40 Life Hacks We Love Because They Save Us So Much Money

Did you know that when you pick up a shopping basket — or even worse a cart — you’re more likely to load it up with items that aren’t on your list? Well, you do now, because we’ve just told you. So, to stick to just the essentials, the trick’s to use your arms to carry your shopping. Your bank balance will thank you.

Sometimes you see an online sale and get excited by the apparent price cut, which then leads to a purchase. But often all is not what it seems. That’s because stores regularly raise the price of an item pre-sale and then lower it to excite you into thinking you’re making a big saving. Thankfully, an internet plug-in such as CamelCamelCamel will keep tabs on sneaky stores doing this and help you save money in the long-run.

Ever bought an ink cartridge and then a few weeks or months down the line found that it was seemingly out of ink? Well, one way to get a little bit more out of your cartridge when this happens is to alter the text color to dark blue. This should make it possible to print some more sheets. Also, consider what fonts you’re using and choose a slight one that doesn’t use much ink if possible, such as Courier New.

Watering your lawn and plants can be a costly business, particularly during hot weather, but it needn’t be like that. So, rather than racking up sky-high water bills, why not invest in a rain barrel and connect it to your guttering. This will allow you to give your garden much needed water free from the sky. Not only that, but you’re also helping the environment by not wasting water. Win-win. And you might even get incentives from local governments to do this.

It’s undoubtedly nice to buy new clothes but there’s something rewarding about finding a second-hand bargain in a thrift shop or flea market, too. These days you can even find resale deals online and on your smartphone, if you don’t fancy wading through the racks. These apps are particularly helpful for those with hard-to-find sizes.

This life hack won’t pay dividends straight away or even within a year or two. But if you make the decision to plant trees on your property, you surely won’t regret it. That’s because well-placed trees can slash your energy bills by up to a quarter, given their natural wind-breaking ability. They’ll also provide some much needed shade in the hot summer and can boost the price of your house, too!

If you want to earn a bit more money than your main job brings in, then one way to do it is to start a side hustle. Seek out a flexible activity that you can come and do as you please, one that still allows yourself some important free time to unwind. It’ll help you earn and save a bit more.

Here’s a novel way to warm up your house in the winter. If you have a slow cooker, use it as a makeshift humidifier. Simply remove the lid, fill it with some water and switch it on, turning the knob or digital controls to a low temperature. It’ll add some humidity to your home but won’t break the bank doing so.

Wondering how all your income’s being frittered away each month? One of the answers on your bank statement may be your subscriptions. So, a useful money saving hack is to do a detailed review of them and cancel any that you aren’t getting enough use out of to justify paying for. Why pay for Disney + if you only watch one program a week?

Rather than rushing and going ahead and booking upgrades on your vacation room or vehicle, try this sneaky saving hack. Select the cheaper standard option and then when you get there, ask in person about a free upgrade. Often you’ll succeed and, of course, save money in the process. What’s the harm in asking?

Spend a lot of money on bottled water? Well, you probably aren’t helping the environment or your bank balance by doing so. The solution’s to ditch the plastic for the tap, as drinking water from the latter will save you a fair few dollars in the long run. Also, if the tap water in your house isn’t to your liking, you could always invest in a filter to make it taste better.

One of the best ways to make savings on your groceries is to get cash back. But how, you’re probably asking? By scanning receipts, that’s how! Download an app on your smartphone such as Checkout 51 or Ibotta and with minimal effort you could soon save a bunch of dollars each week.

Got more clothes than you can count? A load of things you never use? Then stop hoarding and get them on eBay or a similar website — you’ll soon make some decent pocket money! Not only that, but you’ll also free up space in your wardrobe or garage, help the environment, and let your unwanted items find a grateful new home!

One place you lose a lot of heat during the cold winter months is your electrical outlets. So, to save money in the long-run on heating, you should consider buying some insulating foam seals to fit on the switches and power outlets. They’re quite simple to fit and you should notice a difference both on your energy bills and in the room temperature.

