Eager to know how to retire rich? It might be surprising that Dave Ramsey‘s site has one of the best money hacks I’ve seen recently. Drive Free, Retire Rich explores the impact of carrying a car payment, and offers ideas on how your money can be used more wisely. Though the sentiment is familiar, I find Ramsey’s approach novel.
You want a brand-new sports car that would normally cost you $475 a month. The car you’re driving now is worth around $1,500. If you take that $475 and pay yourself instead of paying the dealer, you’ll have $4,750 in just ten months. Add that to the $1,500 you can get for your current car, and you can pay cash for a used $6,250 car. That’s a major upgrade in car in just 10 months — without owing the bank a dime!
But let’s keep going. If you kept saving at that rate, you’d have another $4,750 in another 10 months. Chances are, less than a year later, you could sell your $6,250 car for about what you paid for it. This means that you can step up again — with cash — into an excellent $11,000 used car just twenty months from today. Not bad!
Not bad, indeed. Ramsey goes on to explain how you could actually get “free” cars by investing your $475/month and using the returns to purchase your vehicles. (The assumed 12% return is a stretch, though the overall point is valid.)
Car Values and Financial Freedom
How might I make this idea work for me?
Instead of buying a new car from a dealer, I could set aside the amount I’m willing to spend on a monthly payment. The presentation uses $475/month as an example. I could never pay this much for a car. I’d be willing to go as high as $250/month.
After a year, I’d have saved $3,000 for a car. According to kbb.com, the trade-in value on my current car is $3,700. Using these two sources, I could buy a better used car for $6,700.
Here’s where it gets interesting. If I kept making $250 payments to myself, I’d have another $3,000 saved at the end of the second year. Let’s say the $6,700 car lost another $1,000 in value and was now worth $5,700. I could trade it in and use my saved money to upgrade to an $8,700 used car.
I can continue this cycle until I reach the level of car with which I’m comfortable. After that, the amount I need to save each year would decline sharply. I wouldn’t have to save to upgrade my car, simply to maintain the level of quality.
I’ll certainly remember this for the future. As soon as I’ve repaid my home equity loan, I plan to begin saving for a car!
Jeff Yeager calls himself the Ultimate Cheapskate. He’s serious about saving money. He’s the sort of guy who soft-boils his morning eggs by putting them in the dishwasher while it runs. In a package he sent me recently, he included his business card, which is simply a rubber stamp printed on a piece of a brown paper bag. His wife calls him the cheapest man in America, and he’s proud of it.
The road map to true riches Yeager has a new book called The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches, in which he preaches the virtues of frugality and the dangers of mass consumption. Before the first chapter, he offers a statement of purpose:
Living on less is a good thing to do. It’s the only financial advice that will work for almost everyone. It’s about a quality of life that you cannot buy, a sense of satisfaction you cannot fake, and an appreciation for others that gives life value. It’s also about helping save the planet and sharing with those in need. Living on less can be funny, but it’s no joke.
That short paragraph summarizes Yeager’s approach to personal finance. He may be cheap, but he has fun with it. In fact, this is the first personal finance book I’ve read that is truly funny. Andrew Tobias has moments of humor, but this book is funny throughout. (Some of Yeager’s humor is rated PG-13, though. If mild swearing and occasional orgasm references bother you, be warned.)
Six golden rules to ruling your gold Yeager believes that most Americans are caught in a vicious cycle: They earn money to spend money to buy what they want. They never have enough. The key, he says, is to “slay your enoughasauraus“, that nasty monster inside each of us that makes us want just a little more.
His first step is to practice a “fiscal fast”. Live for a week without spending money. Take notes on what it’s like to go seven days without spending: what were you tempted to buy and how did it make you feel? From there, you can move on to his “six golden rules for ruling your gold”:
Live within your means at thirty, and stay there. I’ve often wished that I had maintained the standard of living I had at 25. Instead, I got caught up in lifestyle inflation. If I’d had the willpower early, I could have a lot saved by now!
Never underestimate the power of not spending. In The Wealthy Barber, David Chilton notes that a penny saved is worth more than a penny earned. An after-tax penny is actually worth about a penny-and-a-half of income. It’s worth even more when you consider the returns you miss by not investing it.
Discretion is the better part of shopping. You know all those money hacks I share to trick yourself while shopping? Here’s where they come into play. Establish a 30-day waiting period before making big purchases. Always ask, “Is this a want or a need?” I like one of Yeager’s suggestions: Carry a “what the hell was I thinking?” list in your wallet or purse on which you’ve written all the stupid things you’ve purchased over the years. (Mine would be too big for my wallet!)
Do for yourself what you could have others do for you. Grow your own food. Change your own oil. Do your own home maintenance. By taking on a few chores you usually pay others to do, you can save money.
Anyone can negotiate anything. Daiko recently wrote that we should ask for a better financial future, requesting better deals when we deal with big companies. Bartering can save you money, too.
Pinch the dollars, and the pennies will pinch themselves. This is the message that Elizabeth Warren preaches: limit your spending on the big things (like your mortgage), and you won’t have to worry so much about saving money on groceries. It’s best to be frugal in all aspects of your life, but pay particular attention to the big stuff.
There’s a lot more to The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches. Yeager covers topics like:
Eating well for cheap. (Yeager tries to buy food that costs less than a dollar per pound.)
Buying a sensible home and then repaying the mortgage as soon as possible.
Commuting without a car.
Cheap entertainment. Yeager encourages readers to make the most of their hobbies.
Ultimately, the message of this book is that stuff will not make you happy. Happiness comes from knowing when you have enough. In his final chapter, Yeager stresses the importance of amassing a quality of life over a quantity of stuff. “Many choices you must make [involve] the trade-off between money and time,” he writes. “By being cheap…you’re valuing time and the things you can do with it more than money and the things you can buy with it.”
Conclusion This book was actually less about frugality and thrift than I expected. When I started reading, I thought there would be practical tips along the lines of The Tightwad Gazette and Your Money or Your Life. Yeager does share frugal ideas in sidebars scattered throughout the book’s 225 pages, but most of the information here is straight-up personal finance advice with an emphasis on pinching pennies. (That’s not a bad thing — it’s just not what I was expecting.)
I admire the way Yeager draws together a wide variety of sources. Too often, personal finance writers seem to live in a vacuum. You can read an entire Suze Orman book and never see a reference to work from anyone else. Yeager’s not afraid to recommend other reading, including some of my favorites: Stumbling on Happiness, The Not So Big House, and Your Money or Your Life. He draws on the ideas of Warren Buffet, Dave Ramsey, and Elizabeth Warren.
This is an excellent book for anyone just beginning to wrestle with personal finance. It’s especially good for those trying to escape the chains of consumerism. In a recent e-mail discussion Yeager told me, “I’m trying to reach a new audience, including folks who have never and probably will never pick up a typical PF book.” With its casual blend of humor and good advice, The Ultimate Cheapskate’s Road Map to True Riches has a solid chance to meet this goal.
