the environment of the gym experience. Not to mention the many weight machines, pools, Zumba classes, boxing bags, and TRX straps that gyms offer, as a busy mother, it’s hard to find time to actually go to a gym. So for me, I do my workouts at home because then I am guaranteed the ability to work out. Otherwise, I have to either have a babysitter or go to a gym that offers a daycare. Those are limited in the area I live in. 

        Gym memberships can be a wonderful thing if used right. If you buy one with all the amenities, (and you actually use it consistently) you can save on your water bill by showering at the gym, you can get some great exercise and boost your health and mental wellness all at the same time, and feel empowered every day. But that’s if you use the gym membership. If you don’t, nix the monthly/yearly expense. Save money quickly. And it’s worth mentioning; even if you do use your gym membership regularly, be honest and ask yourself if there’s a cheaper location that would work better for you and your budget. 

3. Eating Out

             Don’t look at me like that; you knew this was going to be on the list. Why? Because it’s far cheaper to make your own meals at home than it is to eat out every day or even once a week. Cutting back on eating out is a terrific way to save money faster. By all means, put a little bit of enjoyment for dining out in the budget. No need to deny yourself completely. But you need to be realistic with your goals and your action plan. So plan to eat at home more. This could mean more planning ahead. That’s good anyway because that’s the next step that I was planning to mention: 

4. Meal Planning

            Actually taking time to plan out a meal is a great way to budget. It takes time out of your busy day, yes. But it relieves you of so much headache later in the week when you are tired and don’t know what to make and you’re tempted to order pizza or some kind of food delivery, this way you have everything all planned out.

Meal planning is more cost efficient as well because you can plan ahead to stretch out meals, shop according to the menu you have set up for that week, and you can put more effort into making food you enjoy for cheaper. Plus, who doesn’t love having leftovers? I love making big batches of meals when I know I’ve got a busy week. It makes my job so much easier without spending more money on eating out.

        You don’t have to live off of chili or spagetti for a week either to do this. I like to make a big batch of taco meat. My husband has no issue with the same meal over and over again, because we don’t do that. I might make taco salad the first night, burrito bowls or burritos another night, tacos, enchiladas, etc. There’s a wide variety of options you can come up with to stretch out your food without it feeling like you are having the same meal all the time.

Plus, you don’t have to eat all of the leftovers right away. A typical leftover planned week might be taco salad on Monday, Chicken Lazone on Tuesday, Tacos on Wednesday, Chef Salad on Thursday, and Burrito Bowls or another Taco Salad on Friday. (My husband loves my taco salad, so we actually have it quite a bit.) You can mix it up to keep the variety going and still stretch out the dollar and your groceries. 

5. Hair & Nail Care

          This is something that can add up quick. My husband likes my hair really long, so I don’t actually go to hair salons very much. And on the rare occasion that I paint my nails (yes, I’m a tomboy so it’s very rare), I find that for me it’s easier to just do it myself. Which means my nails get painted about once a year at most.

However, the prices of these services if you’re paying for a professional to do it, is very high. Women’s hair cuts (without any fancy styling or dying or anything) can be a starting price of $75. That is a lot of money. I know because I convinced my husband to let me try my hair shorter for awhile. (A joking deal we made, I keep my hair long if he keeps the beard I love so much.)

I went to a relatively cheap place for nothing more than a haircut, and was shocked at the price. Since it was one of the only times we’ve chosen that expenditure, we agreed it was fine. But I can’t even imagine doing that every month. As for dying your hair, or for getting a perm, you can spend hundreds of dollars on that easily. So it might be worth it to consider doing these things yourself, or maybe cutting back on that for awhile. After all, most women have a beautiful hair color already. As for impressing the husbands with our extreme beauty; most men that I’ve talked to (my husband included) actually prefer the more natural look. 