Being environmentally friendly’s becoming more important than ever. And as well as helping to save the planet, using less plastic can help you save dollars over time. That’s because numerous stores across the U.S. and abroad reward you with discounts if you use bags for life or buy refills of basics such as water and soap. A win-win!

Here’s a neat hack that could leave you with an extra potato or onion. While picking out pre-bagged fruit or vegetables in the supermarket — a 10-pound bag of potatoes, say — make sure you weigh several bags of them before rushing to the checkout with one. Why? Well, the weight indicated on the bag isn’t the actual one but the lawful minimum. So, several of those bags will weigh more, a tell-tale sign that you’ve snagged yourself a bonus tater or two.

Need a little help with budgeting? Then may we suggest that you seek out the zero-cost services offered by the likes of Personal Capital and Mint. If you set up an account with these online financial advisors, then you can then divide your budget into groups that are then automatically organized. This allows you to see clearly where you’re going over-budget and what you need to cut to save.

Struggling to save money? You need to get SMART! What we mean by that is setting yourself financial goals using the acronym SMART, which stands for: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. Research has shown that those who do this are giving themselves a whopping 42 percent more chance of achieving these aims. So, rather than having a vague goal of saving money, set a realistic target of, say, $200 a month.

It’s an easy yet bad habit to throw your laundry into the dryer and let it spin. But this is bad for the environment, bad for your clothes — they’ll most likely shrink a bit —and bad for your bank balance. So, get a clothesline set up in the garden and prepare to save significant dollars. In winter, use drying racks in the house if possible.

Throw your jeans in the wash with all your other clothes? Then there’s something you better check before you start the spin — and it’ll save you money on new clothes. Those metal zippers on your denim will rip through your other garments like a chainsaw. So ensure they’re fully zipped up and tucked away, or else put a bit of tape on them to eliminate their sharpness.

You may have taken part in a 24-hour famine at high school, to raise awareness about hunger in the world. But have you tried not spending any money for 24 hours? This life hack will challenge you to avoid spending a single dollar for a whole day and it’s surprisingly easy to do. So, work from home or cycle or walk in, knock something together for lunch and dinner with whatever ingredients you already have, and read a book from the library in the evening. Voila, you haven’t spent a dollar!

A lot of people are convinced to take up extended service plans. Are you one of them? Well, if you are, we’re sorry to tell you that they’re mostly a waste of money. The product should have a warranty period provided by the manufacturer anyway and canceling these plans will save you a fair few dollars.

Maintaining your house and cars might feel like a chore. But it’s important that you do it, as it’ll almost certainly save you serious bucks in the future. So, create a memo and check your air filters, your car’s tire pressure and oil, and so on to avoid having to shell out for expensive repairs.

It’s really important that you check whether your 401(k) is right for you or else get a financial advisor in to figure it all out on your behalf. You see, many employer 401(k)s contain hidden nasties such as fees and don’t make the investments with the money available. If budget’s a problem, the Bloom app’s worth checking out, given that it offers free analysis and a tailored plan.

Of course, it’s nice to have a well-manicured lawn at the front and back of your property. But lawns are pricey and time-consuming to maintain. So why not consider turning your garden into a reliable provider of food for your dinner table. Growing your own vegetables and fruits is a great use of space and what you grow will be both healthy for you and cheap.

Devising a meal plan for the week’s been proven to save serious dollars at the grocery store. Think about it for a minute. If you know exactly what ingredients you need for each meal — and how much of them is required — then you won’t waste cash on food that’s surplus to requirements. Easy!

Something that’ll lose you money over time’s your refrigerator. Yes, a badly sealed fridge will waste energy. So, it’s important to check the seals every now and then, to see if they need changing. One way to do this is to shut it on a piece of paper; being able to pull the paper out means the seal’s past its sell-by date and should be switched.