Addendum: Trent at The Simple Dollar has posted his review of the book. He likes it, too!
This is a guest post from Spencer, a GRS reader in New York.
As a guy who just finished paying off $14,000 in credit card debt, I wanted to share one tip that helped me get over the bad debt hump. I allocate my spending money on a per diem system. At the beginning of each cycle of my monthly budget, I set aside funds for:
Every fixed expense that I have (rent, cable/internet, groceries, power)
Any unique expenses (a plane ticket, for example)
And, of course, my savings (about 8 percent of my after-tax, after-401k income)
After allocating this money, I go to the bank, withdraw the remaining funds in cash, and divide it among envelopes for each day of the month. Each day, I open an envelope and add the day’s cash to my wallet. For me, the physical parceling of the cash is an important psychological step.
I tried just having the cash on hand and doling out the right amount each day, but I kept dipping into it whenever I was in a pinch. By investing a small amount of work in the division of the cash, dipping into my reserves makes me feel like I am undoing work instead of just taking an advance.
My all-cash diet keeps me honest about my spending habits. When I started, I allocated one amount for Monday through Thursday, and double that amount for weekends and holidays. I have more leeway in my cash flow after paying off my credit cards, so now I just have one flat rate for each day.
Here’s why I like my system:
Because my budget takes account for my necessities and savings, I never have to feel guilty about spending money. My per diem is meant to be “walking around” money — the whole point of having it is to spend it.
Spending only cash stops me from treating my finances as out-of-sight, out-of-mind. I know darn well how much I can spend because it’s right there in front of me.
Although my per diem is meant to be spent, I usually save a little every day. After a while, it’s easy to build up a nice $200 cushion in my wallet that is regularly replenished. And if I want to splurge on a night out, I can. In the morning, I will just be back to normal, not in the hole. Now I always feel like I have money in my pocket (because I do), even though I am actually on a strict budget.
The most important thing I have discovered using a per diem system is to be honest about your actual monthly expenses. It’s better to add an item to you monthly budget and reduce your per diem than to try to shoehorn in a recurring expense. For example, smokers should budget for cigarettes and not pay for them out of the per diem. The per diem is meant to only pay for expenses that you cannot otherwise predict.
It’s better to have a low per diem (when I started I could only afford $12 on weekdays) than to regularly wipe out your per diem with recurring charges. In the long run, that will just frustrate you and make you feel perpetually broke.
J.D.’s note: Each of us has our own unique approaches to money management. We develop our own tricks — or money hacks — to circumvent our personal weaknesses and to help us meet our goals. If you have a personal money hack you’d like to share with GRS readers, please drop me a line. Photo by chrisdlugosz.
This post may contain affiliate links, which helps us to continue providing relevant content and we receive a small commission at no cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. Please read the full disclosure here.
The ripple effect of a financial mindset can be seen in every aspect of your life.
Think about it: If you are not mindful of how you spend and save money, then you will be in a constant struggle each and every month.
If you are simply someone who is struggling to make ends meet, there are many things we can do to save money. If you are trying desperately to reach financial freedom sooner, then you need these best money hacks to make it happen sooner.
Around here at Money Bliss, we spend a lot of time on our money mindset and setting goals.
Everyone is in a different season with their finances.
But, one thing is true… Most of us never learned proper money management.
Do you find yourself in a constant cycle of financial struggle? Do you feel like you are constantly trying to live up to unrealistic standards?
It is easy for people to feel that they are constantly broke, and in some cases this is true. But, it is also important to remember that there are ways in which you can make more money and start saving for your future.
Since changing money habits does not always come easy and often requires some serious changes in our mindset, we are here to support you to find the top money hacks.
Read on as we share 50+ ways you can start saving more money as well as making more money while also saving your sanity!
What are Money Hacks?
Money hacks are the ways in which people stretch their money.
These money hacks can come from a variety of sources, such as personal experience, family members or friends, and other individuals on social media.
Money hacks can come in many forms such as:
Simple money saving hacks
Ways to make money on the side
Strategies to make every dollar count
Thrifty ideas to be more frugal
Ideas to be more conscious of our waste
All in all, money hacks will help you to spend less money. Thus, saving more money.
As you will learn at Money Bliss, saving money opens up doors of opportunities
Best Money Hacks
Money hacks are ways to build long-term wealth.
Even though most of the hacks for money include quick saving wins, over the long term, you will actually start a snowball effect of more money in your bank account.
Sometimes, it can be difficult to find the motivation to save money, but these 7 best real money hacks will help you reset your financial mindset and start saving!
The best money hacks are the overarching big picture concepts that you must master for long-term success.
1. Think Big
Open up your mind.
One way to reset your financial mindset is by opening yourself up to new ways of thinking about spending and saving.
Too often, we are focused on what is directly in front of us instead of thinking about the big picture.
A great way to think big with your finances is to decide how you want to live life with intention.
2. Habit of Saving Money
Get back in the habit of saving.
If you have been beyond your means or barely scraping by, the best way to get back on track is by saving at least 20% of your income.
This may seem a little ludicrous. However, by prioritizing saving first, you will be pleasantly surprised how well you live off the rest.
In this post, there will be so many simple and easy ways to start saving today.
3. Make a Plan for Your Money
Create a spending plan (aka that dreaded word budget).
Creating an outline for what you want and need will help you to make smarter decisions about your spending.
This concept has been made too difficult over the years.
The bottom line is you want to spend less than you make. So, make a plan for that to happen today.
4. Make Money on the Side
This one is huge!
Personally, making extra money has been a priority for the last 5 years. We spent many years trying to cut our expenses and hating our inability to actually spend less as a growing family. So, we changed our focus to finding ways to make more money instead.
Start a side hustle. If you are not making enough to live comfortably, start a side hustle! Use your unique skill set to make extra cash.
Pick up a second job or ask for more hours.
There are plenty of ways to make money fast.
5. Invest in Stock Market
This means a way to make money or increase your net worth. AKA make your money work for you.
Too many times, the concept of investing is big and scary. The thought of starting is way too overwhelming. So you put it off until next week or next month. Then, a couple of years go by and you have not invested your money.
That is the biggest financial mistake you can make.
Start small by investing in an index fund. Each month consistently add more money.
If you want to learn to trade stocks, then you must enroll in the best investing course I have found.
Read my in-depth investing course review.
6. Pay Off Debt
Ugh… debt is the cash flow killer.
You are unable to make forward progress if you are straddled by debt.
Figure out how to pay off debt ASAP.
When calculating how long it will take to pay off high-interest debt, you should consider paying the highest interest rate first. Here is the best debt payoff app available.
7. Watch Your Spending
Be mindful of your spending.
This is a great practice that many people need to start doing again, regardless of how much money or how little money they have.
Every few months, you need to evaluate your spending to see if it matches up with your values.
As you can imagine there are many money hacks that can help you save, but the list above is the money hacks that will make the biggest difference the quickest. Below we have many more money hacks for you to explore.
Hacks for Saving Money
Money app hacks are small, quick, and easy ways to improve your finances.
