45 Things We Do To Save Money

Today, I’m going to share our top tips to help us save money each and every day. You may find some tips that sound extreme to you. Believe me, they were extreme to us but they are not any more!

If you want to get out of debt and want to control your financial life completely, read on. These money-saving tips have helped us financially and personally. It isn’t rocket science. It’s up to you if you want to save money bad enough, you’ll learn how to adjust your lifestyle and live frugally. We don’t feel deprived at all. Give them a try 🙂 .

 

45 things we do to save money

 

1. We cut our own hair

Yes, we cut our own hair! I cut my own hair and our kid’s hair. My husband cuts his.

Before I got married, I had no idea how expensive a haircut is in the U.S.. Until I moved to the States and lived with my newlywed husband. Back home, my mom always cut my hair and I did it myself when I was older. After my first trip (and last) to my hubby’s haircut appointment, I was shocked to learn how expensive a simple buzz cut was. Not to mention another $10 tip, my husband paid his barber on top of the service fee. The money we paid for his haircut that day was worth 3 hours of my working time. Holy moly, this needed to stop. From that episode, I learned how to cut my husband’s hair. Later, my husband learned to cut his own hair.

We bought a high-quality Wahl hair clipper and we still use that same clipper 20 years later. It paid for itself in just a few haircuts. My husband gets his hair cut 6-7 times a year. With my husband’s hair alone, we have saved over $1,800 over the years! Here is how I came up with that number:

$15 for a buzz cut (service and tip, no inflation adjusted)

6 times a year for 20 years

That equals $1,800!

What an easy way to save money! By the way, how much does a gentleman’s haircut cost these days?

 

2. I mow our lawn

I’m not going to lie. Taking care of your landscape is expensive for homeowners. Mowing your lawn is probably a basic common landscaping task you can do to save money. I mow our lawn and I enjoy it (I think my husband likes that I enjoy it, haha 🙂 ). While mowing our lawn, I use the time to think about my day, plan our weekly meals, plan our kid’s school activities, and so on. See, mowing a lawn has other benefits besides saving money.

Mowing your own lawn not only saves you money but also gives you opportunities to exercise. If you think mowing your lawn is a waste of time, try thinking of it as a way to exercise. It gets your heart rate up and you sweat. You kill two birds with one stone. However, if you don’t like mowing your lawn, then perhaps this isn’t for you.

 

3. I groom our dogs and give them a bath

You could save money by doing these tasks by yourself. Have you ever thought of all the hassles you have to go through to make your doggie spa appointments? The hassles of dropping off, picking up, or waiting in the store and end up buying unnecessary stuff while waiting are not appealing to me personally. If you are like me, why don’t you try to give your dog a bath? If you are confident, try to groom your dog yourself. I bet your dog would want you to do these tasks more than anyone else does. If you make a mistake grooming your dog, just remember the hair will grow back!

If you have more than one dog, it could save you a lot of money. We have 2 dogs and they get groomed just twice a year. And here is how much we save:

$25 for a bath each dog, 4 times a year

$70 grooming each dog, twice a year

That equals $480 in savings per year!

 

4. We ditched our TV service

We had cable TV or satellite TV service for years. That was a ton of money we spent and we felt terrible about it afterward. One day we decided to cut it off for whatever reason it was (I can’t even remember). Oh boy, that was the best decision ever! We never looked back and we didn’t miss a thing. But, hey let me tell you, we were very hesitant to cut it off. I didn’t understand why it was so hard at first. Once we are on the other side of not having TV service, we’ve never felt better! It introduced us to a whole new world of information. We get to watch great Ted Talks, great documentaries and get to know amazing YouTubers around the world through streaming TV.

Our TV is 13 years old. And no, we didn’t buy a new smart TV just so we can stream our favorite documentaries through the internet. We just bought a streaming media player. It paid for itself in 3 weeks. And yes, we still have access to local news through live TV channels by getting a digital antenna.

Our last satellite TV bill was $120 a month (holy sh..t!). We spent this much on TV each month!?!  Thanks to those premium channels. We were so addicted to their shows. I still can’t believe, we didn’t miss any of them at all.

It’s been at least 8 years since we said goodbye to our satellite TV.

That equals $11,520!

Look how much we have saved. Ditching your TV service can save some serious money!

 

5. We ditched our landline

The only reason we had a landline was that of our home security system. Since we decided to go with another security company (which costs less), we didn’t need the landline anymore. Everybody has a cell phone nowadays. A landline has become less popular and unnecessary.

Our last home phone bill was $87 a month.

It’s been 2 years since we ditched our landline.

That equals $2,088!

