101 Ways To Save Money Every Day

I want to talk about 101 ways to save money every day. We all want to find some new ways to save a little or a lot of money. I talked about can openers on FaceBook one day by asking my readers “How Many Can Openers Do You Have?” I was thrilled when I received several of the comments about can openers, but one comment stuck out. The woman stated she had one, but she rarely opens any cans because she never buys food in cans. Alrighty, that’s awesome! I was eating a bowl of chili from a can with Ritz crackers at the time.

How to Save Money Every Day

I wish I could say I had just grated freshly picked carrots from my garden for my salad and topping them with tomatoes. Nope, I opened a can of chili without beans and enjoyed every bite with the crackers. My point on FaceBook was to make sure we all have 2-3 can openers at the very least. If you have food storage, you will need some can openers.

I looked in my pantry and decided to write a post about saving money, lots of money. There are several ways and here are a few ideas to get you started. Please get one or two can openers, trust me you will save money.

Seriously consider trying the items I’ve listed in this post. Be creative and stick to things you find work for your family.

101 Ways To Save Money

1. Buy case lot sales of the foods you will eat during the year, or for after a disaster.
2. Change your furnace filters often, it will save you money on furnace and A/C repairs and your monthly bills.
3. Refinance your home to a lower interest rate before they go up again as expected.
4. If you can afford it, refinance your home to a 15-year mortgage (it will save you tons of interest).
5. Have a no shopping, no spending money weekend. It’s amazing how many free activities you can enjoy.
6. Trade out paper napkins for cloth napkins.
7. Trade out paper towels for thin cloth diapers, these are my favorite ones: Cloth Towels/Thin Diapers
8. Don’t go grocery shopping if you are hungry, you will spend more money. Eat something before shopping.
9. Make a grocery shopping list and stick to it. Impulse purchases can really affect a budget.
10. Trade out your light bulbs to LED bulbs.
11. Add insulation to your attic, it should help cut your utility bills.
12. Wash your own windows on both the outside and inside your home. Be careful on that ladder!
13. Wash your car at home. It takes some time, but unless it’s cold outside, it can be fun and you’ll take pride.
14. Use Netflix and save money by staying out of the movie theaters.
15. Go to the park with your kids with a meal you make yourself, not take-out.
16. Watch for sales and stock up on toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste and menstrual monthly needs.
17. Skip the shampoo purchase and use baking soda and vinegar to wash and rinse your hair.
18. Buy food in bulk and parcel it out in bags, freeze if appropriate, use a FoodSaver if available.
19. Grow a garden. Yes, you can grow enough food for your family of 6 on a 1/4 acre of land for a year, I have done it.
20. Learn to sew so you can make and mend clothes. This seems to be a lost art. You can do it.
21. Learn to recycle thrift clothes to “new clothes,” my grandkids do this all the time.
22. Learn to grind wheat.
23. Learn to make bread from scratch. There’s nothing as tasty as a fresh slice of hot bread right out of the oven.
24. Check your pantry and practice eating out of it one week, do not go to the grocery store during this time.
25. Put your change you have in your pocket or purse in a jar, save money for a road trip.
26. Check your cable bill and see where you can cut costs.
27. Look at your cell phone bill and check to see what you could eliminate or consider changing plans.
28. Never opt for the in-store credit card to save 10%, you may be tempted to buy something on sale next month and pay interest on said purchase for months to come. Try to pay off credit cards each month.
29. Use leftovers to take to work for lunch tomorrow. Mark loved taking his lunch every day to work. We saved lots of $$$ over the years, and he ate more healthy foods too.
30. Make your own baby food, I used a baby food grinder similar to this one: Baby Food Grinder
31. Use cloth diapers, I raised my girls using them and they are still alive. Cloth Diapers or these are awesome as well Reusable Diapers
32. Use public transportation, sometimes they have a monthly pass that will save you money. You’d be surprised how much that second car really costs. It’s more than just the car payment and gas. Think of the insurance and upkeep too.
33. Eat out less and eat healthier at the same time.
34. Skip the soda or iced drink runs (those $$$$ add up big time).
35. Make your own birthday or holiday cards with colored cardstock, or buy them a local dollar type store.
36. Make your own smoothies at home, they are cheaper and you know what is in that healthy snack.
37. Buy second-hand toys, some at thrift stores look like new or rarely used.
38. If you want to paint your house, do it yourself, you will save big bucks, practice makes perfect.
39. Buy a large container of popcorn and pop it your self, usually, it’s cheaper than microwave popcorn.
40. Check out the FREE museums in your city or where you travel.
41. Check out movies at your local library.
42. Check out books from the library instead of purchasing a book.
43. Turn off the TV and read a book, you will save on your power bill.
44. Make homemade gifts rather purchasing gifts.
45. Cut your gift list dollar amount, less is better. I promise, kids need our time over expensive gifts.
46. Sell whatever you have in your home that no longer gives you joy or happiness, we don’t need stuff.