They can range from things like automating your budget or creating a money jar that pays for itself, to more complex solutions like changing your tax withholding or moving money around to get a higher return.
Honestly, there are so many life hacks for saving money.
8. Automatic Savings
This is a practice of automatically transferring money from your checking account into your savings account on a regular basis.
It is best to set a transfer amount and stick to it.
Since it is easier to save your money before you spend it, you must save as much money as possible in order for this strategy to be effective.
9. Financial goals
A financial goal is a long-term, quantifiable expectation for how much money you want to have, or what you plan on doing with your money. Your goals can be as simple as saving for the down payment on a house or as involved as saving for retirement.
Our financial goals allow us to set specific, numerical targets that help us achieve our desired lifestyle in a more concrete way.
You must set smart financial goals.
10. What brings you joy?
At the end of the day, it is important to remember that life is all about finding what brings you joy.
The question is open-ended, but your money must line up with what brings you joy.
Spend a few minutes and stew on the question.
11. Build an emergency savings fund
Building an emergency savings fund is a great idea if you are in the habit of saving money and want to make sure that you have some money saved up when times get rough.
If you are struggling to save, there are a few ways you can increase your savings.
For example, you might be able to set up automatic transfers from your checking account into an investment account. You should also make sure that you have a way to save money outside of your checking account.
Saving cash in a jar or saving up coins are ideas for some people.
12. Invest spare change
If you go shopping and buy something, most stores will give you change. If you use a debit or credit card, you can do the same thing with help of a popular app!
Simple money hack: investing your spare change.
In order to invest your spare change in an account, you can open one for as little as $5. Acorns then automatically invest the money from your checking account and into a savings acorn account.
As the round-up feature continues to add upon each purchase, it is a good idea to invest in this app so that you can save more dollars!
13. Challenge Yourself to Save
If you are looking to save money, it is best to set up a budget that includes challenging yourself.
A great way to do this is with the no spend challenge.
A no-buy is when you decide to simply not make any purchases for a certain amount of time.
A no-spend is when someone decides to not spend any money in a certain period of time.
When you are struggling with spending too much money and want to reset your wallet, then give up spending money. Period.
14. Join a buy nothing group
The buy nothing groups are a growing movement that started in order to help people cut their ecological footprint, save money, and break free of consumerism.
This is a great way to find things you need as well as declutter your house.
15. Negotiate everything
The key to successful negotiation is preparation.
Research the company’s past sales, price changes, and discounts offered in order to get a better understanding of what you’re negotiating for.
Don’t be afraid to negotiate.
What is the worst thing that can happen when someone says no!?!
16. Refinance Your Mortgage
It is never too late to refinance your mortgage.
In fact, it might be a good idea if you’re in the market for a new home or refinancing your loan on an existing property.
You must weigh the costs of refinancing to how much you will save over the time period of the loan.
Ask around for mortgage broker recommendations and get at least two quotes.
17. Downsize your Home
Downsize your home is the term for reducing a residence in size. This can be done by either moving to an apartment or buying a smaller house. There are many benefits of downsizing, including living a more affordable lifestyle and having less upkeep.
Downsizers use their homes as investments and save money on rent or mortgage payments.
18. Cut the cord
With the internet becoming accessible to everyone, people have started cutting their cable and watching shows online. People can save up to $500 a year by cutting cable from their bills.
Cut the cable & stop watching TV!
19. Learn about Finances
Ask for help.
If you are struggling, there is no shame in asking for assistance from your friends or family members.
The goal is to get ahead with money and not keep digging further into a hole.
Check out any of our courses to help you.
20. Save for What You Want
Decide what you want most and work towards it with the money you have now, instead of waiting for a windfall or a large inheritance.
This may mean setting aside $200 a month.
For example, as a reminder of your long-term goal of buying a beach property, you may buy something you would hang in the new place. Every time you see it, you will be reminded of what you are saving towards.
Budget Hacks
Financial hacks are not unusual.
Since it is so easy to overspend, you must know a few budgeting hacks ahead of time.
21. Need vs Want
A want is a desire for something, while a need is something that fulfills the requirement of your body like food or shelter.
When you think about buying something, ask yourself if it is a want or a need.
By uncovering needs vs wants, you are quickly able to find ways to spend less and save more.
22. Avoid Temptation
To avoid temptation, it is important to maintain a healthy amount of physical and emotional distance from the things that tempt you.
Sometimes, spending triggers are easy to avoid but other times they’re not.
However, people should always be aware of their temptations and try to stay away from them because it will lead to unnecessary debt or stress in the long run.
23. Practice the 30-day rule
Many people wonder what’s the 30 day rule with money…
The 30-day rule is the principle that states that you should practice a new habit or stop an old habit for at least thirty days before expecting success.
When it comes to your money, it means to wait thirty days before making big purchases or changes.
24. Keep a Budget Binder
A budget binder is an important tool that helps people keep track of their finances.
The binder can help people plan out their finances by providing a place to record expenses and income.
Keeping a budget binder is an effective way to track your spending and keep yourself accountable.
By keeping it, you can easily plan for future expenses in advance as well as see what money could be saved or spent on different items over time.
25. Get a spend tracker and use it regularly
Track your spending for 30 days. It can be a good idea to track your spending for at least a month to get an idea of what you’re spending and where.
A spending tracker is a tool that helps people keep track of how much they are spending on a certain item. It is important to use this tool regularly in order to be able to see patterns in your spending.
Then, review your spending. Share it with a trusted friend or family member to come up with some goals to reduce expenses in order to save money.
26. Create a budget
Create a budget, and follow it.
When you schedule your spending, make sure to leave room for savings. This is the easiest way to ensure that you can stick to your budget.
Find more budgeting resources on our site.
27. Pay Bills on Time
This should be a simple statement that we all know. However, life can throw curveballs.
Try to pay your bills on time and in full every month, and make sure all of your bills are paid each month.
This will show lenders that you are responsible and that you are taking care of your credit. Plus you don’t rack up those pesky late fees and high interest rates.
28. Avoid Missed Payments
Don’t miss any payments, and pay off your balances each month to avoid paying high interest rates or fees on late or missed payments.
Read again… do not miss paying your bills.
29. Reconcile Your Checking Account
Balance your checkbook monthly. Okay, no one really uses a checkbook anymore, but you can still do this with pen and paper.
Even better, use Quicken as a simple way to balance your checking account. Read my Quicken review.
This is a great way to check for being charged too much or find a subscription you don’t use anymore.
30. Avoid Summer Budget Busters
Avoid spending money for the summer by just being conscious of your spending and reviewing what is different than the norm.
It is too easy to get into the trap of spending money because the weather is warm.
31. Review your Credit Card Statements
If you’re like most people, you probably review your credit card statements once every six months.
What’s the best way to go about reviewing them?
It depends on how often you use your credit card, how much debt you have, and what your credit score is. You should review your statements at least once a year if you’re carrying a balance on your credit cards.
If you use your credit card, then you should review your statements at least monthly.