 

6. We installed a programmable thermostat

A cost of heating and cooling your home is significant. By switching your regular programmable thermostat to a smart programmable thermostat, you can save money. We installed this thermostat which can be programmed according to our daily schedules efficiently.

For example:

In Winter months

During the weekday, we set our thermostat at 65 degrees Fahrenheit while we are at work. At 68 degree F when we are at home and at 65 degrees F at night time.

Over the weekend, we set it at 68 degrees F during the day and 65 degrees F during the night.

By programming our thermostat according to our daily schedule helps us save money on electricity bills. The HVAC/furnace doesn’t have to constantly keep a set of temperature unnecessary.

 

7. We homestead

Homesteading can save you money. A major benefit of homesteading is having foods right in your own backyard. We grow our own fruits and vegetables. We raise hens for eggs. Our grocery bills shrunk significantly. No money spent on gym membership either. From cutting trees and pulling weeds to cleaning the chicken coop, we get enough exercise to get a pretty good work out.

Since we started homesteading, we spend most of our time in the garden. We rarely go shopping. Due to this, it really reduces our entertainment cost and we save money by not making impulse purchases or eating out.

 

8. We compost

Nothing goes to waste here at our home. Our chickens get kitchen scraps. Anything that we can’t give to chickens goes to a compost bin which includes foods like avocado peels, seeds, onion, papers, plant-based packaging materials, etc. The composting materials turn into perfect soil for our garden. Our chickens also proved the perfect natural organic fertilizer. All this helps us save money on fertilizer and garden soil.

 

9. We wash our cars ourselves

Washing cars is fun and can save money. We spend our time together washing cars on weekends. Not only we can save money by doing this task by ourselves, our kid also learns how to do chores around the house.

 

10. We buy used school uniforms

By not buying new, we save a significant amount of money. This year our kid is going to first grade. The school has used uniforms for sale and we took advantage of this awesome program. Instead of paying $45 per top and $50 or $25 per pants or shorts, we paid a fraction of that. Kids are growing fast anyway, why pay a fortune for something that they are only going to outgrow in a year (or two).

 

11. We don’t have trash pick-up and recycling services

Because we compost everything that is compostable, our waste is so minimal. It makes more financial sense for us to pay $3 for a 55-gallon bag to dump our trash at the county landfill every now and then. We can also recycle recyclable materials at our county recycling facility for free.

If your trash and recycling pick-up services are already included with your property taxes, you won’t be able to save money with this option. However, if they are not included, you should check with your county to see if they offer these services for free or for a minimal charge.

Here is how much we’ve saved so far:

$75 a month for 9 years at our old house = $8,100

$45 a month for 2 years at our current house = $1,080

That’s totaled at $9,180!

 

12. We use Rakuten (Ebates)

We’ve earned $174.83 so far this year. It takes some planning. Before we shop, we always check with Rakuten to see if there are any better deals. If we find a better deal at Rakuten, we’ll shop through them to get the discount and the cashback. I don’t mind getting some cash back for groceries or a big purchase like new tires.

If you regularly shop on Amazon, you’ll love this amazing cashback tool. It gives you 1% or more when you shop at Amazon. After you sign up, you just find the store on Rakuten, click “Shop Now” and shop like you normally would on the store site. Ebates will send you a check or PayPal payment quarterly.

A cashback shopping website/app like Rakuten really pays you when shop. If you sign up through my referral link, you’ll receive a $10 welcome bonus when you make $25 eligible purchase. You can sign up for Ebates here.

13. We replaced our light bulbs with LED lights

When we moved to the new house, we replaced all the light bulbs with LED lights. It costs money initially but it will pay for itself. We replaced a total of 98 light bulbs. The majority of the original light bulbs that came with the house used 16-22 watts. We found some that used 80-100 watts. The new LED light bulbs we replaced only use 4.5 watts. That’s way less energy per light bulb. LED lights are much more affordable these days. There’s no reason to not replace them.

Even though there’re a few rooms we don’t use often like a storage room. We still replace every light bulbs anyway. We thought it would save us money in the long run. Another tip we do to save money on electricity bill is we only turn on a floor lamp (which has 1 bulb) at night instead of turning the ceiling lights or ceiling fan light (which has 3-4 bulbs). Every watt counts!

We also replace our air filters on a regular basis. It keeps the HVAC work at its optimal. Clogged or dirty air filters make the HVAC works harder. More energy is used – hence, a higher utility bill.

 

14. We installed low flow shower heads and faucet aerators

Another great way to save money on the water bill. It costs money initially to replace but it pays for itself in a few short months. For a family of 4, that’s at least 4 showers per day, 120 showers per month, not to mention all the faucets everybody uses.

