1. Automate Expenses to Spend Less

By planning ahead, you can automate your expenses by shopping online in advance for products you frequently purchase.

Here’s How it Works:

• Keep track of your purchases
• Evaluate your most frequent purchases
• Browse sites like Target, Amazon or Walmart
• Compare prices
• Decide if it’s worth it
• If so, set up a day each month to evaluate your frequently purchased products and buy them online

Shopping online gives you the advantage of buying products for less, it’s delivered to your doorstep, and it eliminates any impulse purchases.

How many times have you been in the store and bought more than what you intended? This can save you $100 a month or more. I have to give credit to the Busy Budgeter for this money hack and #3.

This not only saves you money but also time! You can save 1-3 hours a week by shopping online instead of going to the store.

Try it out and see how much you can save.

Max Here: Make sure you’re also using sites like Ebates and Honey when you make ANY online purchases, if you’re not, you’re losing money!

2. Perform a Weekend Spending Freeze Once in a Month

Do you often spend more on weekends? Many people start waiting for the weekend since the first day of the week. They like to spend too much on dining, clubbing, shopping, and many other things.

Most of the time the amount they spend is so high that they might have a huge credit card debt on their shoulder.

So, to avoid falling into a debt trap, there’s a way to cut back those expenses once in a month. First of all, say “No” to Starbucks. Without spending money on a weekend, you get the chance to spend quality time with your friends or family.

As per Phil Risher, the founder of Young Adult Survival Guide “If you know that each weekend you spend $300 going out to eat, drinking, Uber, etc., then you know that if you don’t spend for a weekend you can save that money.”

Put that $300 or whatever you can save into your savings account. Once you have a good amount saved in the account, use that money to pay off credit card debt once and for all.

3. Incentivize Your Budget

If you’re struggling to stick to your monthly budget, there is a simple money hack to fix it.

Maintaining a budget to save money or pay off debt is quite boring and hard as it doesn’t support our “wants”. In order to keep your budget on track, you may have to incentivize your desires by saving money from the grocery monthly budget so you can spend it on what you want.

Here’s How It Works:

• Calculate your total budget available for groceries once a month
• Divide that amount by 4 (so you’ll get a certain amount for every week)
• Try to spend less every week and save the difference
• At the end of the month, gather the total amount saved and spend it on whatever you want

When you keep your eye on the prize, you’ll get a positive boost, and you’ll find it suddenly super easy to be under budget on groceries.

Sometimes we have to trick ourselves into saving, and this is a smart way of doing it. We are creatures of habit, and if we can get into a habit of saving money for what we want, then it will be easier to save for what we need.

4. Reap as Much as Possible from Your HSA

This money hack might seem a bit dull to you, but it is quite cool, trust me. An HSA, or Health Savings Account, is a tax-friendly savings account available for people who enrolled themselves in an insurance plan with high deductibles.

As the deductibles are quite high, patients may need to bear higher upfront expenses for doctor’s fees and procedures. So the Federal government has provided some nice tax advantages through HSAs to ease up on the expenses.

How much money can you contribute to an HSA? According to Investopedia, the maximum amount you can contribute is $3,500 (individuals), and $7,000 (families).

You can contribute your pre-tax money (which means they are not subject to Federal Income Taxes), so that you may later use the tax-free benefit while paying for qualified medical costs.

Contributions made with after-tax dollars can be deducted from your gross income on your tax return, which means you may owe less tax at the end of the year.

Interest made on the money in your HSA is also tax-free! For more information on HSAs and how to sign up click here.

5. Replace Light Bulbs with LEDs

Gradually replace light bulbs with LEDs. For every LED you install, you could reduce your energy use by up to 80% and save up to $80 over the bulb’s lifetime. Some LEDs last up to 25 times longer than incandescent bulbs.

Electric companies often offer discounted pricing on qualified LED bulbs to residential electric customers through participating retailers or try these from Amazon
SYLVANIA LED A19 Light Bulb...Shop on Amazon

6. Focus on a Vice Cleanse

Prepare a list of your expensive vices, such as drinking, smoking, partying, costly online web subscriptions, too many gadget magazine subscriptions, etc.

Next thing to do is to pick any one of them (you may consult your family, spouse, or friend) and stop from this month as a new years resolution. This may save you hundreds, even thousands from your wallet each month. Also, don’t forget to put that money into savings.

7. Don’t Buy Books, Borrow Them

If you are a student and need a lot of books to prepare your study materials, don’t hesitate from borrowing books instead of buying new ones. Borrow books from your library, from your friends, and if possible from your teachers.

There are several online websites where you can find cheap books and the most popular is Amazon.

List your books, and order them. You might get free shipping from the retailers.

8. Opt for a Programmable Thermostat

If you want to make your home smart, your thermostat will be the first thing to start on and can help you save a considerable chunk of money by reducing your heating and cooling costs.

They are designed for complex multi-stage systems and will control heating, cooling, dehumidifier, and ventilation systems. You should use such programmable, smart thermostats so that you may turn it off while you are away from home.

Max Here: We use one like this, and it has saved us a lot of money

Honeywell Home RTH6360D1002...Shop on Amazon

9. Minimize Spending on Meals and Snacks

Prepare a meal plan and decide a few meals you’ll eat over the week. Try to make extra and freeze them to use in rush hours. Portion control is a must.

Homemade meals or snacks are better than hitting the vending machine. Try buying dried fruit, granola bars or trail mix in bulk and carry them while you are outside to limit impulse spending. It’ll not only save you money but also trim your waistline.

10. Keep Notice of your Debts and Optimize your Repayment Approach

Do you have multiple debts to pay off? How much do you owe? You must review your debts if you owe a decent amount of money, review your interest rates, terms and repayment options.

If you really want to get out of high-interest debts, consider consolidating them using several DIY methods like debt snowball or debt avalanche.

For those who don’t know what the snowball approach is, it’s essentially paying off your debts from smallest to largest. Make the minimum payments on all your debts except the smallest. Pay as much as possible on your smallest debt and then repeat these steps until all your debts are paid in full.

If you need expert advice, sign-up for a debt management program and optimize your debt repayment strategy. This way you can save thousands of your annoying debts.