32. Use the Cents Plan Formula
While the 50/30/20 budgeting rule is popular, our method of budgeting your money will be more helpful.
Learn how to divide your income into various categories.
Check out the Cents Plan Formula.
33. Use Cash
Use cash instead of credit cards to spend, which will make it easier to limit yourself to how much you can spend.
The envelope system helps you save money by only spending from one designated cash stash each month and withdrawing a set amount for different types of expenses (like groceries).
34. Spending Freeze
Implement a spending freeze, which helps you get used to not buying things for an allotted time so that when the freeze is over, it’s easier to buy what you want.
You will be surprised how much random online shopping you do.
Begin your spending freeze now.
35. Use a Budgeting App
Use your bank’s budgeting tools, like Quicken, which can help you track how much money is coming in and out of your account.
This is the simplest way to manage your money wisely.
Using a money app or a personal finance website can help you to stay organized and get more creative about your budgeting.
Check out this list of the best budgeting apps available.
Hacks to Make Money
Hacks to make money are a list of ways to generate income for yourself. Many ways to make money include blogging, affiliate marketing, or day trading. These money making hacks are great, but they can take more time and energy invested.
36. Use cash back apps
Cash back reward apps like Ibotta are a way to get extra money for your purchases.
They take some time getting used to and you only have access to partner stores that offer cash-back offers. It only takes a few seconds to make some extra cash.
Check out the best cash back apps available.
37. Ask for a Raise
A raise is an increase in pay for a job, labor, or service.
If you are concerned about asking for a raise, then you are missing out on lost money.
Your boss may be receptive to it, then try negotiating more money. Not only will this be good for your career, but also the relationship between you two can improve as well.
38. Get a side hustle
A side hustle is an additional job or career, usually, one that requires only a small amount of time and effort.
For example, someone who wants to work on the weekends might start a side hustle as a bartender.
Side hustles are a form of entrepreneurship that allows you to earn money and do little tasks. They are not difficult or time-consuming, but they can still help you make extra cash on the side.
Pick one of the best gig economy jobs.
39. Rent out a part of your home
A part of your home is often a room, which can be rented out on Airbnb.
Airbnb is the largest and most successful company in the world that lets people rent their extra space or properties. They are a well-known company that provides an easy way for people to make money from their extra space.
Use Neighbor to lend out your space in your home.
40. Declutter: sell your junk for cash
Decluttering is the act of getting rid of excess or unnecessary items.
In order to declutter, you must be willing to give up something that has been a part of your life for a long time. It is important to remember that decluttering does not have to be a quick or easy process.
Then, sell your stuff on Facebook Marketplace, Nextdoor, eBay, etc.
Learn more at Flea Market Flippers.
41. Earn Money While Watching TV
Although it is not a fast way to get rich, this can be used as a side hustle.
It’s better to use the money earned from watching TV or something else that takes up your time for other things like bills and groceries.
Survey platforms are online sites that allow people to earn money while watching TV.
The survey platform will send surveys through the mail or email, and then they can choose whether they want to take the survey for a set reward amount or if they would like cash back on their purchase.
One of these options is MyPoints, which allows users to earn points by completing tasks such as taking surveys and shopping online at specific retailers.
Others include:
42. Maximize Your Income
Find ways to increase the amount of money you bring in, whether that’s through a side hustle, increasing hours at work, or asking for a raise.
In today’s society, there are plenty of ways to make more money.
Only you put a limit on what you are capable of earning.
43. Build Your Credit
Building your credit can be a long process, but it’s worth the effort. If you’re trying to establish or improve your credit score, here are some tips that might help:
Try to keep your credit utilization rate below 30% at all times.
Do not open too many new lines of credit in a short period of time.
Pay your bills on time.
This will help you avoid damaging your credit score.
Hacks for Free Money
Hacks for free money are a form of fraud wherein the perpetrator solicits payment via PayPal, credit card, or other methods in exchange for access to what they promise will be a legitimate business opportunity.
Hacking free money is a way to make more cash, fund your financial goals, or help you pay off debt. There are lots of ways that people hack their finances and use cash back apps for some extra income.
Other options include signing up for bank bonuses or credit card bonuses.
Honestly, real free money hacks are more likely to be scams. So, beware when searching online.
Money Hacks in the Kitchen
You can save the most money by looking at what you eat.
Typically, people waste over 25% of their grocery budget and throw out food. Would you willingly throw out $250 a month? Probably not.
So, learn how to stretch your money for food.
44. Start meal planning
Meal planning is a money-saving strategy that can help in the long run. It’s also important to eat healthily and reduce food waste when meal planning.
But planning ahead will help save on the grocery budget, and it’s not too late to start now.
Start meal planning by deciding what you want to eat for each day. Then, make a list.
45. Say no to prepackaged foods
Packing your lunch for work or school can be time-consuming, especially if you have a family.
Some people prefer to buy prepackaged foods because they save time, but this is not always the best option.
A better choice is to make your own food at home and pack it for lunch, which you can then eat in peace without worrying about what other people might be saying about the food you packed.
46. Eat at home
Eating at home is a way to save money. It may be uncomfortable for those who do not enjoy cooking as it requires extra effort and time.
Instead of getting food at restaurants, consider cooking your favorite meals at home.
You can save money and time by eating the same meal over and over again.
Learn about the frugal home must haves.
47. Grow your own herbs and food
The most common methods of gardening include container gardening, hydroponics, and both indoor and outdoor gardening.
Many people are growing their own herbs and food for the satisfaction of being able to eat something that was grown with their hands.
48. Take your lunch
If you are interested in saving money, consider taking your lunch. This will save you up to $1,000 a year on work lunches and make it easier to meet the recommended daily intake of fruits and vegetables as well.
“Take your lunch” is an invitation to eat at home. There are many benefits of eating out less often, such as saving money and gaining more control over food choices.
Travel Hacks to Save Money
The following are travel hacks that can help you save money on your next trip.
Some of these hacks include traveling during weekdays, using public transportation, staying at hostels and Airbnb instead of hotels, and using a travel credit card.
49. Use foreign websites for lower prices abroad
Foreign websites are websites that have been created by people from other countries, and they sell products in the language of their country. These websites often offer lower prices on products than what is offered in the United States.
If you’re traveling abroad and need to find a place to stay, there are plenty of websites that can help. A few websites have deals on places where travelers often stay while they travel internationally.
50. Stay for free or get paid to house sit abroad
A house sitter is someone who looks after someone’s property for a certain amount of time in exchange for the promise of payment.
House sitting is typically offered by homeowners to travelers and others who are looking to stay in a particular location for an extended period of time.
The main types of house sitting include:
– full-time house sitters, who are responsible for all aspects of the house and who are typically paid a monthly salary,
– part-time house sitters, who may be responsible for taking care of one or more specific tasks such as gardening or handling the mail
51. Hide your search
To avoid being taken advantage of by airlines, it is best to open a new incognito or private window between searches.
This will make sure that you are not tricked into buying tickets that may be significantly more expensive than they need to be.