 

15. We optimize credit card cashback by using it wisely

We have one credit card that we use for everything, from groceries shopping to airplane tickets. It offers an unlimited 1% cashback on everything and 5% cashback on special categories quarterly. Another benefit is that since everything is purchased with one credit card, it makes expense tracking easier.

We also use the credit card to pay for our utilities and cell phone bills. I don’t mind getting 1% cashback from needs and wants.  It adds up! Keep in mind that we pay our credit card balance off each month.

 

16.  We go to the library

It’s free to join so why not? We really enjoy going to the library. Besides books, we can also rent movies, documentaries, and music for free. If you would like to borrow a specific book but your library doesn’t have it on hand, you can request to have your library purchase it or have it transferred from a different library.

Stop buying books and magazine subscriptions. You can save money by joining and utilizing your local library.

 

17. We work out at home

Gym membership is expensive. Even though if it costs $10 per month to join, it’s $120 per year. Plus the cost of transportation and maybe a smoothie or a drink while you’re there. It adds up. Exercise at home can save you money. Investing in your favorite equipment will eventually pay for itself.

 

18. We negotiate our internet service

Everything is negotiable. We regularly call the customer service asking for special deals. They will try to sell you new products or new deals, don’t fall into this trap! We learned that when we are at the end of any promotional deals, we can switch the account holder name to save money on the service.

For example, our internet promotional deal for new customers lasts 2 years. Once the 2 years is up, we’ll switch the account name from my name to my husband name. When another 2 years is up we’ll switch back. This way we save $15 a month!

 

19. We always shop around for insurance

We always compare insurance options and shop for better deals every now and then. It takes a bit of time and effort to do this but it’s so worth it. We’ve saved thousands of dollars.

 

20. We stock up on sales

Whenever we catch a sale, we’ll stock it up. However, we don’t do it on everything that is on sale. The items must add value to our lives. We don’t buy stuff on sale just the fact that they are cheap. Mostly, we stock up on items like shelf-stable foods, toilet paper, and paper towels. We just need to make sure that it won’t go out of date by the time we use it.

 

21. We buy in bulk

It’s mathematically cheaper to buy in bulk.  Again, we make sure that we can use them before it goes out of date. Consumable items like toilet paper, paper towels are good candidates for buying in bulk. We also try not to buy individually packaged items. Individually wrapped/packaged items are more expensive. For example, for our kid’s snack at school, we buy a large container of raisins and put them in a small reusable plastic container instead of buying individually boxed raisin.

 

22. We use money-saving apps

ibotta is a free app that pays you real cash with grocery and everyday shopping. After you download the app and complete the registration, before you shop, you just need to add offers to your profile using your smartphone through the app or using a PC. Then you go buy the products (that you added to your profile) just like you normally do in a store. You can then redeem your cash through PayPal or by requesting a gift card.

What I like about ibotta is that it gives you real money, not points or other made-up currencies. You can sign up for ibotta through my referral link here and get a $10 welcome bonus.

Checkout 51 is a company that partners with brands to bring its members cash back offers. Use the free app to get some cashback on groceries and personal care products (like cereal, produce, milk, diapers, toothpaste, etc.), by taking a picture of your receipt and earning cashback for qualifying purchases through the app. You can sign up for Checkout 51 here.

Receipt Hog is a fun money earning app that turns your everyday shopping receipts into cash rewards. For every qualifying receipt, you take a picture and submit, you’ll earn coins.

What I like about this app is that there’s no shopping planning like other apps I’ve mentioned above. You just snap your receipt, submit it through the app, accumulate your coins, and redeem it for cash through PayPal or by requesting an Amazon gift card. You can sign up for Receipt Hog here.

Fetch Reward is similar to grocery money-saving apps I mentioned earlier. but this app gives you points (instead of cash). You earn points by snapping your grocery receipts through the app. It’s so easy to earn. There is no shopping planning like ibotta and Checkout 51. What I like about Fetch Rewards is that you can still earn points without buying specific stuff. You earn points and save without planning. Buy whatever you want, wherever you want, and save. You just need to scan your grocery receipts when you shop. Once you accumulate enough points, you can redeem your rewards through the app. There are a ton of gift cards you can choose. Download Fetch Rewards and enter my referral code T4HHB at the sign-up screen to get 2,000 points on your first receipt. Start earning today. It’s an easy way to get free gift cards.

