If you’re like most people on a budget, you’re always open to new ways to save money and spend less on things you can’t go without. While there isn’t much you can do about the price of rent, gas, or rising insurance premiums, the following tips are clever ways to save some cash.
1. Find a local repair shop and skip the dealer
If you drive a luxury vehicle, like a BMW, Mercedes, or MINI Cooper, and were told to visit the dealer for every repair, that’s not true. While many people do go to the dealer, that’s a personal preference. Local mechanics can do just as good of a job as the dealer and for a significantly lower price, too.
Instead of going to the dealer for repairs and parts replaced, find a local repair shop that specializes in your vehicle’s make. There are plenty of mechanics who are highly skilled and trained to work on your car.
2. Make your own marmalade and jelly
It’s easy and convenient to buy jelly, jam, and marmalade from the store, but it also costs a lot of money. If you learn to make your own marmalade, you’ll not only spend less money, but you’ll also be able to make it just the way you like.
There’s also so much more flavor in homemade marmalade and jelly, and you can combine different fruits to make exotic flavors you can’t find in the store. If you have kids who love to eat jam or jelly on toast, you really can’t go wrong with making your own.
3. Wait for full loads before washing
It’s easy to get into the habit of tossing clothes into the washer and running a small load, or running the dishwasher at the end of the day when it’s not full.
When you wash your clothes or dishes, you’ll save more money by waiting until you have a full load. You’ll use less electricity, less water, and less soap in both cases. You may need to make exceptions for clothes or dishes if you really need them cleaned right away, but if you don’t, just wait to collect a full load before running your washing machine or dishwasher.
4. Use less laundry soap
If you find yourself doing laundry for your family every day, you’re probably spending more than you need to on soap. Start cutting way back on the amount of soap you use. Most people overuse laundry detergent, and you might be able to use far less than what you think you need.
For example, some people have done experiments and concluded that you really only need two tablespoons for a full load. It seems like the detergent manufacturers have created measurements for us to use more product so we’ll buy it more often.
5. Don’t upgrade your smartphone every few years
Tech gadgets are wonderful, but you don’t need to upgrade whenever a new model comes out. Most smartphones will still work for several years and get necessary updates. Each year, manufacturers string you along by dropping new models with tiny, incremental upgrades that aren’t even that impressive.
You don’t need the latest and greatest tech when you’re trying to save money. Even though your phone provider might give you a discounted upgrade, you’re still spending extra money you don’t need to spend.
Get creative to save big bucks
These are just some ways to be more frugal. Creativity goes a long way in saving money, so do what you need to make it work.
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