Airlines use cookies in your browser to make you believe the prices are going up and up.
Money App Hacks
Money app hacks are ways that people have figured out to make their money work for them in terms of saving and spending. These apps offer different features, such as budgeting, tracking your spending, and saving money.
If you want a simple way to save money, then any of these money apps are designed to find excessive spending.
52. Billshark
This is a legitimate way to save money on monthly bills. Billshark offers you the opportunity to save up to 25% each month (when compared with regular bill payments).
All of this can be done for you by BillShark team, and there are no fees involved!
Try Billshark for free!
53. Trim
Review your spending habits to find what you can cut out, like subscriptions.
Find other ways to save by looking for ways to reduce costly bank fees or getting a discount on your cell phone plan. By using Trim, you are saving money and improving your financial health.
Sign up with Trim now.
54. Truebill
Truebill can help you to track your spending, save money and get a clear picture of your financial life.
This helps you identify services that you are no longer using but continue to pay for. It will help save money by automatically negotiating prices with your service providers and receiving a refund of the money going to waste, which is free money.
Get started with Truebill.
Which Life Money Hacks Can You Start?
This is a lot to take in, but don’t worry.
Take the time to read through each suggestion and consider how you can implement it into your life.
The more hacks you try out, the closer you’ll get to a healthy financial mindset.
These are the life hacks to save money I have found to work for me and my family in order to reset our financial mindsets and grow our net worth.
Everyone will find their niche and what will work best for them.
Personally, you need to figure out how do I make more money. That will make the biggest impact the fastest.
What have you done with your money lately?
Know someone else that needs this, too? Then, please share!!
When I started getting serious about frugal living, my husband dredged up one piece of juicy financial advice he recalled from his grad school days: Use half of what you normally would. He was talking about consumable goods like shampoo and dish soap. The idea is to reduce by half the amount of these things you use by doling out smaller portions. Normally use a quarter-size dollop of shampoo? Try cutting back to a dime.
There’s no need to stop at half, actually. You can keep scaling back your usage gradually until you hit a point where you actually don’t have enough, and then creep back up to the last place it felt good. Maybe that dime-size drop of shampoo isn’t enough for your hair, but a nickel-size portion gets the job done nicely.
This approach works. I bought a large container of dish soap at Costco in March of 2009 and have not run out yet. This is not for lack of doing dishes: There are five people in my household, and we do all of our cooking from scratch. We make a lot of dirty dishes, and we wash a few sinkfuls a day.
One reason cutting back on consumption has worked so well for me is that I automated it. Rather than depend on my fragile mind to remember to use smaller sloshes of soap or shampoo every time I wash, I buy my cleaning products and personal care items in bulk and pour them into smaller containers — at half strength. The small plastic bottle next to the kitchen sink contains half water and half soap. I use the same amount when I wash the dishes, but I’m going through the soap at half the rate I used to.
The 50-percent solution has worked so well for me with my household goods, I decided to expand it to other areas of my life. In addition to basic consumables, I’ve applied to 50-percent solution to:
Shopping for clothes. I mostly don’t shop for clothes, but on the rare occasion that I do, I’ve learned to ask: Do I need two of these? I picked up the habit of buying multiples of something I like when I was younger. While that often works out well, just as often I can get by with one pair of jeans or one new bra.
Going out to bars and restaurants. This is often a trouble spot for me, since I love going out with friends. Scaling back that type of social activity by half lets me stay close to the people I care about without busting my budget.
Over the counter medications. Take two aspirin and call me when you’ve tried cutting back to see if one will do the trick. I wouldn’t suggest trying this with your prescription meds, but for simple over-the-counter stuff like headache medicine, I’ve found that a half dose is often perfectly effective.
Groceries. My kids will eat a near infinite amount of fresh fruit, pretzels, and yogurt. How much is enough? The only way to tell was to gradually buy less until we ran out and they complained. We’ve cut our grocery budget in half combining this with other grocery savings hacks. We also waste practically no food these days, which is a pretty great feeling.
Therapeutic appointments. My husband sees a chiropractor regularly for chronic back issues. Over time, they’ve gradually scaled back their appointments from twice a week to only twice a month. This saves us time and money. As with all these measures though, the key is to get to Enough. Cutting back too much on these appointments would cause him pain and interfere with his life. The balancing act is to be sure he gets what he needs from his chiropractor, without over-committing resources that could be better used elsewhere.
Basically, we’ve tried tapering off anything I routinely spend money on where I have some control over the amount I use. For example, cutting dinner dates with my husband down from once a week to once a month felt too scarce, but every other week is a good balance between staying frugal and staying connected.
In general, this approach saves me money. In a few cases, it’s prompted me to spend more. I wasn’t spending enough time with my husband, for example. As our financial situation has stabilized, that’s a problem I’ve started throwing more money at, taking us out for “date nights” a few times a month instead of insisting that we always stay in. Yes, eating out is expensive. But the time alone together away from the weight of housework and unfinished tasks at home is priceless.
As with any money hack, the most important thing isn’t how I save the money, it’s what I do with it. A dollar saved is only really saved if I don’t immediately spend it on something else. The savings from these gradual reductions in consumption are often harder to see than the clear figures one gets from canceling a subscription and saving the monthly fee.
How much have I saved on laundry soap over the past year? It’s possible to track that data and get a real answer, but I don’t keep records that detailed. The dollars I’ve saved didn’t get banked straight into my savings account. Instead, they’ve padded my margin a bit, making it easier to stick to our budget each week and possible to splurge on treats like dinners out with my husband.
Even beyond the actual money saved, I get a psychological benefit from doing this. Like my commitment to buy nothing new or my 30-day list, the 50-percent solution acts as a checkpoint for purchases. Do I really need this? Do I need all of this? Could I make do with less?
Being in the habit of asking myself those questions has saved me a lot more money than just cutting my shampoo with water does. It helps me stay in a frugal mindset when I’m shopping. That’s not easy to do. Stores are designed to push you towards impulse buys, and being armed with mental money hacks helps me fight back against their subtle (and not so subtle) marketing.
I love this approach because it helps me find balance. It’s not about committing to a life of extreme austerity, it’s about avoiding waste. I often think of the curve at the beginning of Your Money or Your Life that shows a person’s happiness increasing as they have the resources to supply their basic needs, and then some comforts and finally a few luxuries. Beyond that magic point of Enough, the curve calls off as more and more luxuries are piled on but fail to satisfy.
The 50-percent solution helps me know what my personal Enough is. What’s Enough soap? Enough entertainment? Enough snack food?
Scaling back incrementally lets me find those magic points on the curve and stay close to them. I get to have Enough to be happy, without wasting resources like money, time and energy on acquiring more of something than I need or want.
Welcome Lifehacker readers – feel free to join the conversation and share what has worked for you. Also don’t forget to follow Get Rich Slowly on Facebook and Twitter.