Coinout has become my favorite money-saving app. It’s super easy to earn extra cash! There is no shopping planning. There is no specific item to buy. You just snap any receipt to earn real money! Yes – ANY RECEIPT! Coinout gives you real money, not point or other made-up currencies like Fetch Rewards or Receipt Hog. If you purchase at any online stores through the app, you’ll get Coinout cashback as well. Here’s a catch, the app only allows you to snap a certain number of receipts per day. However, I do enjoy using this app to earn easy extra money. I have earned a little more than $10 for just a few months.

 

23. We pack our lunch to work

I’m a firm believer that packing your own lunch to work is far less expensive than eating out. If you spend $8 on average on your lunch every day, that’s totaled at $40 per week or $160 per month or around $2,080 per year! If you have to drive somewhere to get your lunch, it even costs more money, considering gas money and the time it takes to get your lunch.

Mostly, we just pack leftovers from our dinner from the previous night. We just make more so we’ll have some leftovers. With just a little planning, packing your lunch becomes relatively easy. Whenever we get bored of eating leftovers, we just buy healthy stuff to make good sandwiches. It still costs less than eating out. We also pack our food and drinks when we are out and about. If you’ve been buying/eating out for lunch, try to pack your own lunch once or twice a week. You’ll notice extra money in your bank account.

 

24. We limit eating out

Eating out is expensive. Not only have you paid for your food you also pay for your transportation to get you from your home to a restaurant. You drive more, you spend more money on gas and car maintenance.

We used to eat out about once or twice a month. Even then I felt we spent too much. Since we only eat out when we have special occasions, I’ve felt that we are better financially. You’d be surprised how much money leaks through your pockets when you don’t pay attention. When we eat out we tend to eat more, we order dessert and drinks. Even worse, we would stop by stores and spend money on stuff we don’t need on the way home.

We rarely eat out these days. Our kid enjoys my home cooked meals and the quiet meal times together at home. If you are eating out often, try to limit your dining out to one a week and gradually reduce to one a month. You’ll see a difference in your bank account and in your overall health.

 

25. We cook from scratch

Cooking from scratch can save you money. Pre-made or pre-packaged foods are more expensive than ingredients. A good example is chicken broth. Making your own chicken broth is so much less expensive than buying a carton of chicken broth. Buying a whole chicken and save the bones for making chicken broth is a smart way to save money. Have you noticed how high the sodium is in pre-packaged chicken broth? If you make your own, it’s ways healthier and tastes better. And it costs less.

Whenever I make my chicken broth, I make a lot so I can freeze the rest for future uses. Next time I need chicken broth, I just take it out of the freezer.

It’s a lifestyle change. But believe me, once you try cooking from scratch a few times, you’ll enjoy it. It may take more time and effort at first but don’t let that stop you. Keep at it. You’ll save money in the long run.

 

26. We never buy full price

We wait until things go on sale. Almost everything goes on sale sooner or later. Your job is to wait. Patience is key. We also shop at discounted stores. You always get a better deal there.

 

27. We make coffee at home

We buy roasted whole coffee beans in a large quantity (2-5 lbs bag). It’s cheaper to buy things in large quantities. I don’t drink coffee but my husband is addicted to it. We keep unused coffee beans in an airtight container to keep it fresh. My husband freshly grinds the bean and makes his own coffee.

On average, it costs $4.50 for a cup of coffee. We spend about $8 per 14 oz of coffee beans. That makes many pots of coffee. There’s no need to do the math here. We can see that making your own coffee is way cheaper than buying from a coffee shop.

 

28. We shop at discounted and second-hand stores

We buy shelf-stable food from discounted stores. They are around 20-40% less expensive than buying from regular grocery stores. From clothing to furniture, we always check second-hand stores first before we go to regular stores. We learn that washing does a good job at cleaning. Even though they are second handed but they are new to us. My husband got this $300 espresso machine for $7 at GoodWill.

29. We pick up stuff from dumpsters

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. We don’t mind picking up stuff from dumpsters. We live in a small college town. Students come and go every semester. There’s always something at the dumpsters year round, from household gadgets to small furniture. We never spend money on yard brooms because we’ve been picking up brooms at dumpsters for use in our yard for years. Ha! What a great way to save money!

 

30.  We buy generic brands

Store and generic brands are so much cheaper than premium brands’. If you buy premium brands for your groceries, you can save money just by switching. Premium brands cost higher because they spend more on advertising. I found store brands quality to be just as good as premium brands.

 

31. I don’t regularly use makeup

Only when we go to a wedding or a special party, I’ll wear makeup. It only happens once or twice a year. So I only have a small collection of them – lipstick, mascara, and powder. For everyday life and work, I don’t wear any makeup at all. I only wear sunscreen lotions and lip gloss in the morning and moisturizer at night. This is not for everyone. It’s a highly personal choice. However, we save money by not regularly buying my makeup.

