Looking to save money around the house?
Of course you are! What family wouldn’t want to save more money?
Saving more money is possible, even if you don’t think you can. This website is dedicated to all you families wanting to save money.
Today’s article is all about saving money around the house.
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10 Ways to save money around the house
1. Build a budget that works for your family
Building a budget is the most critical way to start saving money every month.
If you don’t have a budget, you’re probably wasting hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars every month.
A budget is the plan for your money and how you plan to save, spend, and invest. If you earn $40k a year then you’ll earn $400k over the course of 10 years. You’ll wonder where it all went if you don’t have a plan.
I get it. Not everyone likes budgeting.
However, being a responsible adult means doing things you don’t want to do, like taxes. Budgeting is just another one of those things you need to do if you want to win at adulting!
I’ve created a free course to help families save money and budget better. The course will help you learn good money management skills so that you can achieve your financial goals.
What do you want to achieve financially? A house? Rental properties? Retirement? Yearly vacations?
Our free course is set up to give you the budgeting and save money skills you need. Budgeting has helped me and my family, allowing us to pay off 40% of our mortgage in two years.
Responsible budgeting makes life easier and less worrisome. When emergencies hit, budgeting allows me to pay for it in cash, rather than on a credit card.
Budgeting has been my greatest financial strength and I know it can work for your family!
2. Save money when shopping online
Shopping online can be one of the best ways to save money for your family.
Online retailers like Amazon provide some of the cheapest prices around and you don’t even have to leave your house. Usually, I can’t even find a price in store that isn’t cheaper than Amazon. Otherwise, I can usually find a way to price match Amazon.
When I got engaged to my wife, the first thing she asked me for was my wallet (Yikes!). From that point on, I knew I had to develop a strategy to save money shopping online.
That’s how I came up with the ultimate money-saving strategy for online shopping. It’s easy to implement and can save your family thousands.
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3. Buy quality over quantity
I would much rather have one really good quality item over a bunch of things I don’t use.
Buying “stuff” is taking over our lives. We buy things we don’t have space for so our garage fills up with boxes we never look in. Once the garage is full, we buy a storage unit for $100 a month.
We need less junk in our life and selling your unused junk is a good way to pocket some extra cash.
Buying quality is a good way to save money for the long term. I would much rather have a nicer, somewhat more expensive vacuum if it lasted longer than one I had to replace often.
Going forward, ask yourself if your next purchase is a quality item or just something that will take up space. You can see a few of my personal favorites by reading home items that save you money.
Share this article on Twitter!Click To Tweet4. Stop paying more than you should for groceries
People tend to spend a lot of money on food because it’s really easy to do.
Work takes up most of our time so we look for convenience. Convenience usually comes at a higher cost.
As a matter of fact, a good number of Americans don’t even use their own kitchen!
Most families should be able to do well at about $500 per month not including restaurants. A meal plan is going to be your best tool to help you stay on track.
Do you know how much money you’re currently spending on groceries each month? If not you should start a budget.
Ibotta is an app that can help you save money on groceries by giving you money back on items purchased. You simply enter into the app the items you plan on buying, buy the items, and then scan the receipt.
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5. Do your own maintenance
You have two options when something breaks down, fix it yourself or pay someone else to do it. So you can either pay with your time or money, it’s your choice.
People who earn money have the skill set to fix items that people either don’t want to fix themselves, don’t have time to fix, or don’t know how to fix.
Paying someone is an easy out and we need to shift our mindset towards fixing our own problems. Start being a problem solver and you’ll start saving more money.
I’ve probably saved my family thousands of dollars by doing my own car repair.
I’m not a car guy and I don’t really enjoy working on cars, but I do enjoy having money. A simple fuel filter replacement cost me $6 and the auto repair shop quoted me around $130 (Yikes!).
How much do you earn an hour?
Let’s say you earn $15 an hour, not counting pre-tax deductions, you would have to work almost 9 hours to pay for the filter replacement. 9 hours of your life for a $6 part!
How long did it take me to install the fuel filter? Half an hour! I would much rather fix the problem myself for that difference in price. The auto shop is ripping you off!
Start mowing your own lawn, cleaning your own house, fixing home problems, and doing your own auto repair.
6. Make your own coffee
I love having coffee from my favorite coffee shop, but $4-6 for coffee is too much. Especially if you’re buying coffee every day.
Not only are the sugary coffees expensive, they’re not good for you.
The cost of one coffee can buy a whole can of coffee at Walmart. The price difference is insane.
Still want the great same taste? Watch your barista make your coffee and see what they’re adding. They might even tell you what’s in the coffee if you ask nicely.
Buy an espresso machine for your house and try to recreate your favorite coffee.
7. Do a no spend challenge
No spend challenges are a great way for any family to start developing good money habits and break bad spending bad habits.
A no spend challenge is when you decide to not spend any money, within reason, for a predetermined amount of time. Some exceptions apply, such as gas to get to work.
No spend challenges are good for breaking expensive habits like eating out too often or expensive morning coffee.
If you are interested in doing a no spend challenge, please see our complete guide to no-spend challenges.
8. Learn to cook frugally with batch cooking
Batch cooking is another good way to save money in the kitchen.
Batch cooking involves making a large meal and freezing the leftovers to be eaten later. You’ll not only save a lot of money batch cooking, but also a lot of time.
I enjoy pulling out a freezer meal and heating it up when I don’t feel like cooking. It prevents me from ordering pizza or some other unhealthy meal.
Imagine cooking a large meal for only $9 and freezing the leftovers. You can then eat that meal once a month for a year! That’s one day a month out of a year that you don’t have to cook.
Batch cooking has saved my family a lot of money and time! If you’re interested in starting to batch cook, please see our guide to batch cooking.
9. Adjust your thermostat
Every degree your thermostat is adjusted costs you money. If you’re adjusting your thermostat too much, it might be time to consider a different strategy.
Can you open up your windows to cool or heat your home instead? Can you add or remove clothing? Would taking a warm or cool shower help?
You might also consider getting a NEST thermostat, which adjusts the thermostat automatically depending on your habits.
10. Grow your own food
Gardening can be a relaxing hobby and can also help your family save money.
Think of the food you might use often, and grow it! For my family, we might grow Romain lettuce, tomatoes, carrots, peppers, jalapeños, and berries.
Food is one of the most costly expenses families face and a garden can help reduce your spending.
If you’re looking to save money, I’ve created a free course on budgeting and saving money.
The course is designed to help families identify costly financial mistakes and start living a more money filled life!
Are you looking to save more money? Consider joining our free budget and save money course. The course is full of information to help your family save more money so that you have more money for what is important to you.
What would you do with more money?
TightFist Finance
John is the founder of TightFist Finance and an expert in the field of personal finance. John has studied personal finance for over 10 years and has used his knowledge to pay down debt, grow his investment portfolio, and launch a financial based business. He is committed to sharing content related to personal finance based on his experience in his career, investing, and path towards reaching financial independence.