Learning how to manage your money is a huge part of “adulting,” but it’s not something most of us were taught in school. Luckily, TikTok is here to bring you up to speed. If you’ve been sleeping on TikTok like I have, let me fill you in. There’s an entire subgenre of TikTok dedicated to … [Read more…]
Here are the top credit card mistakes to stop making. These can hurt your finances, cause you to be in more debt, and more.
Even though I love credit cards because of their many benefits, I understand that they aren’t for everyone.
A family member of mine once struggled with credit cards, and they found that using a cash only budget was the best way to stay out of credit card debt. Fortunately for them, they were able to recognize their credit card mistakes and found a way to make sure they weren’t adding any debt. Part of that was being proactive and noticing they had an issue with them early on.
However, others are not as lucky.
Some people rack up large amounts of credit card debt, and they do so because they aren’t aware of the credit card mistakes they might being making. According to a study done by NerdWallet, the average household in the United States (who has debt) has an average credit card debt of $15,482.
When you add that all up, it equals $927 billion worth of credit card debt for American consumers. They break this down further and show that the average U.S. household pays around $900 in annual interest. Also, 41% of consumers say they go into credit card debt because they are spending more than they can afford, and 33% say they are adding to their debt because they can’t cover their monthly expenses.
To add to those statistics, the National Foundation for Credit Counseling released their 2018 Financial Literacy Survey and found that one in four Americans don’t pay their debts on time, one in 10 have debts in collections, and 38% of Americans carry debt from month to month.
I find these statistics incredibly saddening, especially when some of this debt is completely avoidable.
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What I find so upsetting about these statistics is that credit card debt is what leads many to living in a debt cycle, which leads to stress, depression, frustration, and more. No one should live like that if they can avoid making many of the credit card mistakes I’ll cover today. Also, credit card debt will keep people from getting out of a paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle, saving for emergencies, retiring early, and more.
While there are some instances when using credit cards may be a necessity, it sounds like many could avoid much of this credit card debt in the first place. Also, know that there are always ways to make extra income so you can pay off your debts and avoid adding debt all together.
Even if you are one of the many people making some of these common credit card mistakes, it’s never too late to make a change for the better. And, if you’re one of the many people deep in credit card debt, there are always options. While you may feel depressed or frustrated with your debt, there is always a way out.
Here are the top five credit card mistakes that lead to debt. Read below so that you can learn about the possible mistakes you may be making.
5 credit card mistakes.
1. Ignoring the terms.
Before you sign up for a credit card, you should understand all of the common terms and learn how to use a credit card. Sadly, many people do not fully understand credit card terms and that’s a leading cause for why some fall into credit card debt.
You should do your research and understand:
While these things apply to all credit cards, not every credit card is the same. So, you should know and understand the terms of each of your credit cards to really avoid this credit card mistake.
I know that the process of researching and understanding these basic credit card principles may seem like a lot of work, but if you don’t understand how your credit cards work, you may wind up in debt or farther into debt than you already are.
Your credit cards can work for you if you are careful, but if you aren’t, they can wreck your finances and your future.
2. Buying items when you can’t actually afford them.
Credit cards are not free money, but too many people treat them like they are. If you are using a credit card, you should always make sure that you have the money in cash or in your personal bank account before you think you can afford something.
That jacket, dress, video game, and so on aren’t worth the debt that they may accrue if you use a credit card to purchase them without really being able to afford it. A simple $50 dress may balloon into hundreds of dollars of credit card debt because of interest fees.
If you are finding that you are struggling with whether or not you can afford something, there are several things you can do.
Wait 24 hours, at least, to make that purchase.
Think about the other things you could use that money for.
Think about how much time you will have to work to pay for it.
Think about whether you’ve made a similar purchase that you’ve regretted.
If you just take a minute to think about those four things, you may realize that you can’t actually afford the purchase in the first place.
If you are wanting to get better about tracking your spending, check out Personal Capital. This free online tool tracks your purchases, your debt, investments, and more.
3. Forgetting to pay your credit card bill.
This credit card mistake is one that always shocks me. Even if you have the money to pay your credit card balance in full each month, that’s only good if you remember to pay your bill each month. I honestly can’t tell you how many people have told me that they don’t remember to pay their bill each month. And, many of these people could have paid the balance in full!
Paying your credit card bill late can lead to many problems. It can lead to late fees, added interest, and it can negatively affect your credit score.
If this is one of the credit card mistakes you are making, you can set up reminders on your phone, put due dates on your calendar, and more.
4. Paying only the minimum payment each month.
This is probably one of the most common credit card mistakes. Some make this mistake because they don’t have the funds to pay their full credit card balance each month, and if that’s the case, you may want to find ways to better assess your purchases before you make them.
Others only pay the minimum because they believe that’s all they need to pay in order to avoid interest charges. YES! Many people actually think this, and this is why #1 in this post is so important. Everyone needs to fully understand what “minimum payment” means and what happens if that is all that you pay.
Here’s a basic breakdown of what minimum payments are:
Minimum payments are basically the smallest amount your lender will let you pay each month.
Minimum payments lead to paying more in the long run because of interest charges.
While minimum payments may keep you in good standing, they can affect your overall credit score.
You should always try to pay more than the minimum. If you do not, you will have to pay interest charges, which may inflate your credit card debt significantly each month.
PAYING ONLY THE MINIMUM IS NOT ENOUGH PEOPLE!
Related: 12 Money Hacks That Will Help You Save More Money
5. Spending money you normally wouldn’t spend in order to rack up credit card rewards points.
Credit card reward points are great, but if you spend more than you can actually afford so that you can earn “free” vacations, gifts, and more, nothing is actually free.
Some will spend more money than they have so they can reach the spending requirement needed to earn rewards points. Remember, though, those rewards are only rewards if you are using your cards responsibly.
If this is one of the credit card mistakes that you are making, this can spiral out of control if you do not keep track of how much money you are spending.
To successfully churn credit cards, you must have good to excellent credit scores, have your finances already in order, and have great organizational skills. If that doesn’t apply to you, you can always work on improving your credit score and your financial situation, which starts by first learning which of the above credit card mistakes you might be making.
Do you have credit card debt? Have you ever been guilty of making any of these credit card mistakes?
Over the past eight years I have been buying and selling items on Irfanview (Windows only, Mac users can use iPhoto). Once open, go to Image > Resize / Resample and click the 800×600 option, then OK. Save these to a new location. Since eBay only gives you one photo for free, use a free web photo hosting solution for the other images to be listed in your auction. Some of these sites are:
They all provide code to place them into eBay auctions and are free to use. I’ve been using xs.to for sometime and never had a problem. Simple and straight forward.
Spell Check
Take two minutes and reread what you wrote, make sure it makes sense and there are no spelling errors. Not only will this make the auction more valid for your potential buyer, it is the right thing to do.
Explain Shipping & Handling Fees Up Front
When listing your auction, eBay has the boxes you can use for shipping, flat rate, by weight, etc. I think it is also worth listing in the auction itself what the shipping & handling fees are, where you will and won’t ship to, what the insurance options are, etc.
