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Finding the motivation – and discipline – to save more money every month isn’t always easy. Nor is knowing where to start! In this artcile, we’re going to cover some of the best and most creative ways to save more money every month.
Almost everyone has areas in their budget that can be adjusted to help you save more money each month, and there’s also a number of things you can do to increase your income too. This list of over 60 ways to save more money every month is perfect whether you’re looking to increase your income, start paying off some debts or simply want to create some extra savings and stop spending so much money.
Not all of these options will apply to everyone – but if you could implement all 60 ideas I would love to hear from you! Take a look through this list and even if you pick two or three things to focus on this month, you could save hundreds in the long term.
So, let’s jump in: 60+ Ways to Save More Money Every Month:
1. Create a Budget
First things first: you need to create a budget. This will allow you to know exactly how much you make each month versus how much you spend, and will enable you to adjust accordingly.
Allocate your income to certain outgoings: groceries, bills, rent/mortgage payments, travel, recreational activities, savings etc. Zero-based budgeting is a more extreme form which means every penny is accounted for in your monthly budget – but you don’t have to go full-steam straight away. Start getting into the habit of budgeting now and eventually being mindful with your money will be second nature.
2. Track Your Finances
Tracking your finances ties in with creating a budget. If you don’t know how much money you have and how much you’re spending, it can be easy to end up spending more than you have.
Two extremely popular free apps for tracking your finances easily are Money Dashboard (UK) and Personal Capital (US). Use one of these apps to track your spending for a month minimum, and you’ll quickly get into much better spending and saving habits.
3. Swap Phone Providers
Phone plans are often a huge draw on many people’s budgets, costing upwards £30/$35 per month. Consider switching from a contract package to a Pay-as-You-Go provider. With wi-fi being free in almost every public space these days, you’ll be surprised at how little data you actually use anyway!
While you’re at it, if you’re in the UK you can make extra money by recycling your old phones with EE!
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4. Cancel Your Cable
Less TV is not only good for your health, but it’s good for your wallet too. Consider cancelling your TV provider altogether, and opting for a more frugal option. A digital antenna like this one makes a great replacement and is a one-off investment as opposed to a reoccurring monthly bill.
Alternatively, a service like Amazon Prime is far cheaper at only $10.99/month, and includes additional benefits such as free next-day delivery on your shopping and exclusive access to Kindle books – and a free 30-day trial to start off with.
5. Boost Your Income
There are many ways to boost your income without actually having to get another job, which can be extremely time consuming. One of the best ways to save more money every month on the side is by boosting your income with survey companies – no, they won’t make you a millionaire overnight, but with an hour or two spent online in the evenings, you can easily earn several hundred dollars every month.
Companies I have used and would recommend include:
Swagbucks is great because it’s a free rewards program that gives vouchers or cash payouts via PayPal for filling out surveys, watching videos, playing games and more. The more surveys you complete, the more SB Points you’ll receive – which you can then convert into money and withdraw at any time.
Sign up to Swagbucks for free here and you’ll receive a $5 welcome for simply registering.
This is another highly popular survey company that allows users to redeem points in return for filling out surveys and opinion polls. You can then convert these points into vouchers from top retailers including Amazon and Macy’s, or into cash payouts via PayPal.
You can sign up to Pinecone Research for free using my link here.
InboxDollars will give you a free $5 sign up bonus just for registering with them – that’s easy money. Similarly to the other survey sites mentioned above, InboxDollars have a range of opportunities in the form of surveys, opinion polls, and games, and can be an extremely handy way to earn some extra cash in the evenings.
Sign up here and get your free $5 sign up bonus now!
With survey sites, the number of surveys you can complete each day is often limited, so signing up to as many sites as possible boosts your ability to earn more income from them. Other legitimate survey sites worth checking out include Opinion Outpost, YouGov, Survey Junkie, and The Panel Station. Check out my full review of 10+ best survey sites here.
5. Earn Cash for Shopping Online
If I heard someone tell me I could earn cash by simply shopping online as I normally do, I’d think it was a blatant scam. However, with Ebates and Topcashback, you can genuinely earn money by shopping!
It basically works like this: when you make a purchase from a retailer by shopping via Ebates, Ebates will earn a commission for ‘referring’ you to that retailer (just like I make a commission off some of these links, at no cost to you!). Ebates then refunds that commission back to you. It’s really simple.
Check out my full review of shopping with cashback sites here.
6. Start Planning Your Food Shop
Groceries are one of the top places many people neglect to properly budget – often resulting in a lot of wasted money and ingredients!
Planning your food shop is the best way to easily save money every week – check out my guide to meal prepping here and I’ll send you a free weekly meal planner and shopping list to get you started!