6. Paper Towels & Other Disposable Products

            You can save money by buying reusable cloth towels or rags for cleaning. (No, I’m not going to tell you to use reusable toilet paper. You can make that decision on your own. Although a Bidet might be a good way to save money.) If you choose, you can also switch to cloth diapers for your kids. I know a lot of mothers that love it and talk about the many benefits. I personally though, am happy to continue to pay for disposable diapers and cut costs elsewhere. Cloth diapers are just not something that I am willing to use. No thank you.

As for paper towels; you can save money easily by just buying resusable and washable rags or towels that will work instead. Then you’re not spending money all the time on something disposable. We switched over to cloth napkins as well, and there’s something that feels fancier about using cloth napkins. Maybe because when I was a kid, only the fancy restaurants had cloth napkins. So I automatically feel like a much nicer host when I have guests and we have nicely ironed cloth napkins that go nicely with the tablecloth and the dishes. But, maybe that’s me. 

7. Carpooling

           While this can be beneficial if you’re in the work force and you happen to have the same route as a coworker who needs to get to the same place at the same time, it’s not just for work. This could be as simple as planning all of your errands for one day instead of on many.

We save money on fuel economy by planning days when my husband needs to go buy tools or parts for his work, on the same day that I might need to go grocery shopping or have some other errand to run. We save on fuel, we get great quality time together, and I get help carrying the groceries down all the stairs into our house. Win, win win!

8.  Buy Generic Items

           Don’t worry about name brand items. Just get what will get the job done. You don’t have to focus on getting all of the nice, fancy things when you can get basically the same thing for cheaper. Don’t buy the expensive toilet paper when the cheaper brand will work just as well. Same for food items. For example, if you go to Stater Bros. for groceries, often their store brand is far cheaper than a lot of the other things on the shelf next to them. I save money by buying the cheaper item that is just as good as the “name brand” item.

9. Buy Used 

         You can get a lot from second hand stores, thrift stores, or from yard sales. While you might have a hard time finding some things that you need sometimes, you will save money in the long run, and you can still get some really nice stuff.

There’s a “Kid’s Swap’n Shop” nearby where we live, and they specialize in kids’ clothing. My husband and I love going there to buy clothes for our kids because the clothes are well taken care of, (not all stained and dirty looking) and instead of twenty dollars  or more for an outfit for our kids, you can pick up a shirt and pants for $3.50 each. Pretty sweet deal, and we’ve found a lot of really fun outfits. So that’s another way to save money. 

          You can do the same thing with a lot of things being used. Buying a used car is far cheaper than buying a new one, and it will take you just as far as long as you get one that’s in good shape. You can buy furniture or kitchen equipment second hand as well. Just make sure to look it over first to figure out why it’s being sold, and that it is in good shape and will work for you. 

10. Wait To Buy

          Just because you see something you like doesn’t mean you have to buy it right away. Companies always act like it’s the last item on earth and if you don’t buy the item right now, then you’ll never have a chance again. But that’s not true. Worst case scenario, it is the last item in stock, and you have to wait for another shipment to come in. Waiting to buy gives you time to think about whether or not the item is something you actually want and will use, or are you just excited about the marketing of this new shiny product that they are working hard to sell to you hook, line, and sinker?

Companies are really good at making their merchandise look flashy and fun, something you really need to buy right now! But you don’t. If it’s something that really piques your interest, wait. Think it over. Talk to your spouse. Shop around. Is there a cheaper option that will work just as well? Do you really need this item?

If the answer at the end of this waiting and discussion period is still yes you want it, and it’s a good buy that you can justify; then go ahead and get it. But I think you’ll be surprised by how many things you’ll realize you don’t actually want or need later on, the company just excited you with their flashy commercial and marketing strategy. Which is what they specialize in. 

             Utilizing these strategies can help you significantly with getting ahead in saving money, so don’t be afraid to plan it out. Talk with your spouse and get on the same page, and begin heading in the direction that you want to be. Towards your financial freedom. If you want more tips for saving money; then go to this post: https://silveroakfinance.com/save-money-quickly/

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