10 Creative Ways to Save Money

Today I want to talk about ways to save money, that not everybody knows or don’t put in practice. I won’t mention the let’s call, basic ways, to save money that everyone knows about like turning off the lights when you are not in a room, those are very important though and there’s a post about it in here. But this post is for those who want to go above and beyond on saving money.

1. Barter

Exchanging products or services without using money. That sounds amazing! What are you good at? Could it be exchanged for some product or service you need? I started with the hardest tip so all the next tips below will sound easy peasy. The bartering concept is simple what holds most people back is that people don’t know how to ask for barter and worse than that people feel like they are doing something wrong and begging for something for free. It’s not free if you will deliver value to the other person, that’s the goal, it’s a win-win. So the first step is to work on your psychological, understand that what you have to offer has value and there’s nothing wrong in bartering. When you are ready to give the next step start with your friends, it will be the easiest way to barter. Let’s say you need help with finding a new job, there’s a lot of people who do career coaching, they help you from rewriting your LinkedIn page to training you for interviews. Maybe you have a friend who works on recruiting that could help you while you could help by teaching personal finances (or whatever you are good with).

2. Round-Up Your Payments

I told you it would get easier. Many bank apps allow you to automatically round up your expenses and send the extra cash to a saving account. It might sound silly but mighty oaks from little acorns grow.

3. Swap Books, Clothes and More

Another great way to save money is swapping or borrowing objects instead of buying them. Again, the easiest way is swapping with your friends but you can search for swap groups on Facebook. If you choose to borrow instead of swapping, just please, don’t be the person who borrows things and never return them. I’m usually the person who lend stuff and never see it again =(

4. Review Your Subscriptions

Review your subscriptions and any other recurrent payment you are making and ask yourself some basic questions: Are you using it? Do you really need it? Could it be cheaper? (downsize your package)Are there free alternatives?

5. Wait 48 Hours Before Buying Something

Who never saw an ad and got obsessed with some product? I’m not telling you not to buy, I’m just asking you to wait at least two days before you buy it. In most cases you will give up on the purchase, this helps to avoid impulsive shopping and your wallet will thank you.

6. Look for Free Activities

Search on social media or Google for free events happening in your city. Especially in summer, many cities offer free activities as outdoor movies, yoga classes, live music and else. Go to the park, maybe do a picnic. When the weather gets colder, which accounts for 98% of the time if you also live in Ireland (data source: my mind), skip the park part but there’s still free activities indoors.

7. Use Your Rewards

That is my favourite topic, I’m a rewards maniac. By rewards I’m including brands rewards programs, couponing tools, cashback tools, collecting points and everything else that can help you saving money while you buy the things you would buy anyway. Be aware that the goal of those programs and tools is making you spend more than you would. Our brain tricks us when we see discounts and people tend to spend more thinking that “well… since I’m saving 4 bucks here, I can also add this and that to my cart”. DON’T! The point is using it in your favour, not against you. I use an app called Stocard to save all my reward numbers so I always have them easily accessible. For coupons and cashback, I use different tools but my favourite one is Coupert, if you download their chrome extension it will alert you when you visit a website that they partner with. If you use my link to get the extension and join, you and I will get points worth $5. As you might already know I live in Ireland, the best Country for whiskey lovers but the worse Country for credit card rewards. The only credit card that offers you some reward here is the Aer Lingus Credit Card, no competition means very low rewards. =( If you are reading it from a country where credit cards really get you rewards, make the math rewards vs annual fee and never spend more than you earn, credit cards make lots of money charging crazy high-interest fees if you don’t pay your full bill.

8. Bring Your Own Bottle

Search for BYOB restaurants to find where can you eat out while saving by bringing your own booze.

9. Leave Your Wallet at Home

Or at the office. Going for a simple walk to distress a little bit can become more than a walk. Ok, I’m guilt here, when I’m stressed and go to have a walk I always come back with a chocolate or two. That’s the reason why my advice is to leave your wallet and your cellphone if you use them to make payments at the office when you want to just have a walk to relax or get some fresh air.

10. Check Your Corporate Perks

Check if your company offers some kind of corporate deals, some companies offer gym memberships, broadband, courses or even partner with some rewards company suck as Reward Gateway or Get Bravo.

11. Take care of yourself

Doesn’t the title say 10 tips? Yes, it does, but I want to give you an extra tip. Take care of yourself! Eat well, sleep well, take time to exercise and take care of your mind. It’s cheaper than spending with doctors and medicine. It’s much more fun too, find things that you enjoy doing that at the same time are good for your mind and body. It’s not an easy tip to follow but think about it.