My experience is that buyers prefer flat rate shipping, so you will need to determine what your item weighs packed up and what the rate is from who you will use as a shipper (UPS, USPS, FedEx, etc.). I usually add $1-4 to that to cover my costs of the box, packing material and gas to drive to where I’m mailing it from. Insurance is an option in the listing process, you the seller decide if you want to make it required, optional or not available. I usually use the optional portion, 50% of the time the buyer will want it, and the other half they won’t.
Create a Disclaimer
At the bottom of all my auctions I use something similar to the following:
I have listed this item to the best of my ability. If you have any questions, please contact me with at least 24 hours prior to the auction ending so I may reply to them. Payment is expected within three days of the auction ending, PayPal is the preferred method. The item will be shipped within one business day after payment has been received. Insurance is optional, however it is recommended. Please leave positive feedback for me when the item arrives, I will do the same for after you have left feedback for me. If for some reason there is an issue with the item when it arrives, please contact me ASAP to address it.
Reply to All Questions in a Timely Manner
Common sense here folks. Don’t list an item and go on vacation. Do check your email and eBay account at least twice a day to look for questions. Reply to them in a timely manner and address each question to the best of your ability.
Ship Fast
If you can, ship an item the day of payment or the following day. This will help build a positive feedback rating for you as a fast shipper, something a lot of buyers look for. No one wants to pay for something on Monday to find out it hasn’t shipped out till Friday. Take this into consideration when listing your item.
Use PayPal
PayPal allows instant payment and the ability for you the seller to receive credit card payments. By doing so, you have now enabled someone who may not have the cash to purchase your item to do so by putting it on their credit card. Additionally, it allows you to track payments and create shipping labels for both USPS and UPS. Using the built-in option for shipping labels will also send notification to the buyer that the item has shipped and what the tracking number is, one less thing you need to do. There are too many instances where checks and money orders bounce, get lost in the mail, etc. to make them worth while. Additionally, it adds time until the buyer receives their item.
Promote Your Auction
On any given day there are millions of items listed. Just having a clever title isn’t good enough anymore. You need to tell people you have an auction. Get on the social network of your choice and make a blog or bulletin post announcing your auctions. Don’t go around spamming people, but once when you list the auction and another the day before the auction ends can help drive extra traffic to your auctions.
Lastly, build relationships. Use the feedback options on all auctions, making sure to emphasize what the buyer has done right, using terms like fast payment or painless transaction. This will make you seem much more human and more buyers will want to deal with you. Should an issue arise, do everything in your power to resolve it as fast as possible.
Last month, my boyfriend and I took a weekend trip to Seattle to celebrate our anniversary. We got a great deal on a hotel using a discount app. We’d stayed at this hotel before, and the view was gorgeous. The price was also reasonable and the room was clean. We checked in, unloaded our bags and pulled back the curtains, preparing to take in Seattle’s beautiful skyline, which we’d flown a thousand miles to see.
Lo and behold, the parking lot. A man getting into his car looked up at us, startled.
“Eh,” I said. “We didn’t come here to hang out at the hotel.”
“Yeah, but I want a view,” Brian said, drawing the curtains. “The parking lot? C’mon.”
He vowed to talk to someone at the front desk and see how much it would cost to get a better room. We were surprised when the hotel receptionist said it would be no problem to upgrade us free of charge. There was no hesitation. It was the easiest upgrade I’ve ever gotten. We went up to our new room, opened the curtains and took in a nice nighttime view of the Space Needle.
This experience reminded me of just how effective speaking up can be. I’ve always struggled with speaking up for myself. But the more I see how speaking up can get you discounts, upgrades, necessary help, jobs, etc., the more I’m trying to master it.
Why speaking up was hard for me
Embarrassment
I grew up learning to be very independent and self-sufficient, and it took me a while to understand the cliché: the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
That cliche began to make the most sense when I entered the working world. My outspoken co-workers would get the projects I wanted just because they made sure it was known that they wanted those projects. Luckily, my boss was nurturing. She recognized my meekness and encouraged me to speak up when I wanted something. I realized I was embarrassed to ask for things. I felt like if I had the guts to ask for a project, it meant I was full of myself, and that was embarrassing to me. (Weird, I know. I guess I had an odd cultural upbringing.) When I had to ask for help in school, I always felt it meant I wasn’t smart and couldn’t handle things on my own. As an adult, that embarrassment turned into feeling like I was just being a nuisance.
Lack of confidence
It took me a while to ask for a raise or promotion on my own. I felt like, if I deserved something, it would just come to me. Silly, right? Another example: When I was a financial mess, I got into problems with overdraft fees. It was totally my fault, but the bank definitely preyed on my financial irresponsibility, charging me $35 per transaction, and sneakily posting withdrawals before deposits that were made early that same day. A friend told me I could call and have the fees removed, but I resigned myself to the belief that I deserved to pay them because, y’know, bank fees are all about personal conviction and morals and stuff.
Laziness
It hurts to confess this, but when I was a financial mess, I also stupidly fell for a free credit score scam. The company charged my card an unauthorized $14.99 fee. After researching the scam online, I knew if I called my credit card company and told them the issue, the fee would most likely be removed. But at the time, I told myself, “Eh, it’s just 15 bucks.” Then I asked my lazy self, “If someone paid you $15 to have a five-minute phone call right now, would you do it?” I answered yes, and I picked up the phone.
Speaking up in action
It’s still hard sometimes, but I’ve learned to speak up for myself a lot more these days. And it’s been really effective in saving me money, or even helping me to earn more money. The other day, I randomly called my cell phone provider about lowering my bill. I saw a better, cheaper plan online. The only catch — there was some crazy $150 fee for activating this plan. It would take seven months before I would even start seeing savings. So I called and half-jokingly asked, “I don’t have to pay that, right?”
The customer service rep said, “Sure, we can waive that.”
Well, that was easy! By just asking, I was able to lower my phone bill by $15 a month.
“Just asking” is one of the simplest but most effective money hacks I’ve come across. And the more I see how effective it can be, the less shy I become about speaking up. But, of course, there are a few things to keep in mind for better results:
Be nice
Pretty simple. I think people are more apt to offer help when someone is kind. Sure, customers who raise hell might get what they want, and being too nice can certainly work against you. But I’ve been nasty to customer service reps, and then I’ve been patient and kind to them. I’ve learned that, most of the time, nice usually trumps nasty. Since making it a point to be nicer and more understanding, I’ve found that my customer service calls are quicker and more effective.
Get personal
I’ve found that it usually helps, when asking for something, to remind people that you’re human. When arguing for a raise, I reminded my boss that my financial situation was suffering due to inflation — rent increases and the like. When calling my Internet company about their price hikes, I reminded them that I don’t have the money to pay for such a huge increase. “Times are tough,” I told the rep.
She sighed, “Yeah, I understand.”
It took some work, but I was able to get an even better deal on my Internet because of some special promo or whatever they had going on.