There are a lot of things in life that we want — but there’s an important difference between that and need. When it comes to material desires, categorizing between them and needs can be a good way to save money. For instance, you need food, drink, and a place to live to survive. You don’t, though, need a 75-inch super HD TV with surround sound, however cool it’d be to have one!

This money-saving hack will surely surprise you. U.S, government studies have shown that adjusting your thermostat by just one degree warmer or cooler in autumn/winter and spring/summer respectively will save you at least one percent on your annual heating charges. And as it’s only one degree difference, you’ll acclimatize to the changes in no time.

If you boil water for your cups of tea on the stove, then you might want to consider stopping and buying an electric tea kettle. Yes, an electric’s the best way to heat up a small amount of water. So, go out and buy one if you haven’t already, because it’ll save you several dollars on your energy bills.

If you want to be particularly thrifty, why not tailor your eating schedule around the supermarket and grocery store sales? Next time you visit them, pick up the leaflets and sales pages on offer — or have a look online — and when you go back in buy ingredients on special deals to make meals that would’ve been in your plan for less money.

If you really want to save money you can, ahem, buy nothing. Of course, you’re going to need to buy food and pay bills, so it’s never quite going to be zilch. But there are actually Buy Nothing groups on Facebook and other sites, in which it’s possible to swap items you don’t need for ones that you do, or offer services such as DIY to one another. All this product exchanging’s good for the environment, too!

Like to go out for a drink or two but find it a bit expensive? Then why not plan your bar visits around happy hour? Doing so will mean you save a fair bit of cash and feel less guilty about having a few drinks out. You might even be able to squeeze in a meal. Go on, you deserve it!

Now, you’ve probably heard of the 30-second rule, which concerns building relationships with people. But what about the 30-day rule? Well, this is a method to avoid blowing money on major purchases. So, you have to hold off making an impulse buy on a laptop or something and then see if you still want the product in 30 days’ time when you revisit it. This hack helps remove giddiness or irrationality from the buying experience and could save you a lot of cash.

Have you thought about synchronizing your shut-eye with the daylight hours? You should, because not only will it make you feel better physically and mentally but it could also save you money. You might be thinking: what does synchronized sleep have to do with saving cash? Well, it’s all to do with electrical usage. If your sleep is synced properly, you’ll use less power during the daytime.

Now, some things — such as the groceries in the supermarket — have their price. Not everything in life’s fixed, though, and if you want to save money a good way to do so is to become a gifted negotiator. We aren’t talking about a Samuel L Jackson-style hostage-releasing expert, but rather someone with the ability to discuss and ultimately bring down the cost of everything from vehicle and life insurance to childcare costs.

It isn’t easy to ask your boss for a raise. But what you should consider is that it also isn’t an easy request for your superior to turn down. Most likely, they won’t want to lose you — unless you’re really lazy, of course, then that’s a different story! And employing someone else in your place costs valuable money and time. So, as long as you’re realistic and hard-working, your chances of earning a bit more are actually pretty good.

Another way to keep some extra cash in your pocket is to shop by season. So, for instance, when considering what fruit to buy, research and compare the prices by season. You’ll find that berries are much cheaper in the summer than they are in the winter, for example.

“Baby, I don’t need dollar bills to have fun tonight. (I love cheap thrills) But I don’t need no money. As long as I can feel the beat. I don’t need no money. As long as I keep dancing.” Yes, as Sia sang in her 2016 mega-hit “Cheap Thrills,” you don’t necessarily need money to have fun in your down-time. Go for a long walk. Rent a book or movie for free or precious little from the library. Cook at home. The options are endless!

Finally, if you want to become a super saver, be prepared to challenge everything. We’re talking subscriptions, phone contracts, gym memberships, everything. Write them all down and consider them individually. If you realize that you no longer need something or don’t use it enough to justify the cost, then get rid!