As you’ve gotten older and ventured out into the world, you probably learned a thing or two about your finances. You might even consider yourself a financial guru in terms of money managing basics. After all, saving money doesn’t need to be complex. But even if you’ve done a pretty good job stashing cash each month, there are few hacks you might not know about.
Try a Budget App
If you‘re still using pen and paper to create your budget, it’s time to make a change. Using budgeting apps can simplify the process by helping your track expenses, create saving goals, and automatically tally your monthly spending. To get started, it’s a good idea to look at your monthly bank and credit card statements to see where every dollar is going. From there, you can look to make cuts based on some of the unnecessary spending throughout the month.
Cashback Apps
Cashback apps are another way you can save money. Some of the most popular ones include Dosh and Rakuten. All you do is scan your receipt through the app to earn money back. You can save money on most daily expenses like gas and groceries. How much you receive back depends on the offer and the store providing them.
Look to Refinancing Existing Student Loans
Refinancing your student loans is a great way to free up extra money. Student loan refinancing is a process where you take what you owe in student loans and turn it into a new one. Refinancing can not only lower the interest rates and monthly payments, you’ll also be able to create additional funds to use in other areas such as paying down additional debt, or just having a cushion instead of having every dollar wrapped up from each paycheck. Getting out of living paycheck to paycheck should be the primary financial goal going forward.
Get LED Lightbulbs
LED lightbulbs are the prime alternative to the typical non-efficient bulbs. You may be wondering what this has to do with saving money. Well, it turns out that traditional bulbs can increase your electric bill by quite a bit. Not to mention, they’re also a potential hazard if they end up breaking. LED lightbulbs can easily eliminate both problems as they’re energy-efficient and have no hazardous substance in them.
Try Planning Out Your Meals
Contrary to what some may say, eating out is far from economical. Just because a lunch or dinner out may cost $15, the cost can add up fast if you continue to do it. In fact, did you know that people spent over $2,000 a year on eating out alone? This is why you need to switch to meal planning instead. Sure, the cost of groceries may not be as ideal as it was in the past, but a total of $150 to $200 on ingredients is much better compared to eating out daily. All you need to do is choose three to four meals you’ll have for the month and buy the necessary supplies.
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