7. Pack Your Own Lunch
On the same note, preparing your own food for every meal of the day is a guaranteed way to save money every month. Daily lunches out may be more convenient at work, but they quickly add up in a budget! Check out these 10 mouth-watering meal prep recipes and pack your own lunch this week. I’ve used a set of these lunch boxes in the past and they’re perfect when your lunch has multiple ingredients you don’t want to mix until you’re ready to eat them!
8. Start a Blog
OK, so this point is slightly different and a lot more long-term than the previous suggestions, but I have to throw it in! Since I started blogging this year, I have not only made an income (albeit small) from this site, but I’ve also become a far more motivated, driven person. Starting a blog has without a doubt been one of the best decisions I’ve made. If you have goals to save money, start blogging about that goal and you’ll be shocked at how good it is at keeping you accountable!
Blogging can be a small side hustle or a full-time income depending on how much time and effort you put into it. Personally, no matter how much I earn from my blog, it’s still been the best decision I’ve made this year.
Take a look at my TOTAL guide to getting set up with a blog, and I’d also recommend you check out BlueHost for hosting packages starting from $3.95/month with a free domain name included.
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9. Cut and Dye Your Own Hair
This suggestion may not be for everyone! If you are considering making a drastic move with your hair like cutting a fringe in or totally changing hair colours, seeking a professionals help is probably your best bet.
However, you could save hundreds every year by simply trimming your own hair and using DIY Hair Dyes to touch up your roots when needed. Even better, stop dyeing your hair altogether and grow it out!
10. Buy a Water Bottle
The amount of money many people spend on plastic bottles is insane, and not to mention extremely harmful to the environment. Buy a water bottle and make extreme savings on your budget every month – and contribute towards saving our planet too!
I’ve had my CamelBak Eddie for over a year and absolutely love it. CamelBak also has a lifetime guarantee, so when the top of my bottle needed replacing, they sent me a spare part free of charge! Having a water bottle also has the added bonus of making me drink a lot more water – I’d probably get through about 3 and a half while just sitting at my desk!
11. Workout for Free
Gym memberships are only worth it if you work out multiple days a week. If not, it’s probably more of a drain on your wallet than a help to your health! Quit the gym and find a free exercise routine instead.
I’ve listed 12 exercises that can be done from anywhere with minimal cost here.
12. Stop Buying Coffee Out
We all love a quick coffee fix, but even something as small as a daily cup of coffee can really add up! Invest in a good quality coffee brand to make your own coffee from home, and you’ll be amazed at how quickly the cash stacks up! Put that money into your savings or emergency fund and in just a few months time you’ll have a healthy addition to your savings.
13. Switch Utility Providers
If you haven’t switched utility providers in the last few years, you’re probably paying more than you should for gas, electricity, water, and internet. The simple fact is that most providers do not reward customers for loyalty.
Gather some quotes for alternative providers in your area – uSwitch advises that the average household can save hundreds by making a simple switch to a different provider!
14. Consider Investing in Double Glazing
Double glazing is a fairly expensive upfront cost, but it is an extremely worthwhile investment for the savings you’ll make on your heating bill in the long-term. If you have any drafts or leaks in your home, this can really impact how effectively insulated your house is in the colder months, so considering investing in this while it’s still warm outside is a smart move.
15. Use LED Lightbulbs
Make the switch to LED light bulbs today and you won’t regret it. These LED light bulbs are long-lasting (up to 10 years!), easier on the eyes, and energy-saving, with a predicted saving of $62.03 over the lifetime of the bulb! This is an easy and sensible way to make considerable savings in your home in just one day.
16. Conserve Energy at Home
Try to get into the habit of turning lights off in rooms you aren’t using and unplugging appliances when they’re not in use. This works even better if you get everyone in your home involved! Simply reducing the amount of energy you use around the home can work out to huge savings every year.
17. Consider Reducing Your Meat Intake
Going vegetarian is a personal choice and something I’m trying and struggling with right now, but whether you reduce your meat intake altogether or by a bit each month, you can save a lot of money.
Meat is typically a lot more expensive than plant-based ingredients, especially if you opt for better quality and ethically sourced cuts of meat. Try reducing your meat intake from 7 to 5 days a week, or less if want, and see how much it saves you over the course of several months.
18. Declutter
Living a more minimal life not only lets you save more money by selling your clutter online – it also encourages a habit of frugal living. When you live with less, you tend to want less too. Check out my guide to getting started with minimalism and consider trying out this extremely popular lifestyle for yourself.
19. Quit Smoking
If you smoke, it is without a doubt one of the biggest unnecessary drains on your wallet. It is difficult to quit smoking, but that certainly doesn’t mean it can’t be done. Think about your budget, but more importantly about your health, and quit smoking today. The bonus of putting yourself through it is the massive saving you’ll make by being a non-smoker!
