10 Ways to Save Money Every Month

Saving money is important for many. You might be reading this because it’s important to you, too.

Are you running out of ideas to save money? Do you want to spice up your money-saving journey and save more than you’re used to?

We got you!

We gathered 10 ways to help you save money on a monthly basis. Whatever it is you are saving for, whether you’re saving up for future leisure activities, basic needs, retirement, or simply just to add to your emergency fund, these tips will definitely help you achieve that dream savings account!

1. Lessen utility expenses

Hmm, lessen utility expenses? How are you supposed to do that?

You can start by using your air conditioner less during summers and using your heater less during winter.

But how are you supposed to beat the heat or stay warm?

There are many tips and tricks out there that you can follow to help you do this. Start by staying hydrated in the summer and follow instructions from articles like this one from Sila to beat the summer heat without spending all your summer money for the air conditioner bill!

During winter, start by buying heated blankets and thick curtains to help warm-up your home. For other tips, you may read this guide from The Balance to start spending less on heating expenses.

2. Pay annually for services

Paying annually for services, more often than not, means that you also will be paying less for it.

The best way to pay for services that you need is by buying and paying them annually (if you can, as it is understandable that not everyone has the ability to do this).

One company that offers software which many professionals use is Adobe. To start using all their applications, you have to pay 79.49USD/month. In a year, that’s 953.88USD.

However, if you avail it annually, it would only cost you 599.88/year or 52.99/month! That’s over 350USD in savings that you can spend on plenty of other things.

But, before doing this, you have to think about whether you’re going to be able to maximize the service first. Otherwise, you’re just going to be wasting more money.

3. Stop paying monthly for services you can’t maximize

Do you know that gym membership that you only use a couple of times a month?

Yes, you’re losing a lot of money from it.

Let’s say you have a $100 gym membership, but you only go two times a week. That means you’re spending $12.5 dollars to enter your gym, per visit!

Outrageous.

If you don’t see yourself being able to maximize memberships and subscriptions such as a Netflix subscription, you’re better off finding options that don’t require you to commit to it monthly.

For example, you could look for a gym that allows you to pay per visit only, or you could find someone you can share your Netflix subscription with so you don’t have to pay in full all the time.

If you have the space for it, you may also try working on building your own home gym! (or just start doing home exercises)

4. Look for cheap gas stations

This should be a piece of well-known information already, but in case you are forgetting, or in case you’re not aware yet, gas stations have different prices for fuel depending on their location.

Some are cheaper, and some are way expensive.

To help you find the cheapest gas stations near you, try checking each station’s prices out whenever you pass through them on your way to work, school, or going home and compare them in your head.

If you find this a hassle or distracting to do so, you may try using apps like Waze which show you updated prices of gas stations in your area. Although sometimes, they can be inaccurate, it’s still a good guide to look into.

5. Follow fuel-saving tips

Using a car is unavoidable for some, especially now that we’re in a pandemic situation and public transportation can make you a little bit paranoid.

That’s okay if you can’t stop yourself from using a car. But, you may want to follow some fuel-saving tips that help you spend less on your monthly fuel expenses.

This might sound like very little savings, but you will be surprised at how much you can save by following these tricks.

Take a look at this article from Money Done Right.

6. Cash backs, discounts, and coupons!

Do not ignore cash backs, discounts, and coupons from stores!

When you shop, the savings might be small sometimes, but if you add them together, it sums up to a lot especially if you spend a lot on groceries, shopping, fuel, and etc.

To find these deals, you may check magazines, mails, and websites such as Dealstar, Groupon, or Scoopon.

7. Start meal planning

Meal plans? Seems like a lot of effort and money.

Actually, meal plans are the opposite. It saves you plenty of time and money.

Planning your meals saves you extra trips to the grocery store when you realize you don’t have enough ingredients for a proper meal, and saves you from ordering take out.

Not only are meal plans healthy for the budget, but they are also good for your health!

Here is a guide from The Penny Hoarder showing you how you can start doing meal plans and save money while at it.

8. Stop eating out

If you eat out regularly and you compute the amount of money you spend on dining out monthly, it most likely amounts to money that you could have spent on grocery for 1-2 weeks.

Go ahead, try it.

Feeling guilty? Channel that guilt and remember it every time you get tempted to eat out.

Don’t know how to cook? Don’t be intimidated by Gordon Ramsay’s YouTube videos. Cooking really is not as hard and terrifying as it seems.

Start trying out recipes from websites such as BBC Good Food or Cookbooks.com!

Eating out is expensive because of reasonable things. You are paying for service, time, ambience, and etc. But just because the prices are reasonable, doesn’t mean it’s also reasonable for you to consume them on a regular basis.

Leave eating out to the richer folks. You’ll get there, soon!

9. Reduce your vices

If you’re a regular smoker or a regular drinker, you are spending so much on that monthly, and we know you’re aware of it.

Here’s the extra push that you need to start drinking less and letting go of your smoking habits.

According to Nicorette, the average Australian smoker spends a whopping $20 a day on cigarettes. Imagine if you spent that somewhere else, like your utilities. That’s just on cigarettes alone! If you add alcohol to the cost, do you see how high your expenses are?

To find out how much you’re actually spending on smoking, try this calculator from iCanQuit.

Who knew the urge to save money can also lead you to a healthier lifestyle, right? From meal plans to the motivation to quit vices!

10. Try money-saving challenges

Looking for a way to really spice up your money-saving journey?

Are you highly-competitive and competitions energize you the most?

Great! Then you can try money-saving challenges that could force or motivate you into saving for that dream European vacation (or dream car, whatever it is that you’re saving up for).

Here’s a list of some money-saving challenges that you can try from Rise!