Be persistent
Sometimes, however, it ain’t easy. While I wouldn’t be annoyingly persistent in asking for something like a free room upgrade, I was annoyingly persistent with those aforementioned bank fees (especially when they once were at $300). When I finally decided to call, I asked to talk to a manager, and it took nearly an hour of my time and a lot of headache in arguing my case for waiving the fees, but in the end, “just asking” won.
Of course, there’s a difference between asking for something appropriate and then asking for a handout. And this is kind of what I struggle with. Blatantly asking for a free flight upgrade, for example, seems so embarrassing, yet I still want to try it, because others have said it works. And then I’ve met people who aren’t afraid to “just ask” for damn near everything, to the point that their irreverence borders on cheapskate. When I’m asking for help or for a discount or something, I try to imagine how the other party feels when I’m speaking up — will they feel put out or taken advantage of? If so, then I think twice about asking.
But I’m not quite sure where to draw that line, so what do you think? Speaking up works, but where’s the boundary between being outspoken and just being cheap?
I spent a couple hours this morning performing what ought to have been a simple home-maintenance task. The light fixture on our front porch had gone faulty, and I needed to replace it. I’ve done enough wiring projects now that the electrical aspect of the job didn’t bother me. But the woodworking? That was frustrating.
As I fumbled with the jigsaw (“Drat! Another blade bent!”), I wished again that I practiced woodworking more often. I have several friends who do so, and the skills they’ve learned help them to save money around the house. My incompetence this morning gave me plenty of time to reflect on the value of productive hobbies.
Productive hobbies When I was younger, I spent most of my spare time reading comic books and playing video games. There’s nothing wrong with a little self-indulgence, but the older I get, the more I appreciate hobbies that provide practical skills. Productive pastimes are not only fulfilling, but they can also help save money. (Sometimes they can even generate a little income!)
Here are a few hobbies and pastimes that can help to save (or make) money:
Gardening. Kris and I aren’t yet finished with our year-long garden project, but already we know that it has saved us money. (Find out just how much when we post an update this Saturday.) Even if it did cost a little more, it’s fantastic to have fresh food just feet from the front door. You don’t need a lot of space to start a garden. Consider square-foot gardening or container gardening.
Photography. Cameras can be a money sink, but photography doesn’t have to be expensive. You can have a lot of fun with a cheap point-and-shoot digital camera. With practice, you may even be able to make money selling digital photos online. I know several people who do this (and I’ve done it myself).
Woodworking. Carpentry is another hobby that can consume a lot of cash. But if you have the space and the time, you can also develop skills that yield big dividends in the long run. If I’d taken the time to learn woodworking, I wouldn’t have to pay a contractor to do some of our remodeling projects. (And I wouldn’t have cut a four-inch hole this morning when I only needed a three-inch hole.)
Knitting. As with many hobbies, knitting can be expensive, but there are ways to make it less so. Nell at Octopus Knits has pattern companies and yarn folks giving her product (yarns & patterns) to try. Some of my friends have taken commissioned projects. Kris is learning to knit adorable little stuffed animals; she could sell them for $20 a pop.
Computer repair. Because I’ve always been a computer hobbyist, I’m able to troubleshoot computer problems instead of paying somebody to do it for me. Before I turned Mac, I also saved money by building my own machines. In fact, for a couple years, I supplemented my regular salary by helping friends and family with their computer problems.
Art. Last week, I pointed to the work of lillyella, whose art generates enough income through her Etsy store that she now does it full time. In the past, I’ve also mentioned Ayla, a teenager who sells her art glass at the local farmers market. Kris has a friend who is learning how to work with stained glass, but just for fun.
Cooking. My friend Laura has a group of friends that love to cook. They recently organized a cooking evening to provide freezer meals for each of them. They decided on six menus, assigned the shopping, borrowed a church’s kitchen, divided duties like cutting, slicing, dicing, mixing, frying, cleaning, split the costs and each went home with six different items for future use. But even learning to cook for your own family can save you a lot of money.
Baking. Baking is fun for its own sake, but it can also save you money with gifts. Who wouldn’t rather have a couple dozen home-baked cookies than another useless mug? Some people can even turn this skill into a career. My aunt turned a baking hobby into a business, creating cakes and catering weddings. She provided jobs for several other family members, too!
Canning. Though Kris has always enjoyed canning, this summer has been amazing. She’s discovered it’s a hobby she truly loves. She derives immense satisfaction from preserving her own food. “It’s comforting to walk into the pantry and know that I made all of this,” she said recently. “I know where the food came from, and I know that we’ll be eating it all winter.” Though the start-up costs are a little high, they repay a hobbyist in time.
Making music. My friend Michael has a musician friend who plays the piano and has been paid to play at private events. He has another friend with a great voice. This man loves to sing, and he and his friends hire themselves out as a quartet around Valentines Day and to sing Christmas carols during the holidays. (I’m always jealous of my musical friends. I know it’s hard work to become proficient, but it looks like such a fun way to stay entertained.)
Vehicle maintenance. I know little about cars. I wish I knew more. Knowing even basic vehicle maintenance can save you big bucks. I once knew a guy who performed nearly all his own auto work. He could buy a junker car, fix it up, and resell it at a nice profit. He wasn’t going to get rich doing this, but he enjoyed the hobby, and it kept him in money for his own vehicle.
Physical fitness. You’ll never get rich running road races, but there’s no question that a healthy body can save you money. Find a physical activity you enjoy: biking, running, hiking, dancing, yoga, weightlifting. Play a team sport. Regular exercise can be fun, but it will also save you money in the long run.
The possibilities are limitless. There are countless fun and interesting hobbies that can either save you money, or maybe help you earn a little on the side.
Quick tips You’ll notice that none of these hobbies involve collecting. I’m an inveterate collector myself (comics, books, notebooks, movie serials, music of the 1920s, …), so I know first-hand how expensive it can be. Some would argue that it’s a form of compulsive spending, and I can’t really disagree. Since I’ve begun focusing on hobbies that involve doing rather than getting, I’ve spent much less money.
For some hobbies, equipment can be prohibitively expensive. In these cases, you may be able to find used stuff on Freecycle or Craigslist, or you may be able to begin with low-end gear. (This isn’t always a good option. If you think you’re going to be doing a lot of running, you should buy a quality running shoe from an expert, and not settle for cheap sneakers, for example.)
In many cases, it’s possible to jump-start a hobby by taking a course at a community college or community school. I spent a year taking photography classes, for example. The instruction and experience were invaluable, and helped me develop the skills necessary to actually sell a couple photos.
My friend Michael likes woodworking but can’t afford (and doesn’t have space for) all of the equipment. When he needs to build something, he signs up for a community college woodworking course so that he can use industrial woodworking tools at a reasonable cost.
Further reading I’m a big fan of productive hobbies, and I’m not the only one! Here are some articles on the subject from around the web:
Don’t forget that hobbies are an excellent way to make gifts for less than it costs to buy them. Kris sometimes knits gifts for special occasions. Most years she gives some sort of home-made food to our friends for Christmas. I sometimes give photographs. One of the best birthday gifts I ever received was a batch of homemade chocolate chip cookies.