 

32. We plan our meals in advance

Planning meals in advance can save you money. It prevents you from making an impulse purchase on foods or eating out unnecessary. Here are our 2 rules of thumb. We cook meals based on whatever food/ingredients we have currently. And we don’t buy anything until we use up groceries that are in the fridge. I usually plan out our meals a few days in advance and take out frozen ingredients from the fridge the night before. Most of the time, I cook extra on weekends. So there’ll be meals left over to eat without cooking for busy Mondays.

 

33. We learn to take care of our stuff

It costs money to get stuff replaced and repaired. Taking good care of them will extend their lifespan. Especially, when it comes to your garden tools and yard equipment, it can save you money if you take good care of them.

 

 

34. I dye my hair and do my own manicure and pedicure

Salons cost a fortune. I had my hair and my nails done in a salon once and that was it. The cost was ridiculous. Never again – it costs too much. You can save money by doing them by yourself at home. It’s convenient and easy.  You can do it whenever you’d like. I buy hair color products for $3 and have my hair dyed while doing household chores. There’s no need to make appointments or make a trip to the salon.

 

35. We grocery shop with a list

You tend to buy extra stuff if you don’t have a list when grocery shopping. Make yourself a list ahead of time. When you go grocery shopping, just stick to your list and get out. It may be hard at first. But keep at it, you’ll get better and better every time.

 

36. We skip the dishwasher heated dry cycle

Your dishwasher uses hot water to clean the dishes. So why spend unnecessary energy to dry them. Skipping a heated dry cycle can save money on your monthly electric bill. We tend to open our dishwasher as soon as it’s done. The hot vapor that remains after a rinse cycle will evaporate so quickly when it’s exposed to cool air. Hence it makes your dishes dry faster.

 

37. We winterize our home

Your money constantly leaks if you don’t winterize your home properly. Heating is the number one cause of high utility bill during winter. Regularly check your windows, door seals, and crack to look for leaks. Caulk it using door/window strip or a latex/silicone caulk. Late Summer or early Fall is a good time to get your home winter ready.

 

38. We learn to DIY

Thanks to all the amazing YouTubers out there. We can learn just about anything you want. You can save money by learning to do things yourself. We have built our chicken coop from scratch. We fixed our lawnmower by watching videos from YouTube.

 

39. We go to a park

Walking our dog in a park is the highlight of our days. It’s relaxing and doesn’t cost money. We truly enjoy our quality time together as a family.

 

40. We take good care of our credit scores

Having a good credit score can save you money on interest, utility connection fees or even a cell phone contract. Do you know that if you have a good credit score you can get a cell phone on contract without paying a security deposit? We seriously take good care of our credit scores. We moved to a new house in 2017 and were happy to learn that we didn’t need to pay for security deposits on our utilities at all. That saved us $190! Besides saving interest on your loans, a good credit score also means you won’t have to pay a security deposit when you establish new utility services.

41. I clean our house myself

And I enjoy it. I didn’t realize that having somebody else come and clean your house or having a cleaning service is so expensive (at least it’s expensive for us). Most of my co-workers have a cleaning service or a cleaning lady who come and clean their house on a regular basis. The service fee ranges from $50 – $200 per one cleaning depending on the size of the home.

Cleaning a house is not a big deal for me. And it doesn’t take much time to do it. We have a 6-bedroom house with 2 dogs living inside. What I’m trying to say is that our house is not small and with 2 dogs, cleaning can be a daunting task. By keeping your house tidy and minimalistic, cleaning a house can be a breeze. Just daily sweeping, weekly mopping/ vacuuming and monthly bath/shower cleaning are enough to keep our house clean. I do a deep cleaning every once in a while like cleaning windows, vacuuming baseboard, fridge cleaning, etc.

The other thing we try to implement in our household is “cleaning up after yourself “. Everyone is in charge of keeping the house clean. Also, the more stuff you have in your house, the more energy and time to keep it up. If you have kids, toys are a big problem in keeping your house tidy. We limit the number of toys our kid can have to only a few (we actually don’t buy toys period). Keeping your house tidy is key. We also take our shoes off (and leave them outside) before entering our house.

 

42. We sell unused stuff

If you don’t use them, why keep them. Anything in our house that sits more than 2 years without being used will be up for sale. It’s such a good way to declutter your home and make extra money.

 

43. We never waste food

 

 

Is there any of our tips that sounds extreme to you? If so, why?

Any other money-saving tips you could share? We can’t wait to save more money 😉 .

 

 

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