Nowadays, money plays a bigger part in our lives than ever, and since everything is getting more expensive from month to month, we believe that you might be interested in finding out how to save $50.
There are many tasks in our day-to-day lives where money is present, and even if running errands is not your favorite activity, you still have to do it. So, learning how to save $50 might be a good thing to know and might help you have a few extra bucks for doing whatever you want with them.
Read on and find out the best tips and tricks that can change the way you view your money! Learn how to save every day!
1. Always buy generic
When you go to your favorite supermarket, you know that you can choose to buy brand items or items from the store’s brand, also known as generic items.
Generally, these generic items are not so different from the brand ones. In some cases, people say that some generic products are even better than the original.
Next time you go shopping this week, look around and try to buy everything you need from the store’s brand. You will be surprised at check-out when you realize that you can save $50 just by doing this.
Go generic and say goodbye to those expensive brand items. From food to medications, you can find everything you need at more accessible prices.
2. Make a list
Or even more lists. It all depends on your needs. You can make a list of everything you need to do, and believe us when we tell you that a little bit of organization can truly help. Do this, and you will be able to save $50 per week or even more.
Most of the time, when you enter a grocery store, you say that you need to buy just a few items. One hour later, you realize that you have a cart full of things. This is not an efficient way to do your grocery shopping because you will be spending more than you need.
Another advantage of a list is that you can easily forget what you need to buy if you don’t write it down. So even if you bring home a basket full of produce, you might notice a few days later that you forgot to buy what you really needed.
3. Stop buying coffee
Have you ever thought about how much money you spend just because you don’t make your coffee at home and you prefer to buy it from a coffee shop or a gas station?
Maybe you don’t see this as a problem, but if you try to add up all the money you spend on coffee, you might be surprised by how much you can pay in only one month. Let’s say you pay $5 for a cup of coffee and you have one every day from Monday to Friday. This will be $25 per week only on coffee! Make your own coffee at home and save $50 once every two weeks.
Try to never combine running errands with going out for lunch or having a coffee. This is one of the traps that will make you lose an extra $8 to $10.
4. Borrow instead of buying
Your dream is almost coming true! After a few months of planning, you finally begin renovating and redecorating your home. This is great, but as you can imagine, you need many tools, and some of them are rather expensive.
Since you’ve been planning this, you have the budget to buy them, but this means one room will need to wait until next year to be redecorated. But do you really need to buy all of these tools? After all, you will probably use them once or twice. Is this worth it?
If you ask us, we think not at all. Instead of buying the tools, you can try to see if you can borrow them from your friends or neighbors. Most of the time, they will help you, and in this way, you will save some money for sure.
If you have no one you can borrow from, check out the website of your local Home Depot or any other home renovation store. Most of them have special programs that let you borrow the tools that you need for your projects. You will need to pay, but it is not as much as you would have paid if you had bought the tools.
Follow this advice, and you will not save $50; you will save so much more. Maybe you will have the money to also renovate the last room. The one you want to live for the next year.
5. Gift cards
Do you want to save $50 next time you go shopping? Then use gift cards! Giving out gift cards is a fantastic method to cut costs on weekly or monthly errands. And the best thing about them is that you can take advantage of them anytime you want—you don’t have to wait for your birthday or special occasions.
Even better, you can go to places like Costco and buy discounted gift cards. They come in bulk, and you can use them yourself and cut costs. For example, you can buy gift cards that value $100 for $75. What more can you want? This is an amazing deal!
Besides all of this, gift cards can also earn you points. More points mean you will pay less for whatever you buy. Sometimes you can use the points to buy gas. That means free rides when you go grocery shopping.
6. Coupons and price comparison
It is already well known that coupons can save you a lot of money. This is why the phenomenon of extreme couponing is now a thing. Also, comparing prices is another move that can help you add a few extra bucks to your savings account.
Before heading out to the store, visit the websites of your favorite supermarkets and see where you can find the least expensive items. You don’t need to do all of your groceries at the same place. You can buy your toilet paper from Target and your fresh produce from Walmart. There is no rule.
Also, don’t forget to check what your local stores have to offer you. You might be surprised that you can find cheaper products closer to you. That means cutting down on gas prices.
So, save $50 this week, and always check the prices and use coupons as much as possible.
7. Group errands
Next time you run your errands, try to run them together. In this way, you will surely save $50 per week and sometimes even more. You will be surpassed by how effective this strategy can be.
First of all, you will spend less on gas because you will do everything on just one trip. Maybe you think that the trip is longer and this is how things even out, but this is not the case. One individual trip will make a difference if you are living on a tight budget.
You might want to think about making a change of pace and focusing on services that are closer to your home or each other if you frequently find yourself rushing across town to run your errands.
In case you want a piggyback to save money, this one looks stylish and is also extremely practical: hicocool Stainless Steel Piggy Bank
You should also read: 9 Grocery Store Traps Walmart Is Trying to Hide