20. Invest in Quality Clothing
While buying cheaper clothes may feel more budget-savvy at the time, it can actually end up being a much more expensive habit than we realise. Poor quality clothing often has a short lifetime, and means we have to replace those clothes much quicker than we’d like!
Instead, invest in fewer better quality garments that will last for years. It’s a dip in the budget now, but when you’ve had a coat for 10 years and it still looks as good as the day you bought it, a more expensive garment is well worth the investment!
21. Car Share or Walk to Work
If you have to commute to work by car or bus on a daily basis, that’s a large chunk of your budget! Consider walking or cycling to work if you can – and if it’s too far, ask your company if there are any car sharing schemes. If not, start one of your own!
Petrol is a massive money-guzzler, so any savings you can make here will really make a difference – and walking to work can also reduce a lot of stress too!
22. Wash Your Own Car
How often do you put off washing your own car until it looks so bad that you have to nip to the carwash to get it done properly? We’ve all been there! Try to get into a habit of washing your cash yourself, and save yourself some cash each month!
23. No-Spend Weekends
Have fun for free with a no spend weekend – and no, that doesn’t mean sitting inside your home wiling away the time! Check out these list of 50 free activities perfect for no spend weekends for some fun inspiration.
24. Shop Smart
Get savvy with your shopping and plan your purchases around sales. That means winter coats in the middle of summer and holiday bargains when it’s freezing outside! It can be a pain to have to sort through the sales, but shopping online makes this far more bearable – as do the huge savings you can make with some savvy planning!
25. Do More at Home
Do your date nights or social outings to restaurants and movies take a big chunk out of your budget? It’s often hard to find the balance between keeping your social life and maintaining a budget when you really want to make some savings. Try to get the best of both worlds by doing more activities at home. Explain to your friends that you want to save money and you could take in turns to host movie nights, host dinner parties and even have some old-fashioned board game nights in!
26. Be Frugal
Frugal living means spending smarter, not always spending less. Prioritise what you want to spend your money on – things that make you happier – and focus on cutting down your spending everywhere else. Simply having this intention and thinking about it before you spend can help you save enormous amounts.
27. Keep a Change Jar
Keep a change jar that you deposit all your spare cash in every week. This will stop you from spending it absent-mindedly, and can add up to a nice amount of change at the end of the week! Be sure to pop this in your savings or allocate it in your budget properly to make sure it doesn’t end up being spent on something that’s not worth it.
28. Save Money on Holidays
Get frugal when you’re going on holiday with these fail-safe ways to save money when travelling abroad. Tips include great ways to save more money every month even when you’re abroad such as booking accommodation from the right places, taking multiple cards with you, and knowing where to do your research!
29. Consider Refinancing Your Student Loans
This advice is dependent on where you live, as rushing to pay off your student loans is not sound advice for UK readers. However, this may be an option for you – consider refinancing your student loans to get a better rate of return.
30. Start Your Own Allotment
Starting your own vegetable garden is a great hobby to have, and can help you save a lot of money on food every month! Try focusing on a few easy-to-grow vegetables and see how you do – within a year or so you could have a thriving garden with no need to spend any of your money on shop-bought greens!
31. Sell Your Car
If you don’t use your car often or are paying a hefty amount in lease fees every month, consider getting rid of your car altogether. You could buy a cheaper one for cash instead, or switch to walking and use Uber or Lyft to get around instead!
Other great ways to save more money every month include:
34. Line dry your laundry
35. Rent out your driveway
36. Rent out a spare room on Air BnB
37. Cancel your landline phone
38. Take shorter showers
39. Get a second job
40. Join a library instead of buying books
41. Cut eating out down to once a week
42. Shop seasonally
43. Buy generic or shops-own brands
44. Do your laundry on cold-washes
45. Cancel all unused subscriptions
46. Shop at garage/car boot sales
47. Flip items on eBay
49. Plan meals on a weekly basis
50. Do more DIY
51. Wait to watch films from home and skip the movies
52. Limit impulsive buys
53. Make a shopping list – and stick to it!
54. Build a capsule wardrobe
55. Avoid using credit cards to reduce interest
56. Buy energy-efficient appliances
57. Change car insurance providers
58. DIY beauty products
59. Make your own household cleaning items
60. Apply for student discount cards
61. Sign up to discount sites to get the latest deals
62. Find free local events in your area
I hope you enjoyed this list! The ways you can save money every month are endless, but implementing any of the ones above is a great place to get started on a more frugal habit.
Do you have any ways to save more money every month that I haven’t mentioned? Let me know in the comments below!
Shelli says
Love this list. I think it really makes you feel free as you start to incorporate this into your lifestyle! Thank you for sharing. I have a ways to go. Printing out the list makes me more aware!