10 Money-Saving Habits to Lower Your Monthly Expenses

1. Online shopping

When you go online to a store’s website, as we all know, you can put things you might want into a digital shopping cart. When you leave without purchasing, the site will send you reminders about items in your cart to lure you back.

They will try to entice you to come back and purchase with a discount or free shipping. Leaving items in your shopping cart will not only lead to possible discount offers but will also help you avoid impulse shopping.

So go ahead and leave items in your digital shopping cart and let it sit as long as you need.

2. Gas

Gas prices are through the roof, so anything you can do to save will make a difference. There are ways to save on gas. It’s less expensive to fill your gas tank Monday through Thursday. Gas stations raise prices Friday through Sunday because they know people will travel more on the weekends.

You can also save money by paying in cash at many gas stations. Some gas stations offer discounts for cash payments. You can also use apps like the GasBuddy app to help you find the lowest gas prices in your area. It’ll list all the nearby gas stations and their prices.

3. Electricity

Did you know that you can save money by running certain appliances in the evening? Running your dishwasher, washing machine, and drier at night instead of during the day is less expensive. This is an easy way to save on electricity.

4. Eating out less

I’m not going to tell you that you should never eat out. Just eat out less. I used to eat lunch out once a week with my coworkers and it cost about $13 a meal. Then I did that math and realized that’s over $600 a year on lunch. I knew that was too much.

Now, instead, I order out with my coworkers once a month. That habit alone saves me over $500 a year.

5. Make your own coffee at home

Store-bought coffee is absurdly expensive. I do treat myself every once in a while because if I don’t, I’m going to feel deprived which would cause me to go off the rails. The idea is to avoid buying coffee on a regular basis.

6. Cancel email subscriptions

You may be wondering how canceling email subscriptions can save you money. I used to look at emails all the time to see what kind of discounts stores were offering.

The truth was, even if it was a good deal, I didn’t have that money to spend if I wanted to pay off my debt. Removing the emails, eliminated the temptation.

7. Insurance policies

My friend took a closer look at her home insurance policy and noticed that she was paying for coverage for fur coats and expensive jewelry. She doesn’t have either of those things. She called the insurance company and canceled that coverage. That saved her $50 a year.

I called my home insurance company to see if there was something I could adjust to help save. They asked me if I have an alarm on our home. I do, and that ended up saving me $100 every year.

You can also save by bundling your insurance policies or increasing your deductibles on these policies. Call your insurance company and ask them to help you find ways to save.

If they say there’s nothing they can do, shop around and see if you can get better deals at other companies. Remember, you are the customer.

8. Credit cards

Look at your statements. Are they charging you high-interest rates? Are they charging you some type of membership fee? I noticed a $120 yearly membership fee for my husband’s credit card.

When I called the credit card company to ask about it they told me the fee pays for itself with all their great benefits but we don’t even use the benefits. I told them I do not want to pay a fee and they gave me a different type of card without fees to keep my business.

If you’re being charged a high-interest rate on one card, you can do a balance transfer to another card that has a lower interest rate. If that’s not possible because you don’t have enough of a credit limit or any other reason, call your credit card company.

Explain to them that you’re a loyal customer but their interest rate is too high and you know you can do better. Tell them you’d prefer not to have to shop around and you’ve been happy with their service aside from this one issue.

Ask if there’s anything they can do to work with you. Usually, they will want to keep your business so they will offer you a lower rate, or another card with a lower interest rate.

Don’t ever cancel a credit card. Instead, pay it off and just don’t use it. If you cancel a credit card, your credit score takes a big dip.

9. Declutter

How can you make money off of your clutter? You can have a garage sale or you can sell things online. Anything you can’t sell can be donated to charity and get written off for taxes.

10. Stop buying new books, audiobooks, and movies

Take advantage of your local library instead. Not only do they have the latest books, but they also have movies and audiobooks. This will not only save you money, but it’ll also help prevent you from cluttering up your home.

Money-saving habits

I hope you find these tips helpful. Our little habits make a big difference. Leave me a comment and share your favorite money-saving tips.