10 Simple Ways To Save Money When Times Are Tough (2024)

Financially speaking, times are tough right now for a lot of folks. And whether or not that includes you, the fact remains that financial hardship can strike anyone at any time!

Whether it’s advice you need now or could use down the road, it’s a good idea to know how to downsize your budget quickly to minimize the potential fallout. Knowing how to downsize your budget can also help you get out of debt or realize other goals, like saving up for that bucket list trip!

In this post, I’m sharing some simple ways to save money and “tighten your belt” if and when you need to. With the help of these money-saving strategies, you’ll be able to adapt quickly to any new financial situation.

10 Ways To Save Money During Times Of Financial Hardship

1. Shop Secondhand

One of the simplest and smartest switches you can make when money is tight is buy things secondhand instead of new. From cars to clothes to electronics, you can save a significant amount of money just by buying used!

To learn more about why shopping secondhand is such a smart way to save money, check out this post. And read this post to find out exactly what you should be buying used!

2. Save On Groceries

A lot of our monthly bills and expenditures are fixed, so we have to find savings in other places. The grocery store offers plenty of simple ways to save money, and I’ve written about many of them over the years here on my blog!

Peruse these posts that are packed with frugal tips and tricks you can use while shopping for groceries:

• How To Save Money On Meat
• 9 Unexpected Grocery Store Hacks
• The Truth About Store Brand Foods
• 11 Costly Grocery Shopping Mistakes To Avoid
• 13 Ways To Stop Wasting Food

3. Break Costly Habits

If you ever find yourself wondering where exactly your money is disappearing to, you may have costly habits that you aren’t even aware of! Saving by doing things like keeping your tires properly inflated and following through on rebates can add up over time, so avoiding costly habits is a smart way to save money.

Check out these posts to find out if your habits are costing you money:

• 7 Bad Habits That Are Costing You Money
• 11 More Bad Habits That Are Costing You Money

4. Save On Meds

If prescription drugs are draining your bank account, it’s well worth your time to find out if there are other options that could save you money. You can get generic prescriptions for as low as $4 at certain pharmacies, and for meds without generic equivalents, you can sometimes find coupons and discounts to lower the price.

Check out this post to learn about a simple tool you can use to compare prices on your medications.

5. Be More Resourceful

You can save money every day by making the most of the stuff you already have at home. Many of our grandmas were experts at this sort of resourcefulness, having made do with what they had throughout the Great Depression.

To learn how to reuse and repurpose 9 household items just like grandma used to, check out this post.

6.Use A Budgeting System

Having a budget is an important part of managing your finances, especially when money is tight. But as a very right-brained person myself, I know how tricky budgeting can be if you’re not great with numbers and spreadsheets!

But there is one budgeting system that I always return to when I need it, and that’s the envelope system. It’s easy to get started, and maybe more importantly, it’s easy to stick with too!

Budgeting with the envelope system (or whatever system works for you) will help you understand where your money is and should be going.

7. Save On Household Bills

If bills are cleaning you out each month, you may need to evaluate your monthly bills to find where you can afford to make cuts. For instance, if you have a cable and internet service bundle but don’t watch cable very often, downgrading to an internet-only plan could save you quite a bit on your monthly bill!

Learn other tips and tricks for saving money on your household bills here.

8. Find Little Ways To Save

Saving money doesn’t have to happen all at once. In fact, there are hundreds of opportunities to save a little bit of money (around $5 or so) throughout the day! From avoiding unnecessary fees to avoiding waste, finding little ways to save can really add up over time.

Check out this post to learn about 25 easy ways to save $5!

9. Don’t Waste Money

When money is tight, most people instinctively start cutting back on frivolous purchases. But there are plenty of ways we waste money on a regular basis that may not be as easy to identify!

Interest charges, late fees, and fines can add up fast, and you can save quite a bit of money by simply avoiding these charges in the first place! Read this post to find out about other wastes of money and how to avoid them.

10. Find Hidden Cash

When every dollar counts, it’s worth taking the time to scour your home for hidden sources of cash! Check out this post to find out what kinds of valuable items you can discover around your house or on the web!

Bonus Tip: Sell Your Stuff For Extra Cash

Thanks to the proliferation of online marketplaces, you don’t even need a yard these days to host your own yard sale! If you have stuff at home you could sell for a profit, utilize marketplace sites like eBay and Facebook Marketplace to sell them.

You can learn all about hosting an online yard sale here.

Do you have a favorite tip for saving money or being more frugal?