47. Invite your friends over to play games or cards.
48. Turn off all the lights in your home as you leave a room (I’m a crazy maniac over this).
49. Install a programmable thermostat, lower the temperature when you need to, and raise it to save money when it needs to be raised (program the temps and times).
50. Go walking or ride a bike over joining a monthly gym with a maintenance fee.
51. Use cleaners of choice to clean your remotes and light switches to cut down on viruses and sickness.
52. Buy low energy use appliances when you have to replace high-end appliances, check for power rebates when applicable.
53. Keep your return air vents vacuumed and clean (it will save you on power bills). Shut vents in rooms not used.
54. Vacuum safely around your freezers and refrigerators to keep the coils dust free.
55. Keep your bathrooms clean and wash your hands a lot to cut down on sickness in your home.
56. Check your car air filter, change it out as often as needed. It can save money based on better gas mileage.
57. Stay out of the outlets or shopping malls unless you absolutely need something new to wear.
58. Cut down your birthday giving list.
59. Cut down the dollars you spend on holiday gifts, especially Christmas gifts, share your time over money.
60. Visit your local city and county FREE events.
61. Eat less meat, unless you raise your own animals and slaughter them.
62. Get surge protectors. Our home recently got hit by lightning. Our house shook during a really bad electrical rain storm and we lost two TV’s and some pool equipment, among a few other things, totaling about $5000.00. I kept thinking I need to replace some of our surge protectors. If we had truly gotten hit by lightning those surge protectors would not have helped. But the items that had good surge protectors were okay. I was lazy and I didn’t switch them out. Expensive mistake.
63. Cut down on expensive vacations.
64. Set goals where you want to be moneywise in 5 years, home, car, different city or state.
65. Eliminate one car if possible, you will save money on property taxes and maintenance fees.
66. Exercise, eat healthily and take care of yourself, you are worth it.
67. Make a budget, know what is coming in and what’s going out. Stick to your budget. Consider using envelopes with cash for haircuts, groceries, and entertainment, when the envelope is empty, you wait until next month.
68. Save 10% of what you make and live on less.
69. If you get a raise, live on your old salary, put the raise $$$$ in a savings account.
70. Save money and buy a used car, pay cash for it.
71. Setup an automatic payment of your salary in a savings account, you will not miss it, watch it grow.
72. Setup all your bills on ACH automatic payment, they will never be late as long as you keep to your budget.
73. Lower your water heater temp to 120 degrees and put it on vacation mode if you go out of town.
74. Keep your car maintained when needed, check tire pressure and add window wash cleaner when needed.
75. Evaluate your car insurance, home insurance, and health insurance, compare with other companies, you will save a lot of money for the exact coverage if you shop and compare (I look at line by line).
76. Power strips, I use these on all lamps and small appliances in our two guest rooms, when our guests leave I turn all the strips to off.
77. Stretch your haircuts a bit longer.
78. Live on less than you make.
79. Live in a smaller home.
80. Clean out your closet and sell stuff on E-Bay or your local newspaper.  Consider anything you haven’t worn or used in the past few months.
81. Declutter and donate the items before they are outdated, it may give you a tax deduction.
82. Look for two for one purchase coupons for golfing or for eating out (coupons rock).
83. Invest in your local discount cards that give you two for one meals or entertainment opportunities.
84. Record your expenses and see where you can cut a few dollars.
85. Buy fruits and vegetables in season, you will save money and they will taste better.
86. Cut your landline, I went to a cable line for half the price of a regular landline.
87. Dehydrate or freeze excess fruit or vegetables you can see that you will not be able to eat them right away.
88. Insulate your water heater and strap it to the wall in case of an earthquake.
89. Use fans in rooms you use the most instead of lowering the A/C.
90. Close room doors and shut vents to cut down on utility bills.
91. Wash clothes in cold water if possible.
92. Considering canceling cable.
93. Instead of using an electric or gas dryer, use a clothesline.
94. Instead of dry cleaning your shirts, throw them in the regular laundry batch and then hand iron them.
95. Check the octane required for your car, you may be able to get by with a lower octane at a cheaper price.
96. Skip the pre-cut fruits, and veggies, you may save money by cutting them yourself.
97. Skip the impulse buying at the grocery store, stress may make you purchase things you really don’t need.
98. Grow your own herbs.
99. Cancel magazine subscriptions if you don’t really have time to read them.
100. Buy a refillable bottle instead of buying prepackaged water bottles. I highly recommend reverse osmosis, the water removes 99.9% of bacteria from the local water systems and saves on buying bottled water in the small or large containers.
101. Polish your own shoes rather than having the shoe shine guy do it for you.

Thanks again for being prepared for the unexpected. Let me know other ways you suggest saving money. We can cut the $$$$’s, money is money, let’s cut our expenses. May God bless this world.

100 Budget Meals by Linda