15 Tips to Save Money Painlessly (2024)

If you’re anything like me you’re always thinking of ways to save money. It is so surprising how the “little” expenditures really add up! Taking a look at our spending habits and making adjustments is something we all should do on a regular basis. So here are my 15 Tips to Save Money… Painlessly! These are the little tweaks you can make to your spending to cut back without feeling too much of a pinch.

General:

1. Get quotes for insurance to see if you can save money with another company.

2. Ditch the home phone

3. Dry clean at home. We use Dryel for most of our dry clean only garments and this has drastically cut back our dry cleaning bill.

4. If you shop at Target, be sure to use Cartwheel and a Red Card debit card. In the past year I have saved more than $200 between my Red Card (debit card, notcredit), Cartwheel coupons, and the 5% discount coupons I get for filling prescriptions at the Target pharmacy. Cartwheel is now super easy to use with the new barcode scanner. When I am finished with my shopping I pull my cart aside and scan everything in the cart looking for Cartwheel discounts.

Health and Beauty:

1. Check out E.L.F. cosmetics. Most products cost $1.00-$5.00, so they’re a great bargain! I’ve found that I like their nail polish, makeup brushes, and lip gloss. Each of those items is $1.00 and therefore a considerable savings over other products. Major bonus: they do not test their products on animals.

2. Cancel your gym membership and workout at home.

3. Price compare your prescriptions. This past summer I was taking a daily prescription medication that was costing me $20 a month. I checked with several local pharmacies and found that I could get the same medication for $4.00 at Target. Check around and see if you are getting the best price on your prescriptions and if you are not, then switch pharmacies!

Food:

1. No more cans of soda! Although we should stop drinking soda altogether, if you’re not ready for that step then at least stop throwing money away on individual servingsize bottles and cans. A 2-liter is the best value per ounce, so use a cup and save the cash.

2. Snack cheaper. Forego the expensive bags of chips in favor of popcorn. Trade trips out for ice cream for make-your-own sundaes at home. Do homemade bagel pizzas instead of stocking the freezer with personal pizzas and pizza bites.

3. Practice portion control and just eat a little less. Your waist line AND bank account will thank you.

4. Try take-and-bake pizza instead of delivery. My family really likes the take-and-bake pizzas in the refrigerated section at Aldi. They usually cost $5.00 or $6.00 each which is much cheaper than delivery! Better yet, make your own homemade pizza. It’s actually fun!

5. Here is a big one for me, because I’m always looking for an excuse to eat out: make a list of the easiest meals you can whip up in minutes and always keep the ingredients on hand for those meals. Mine are simple: creamy spaghetti (I’ll share the recipe sometime) with garlic bread and green beans, hot dogs and fries, or tuna casserole. Not the fanciest meals, but I can make them super fast when I’m not at all in the mood to cook! Better than fast food, for sure.

Entertainment:

1. Consider switching TV providers. We did some price comparing and found another provider to be cheaper. We’ve switched and are saving about $20 a month. Be careful not to get sucked in to the initial price deals. Check the regular monthly price (what you’ll be paying once your special deal ends) and make sure it fits in your budget.

2. Only go to movie matinees. Our local theater offers a special Tuesday deal for movies before 6:00 PM. The ticket price is $6.00 per person, a popcorn and soda combois $3.00, and candy is $3.00. MUCH cheaper than the regular prices!

3. Get a Redbox movie, make your own popcorn, buy some bags of candy, and have your own family movie night at home. Fun!

BONUS!

Sit down and look at your spending for last month. Make a list ofareas where you spent too much and work to cut back in thenext month. Cancel unused memberships, research some new recipes to get excited about eating at home again, and stay home a little more to save gas. Most of all, assess your priorities and think of ways to spend less while enjoying your family more.