8 Money Saving Hacks to Make You Richer

2. Energy use

Unplug your appliances when you're not using them! Those things suck electricity, they are vampires! So, go around and unplug everything we are not using, which has made our light bill drop about $25. It all adds up if you try to save as much as you can.

Another thing that we are starting to do with energy use during the summer is to have our thermostat set to 74 degrees. In winter time, we will start setting it to 68. This means the heat and air unit outside don't have to work so hard to heat or cool the house. That will also help us save some money.

3. Entertainment

Kids love to go, have a good time, and have fun. Everybody loves to take their kids to the movies to do fun things, but that stuff is inexpensive. What we decided to do was to take advantage of free entertainment. W

e have bicycles that were sitting in the basement, unused. We have a state park that has bike trails, and we have bicycles. So we have a new hobby. We are going biking in the state park. We pack a little snack and a backpack, and everybody has a reusable water bottle because that saves money, too.

We have a good time, which takes a few hours, so they are worn out and sleep well when we return home. Win/win!

4. Protein intake

Most people like meat with their meals, but having a meatless Monday or cutting your meat portions in half is good. I like to say make meat the sidekick, not the showstopper because it is getting expensive.

We do a meatless Monday or meatless meal one day a week typically. Still, I have decided to implement that at least two days a week because it will save drastically on our grocery bill, and that will add up to a savings of about $30 a month. So that is a big old chunk of money we can save by doing meatless an extra day a week.

5. Eat at home

I do the envelope system, and I put a little bit of money into an eating-out envelope every so often. When it gets enough money, we take the kids out to a nice family dinner, so I don't have to cook.

It's all budgeted for, and we can afford it, but I have noticed that in a lot of these restaurants where you go in and sit down, it is cheaper to go during lunch, and you can stretch that envelope a lot further by going at lunch and not at dinner. It is half the cost most of the time.

6. Pack a lunch

When you know you'll be out, ensure you have a packed lunch so you don't spend money on eating out. I have always packed lunch when I know that we're going to be out during lunchtime, but what I'm doing now is packing dinner as well.

If I know we'll be out at dinnertime, so we don't have to go out and eat when there's no money in that going-out-to-eat budget, I'm packing some sandwiches to tide the kids over until we get home.

7. Negotiate lower car insurance

I decided to give my car insurance a little phone call. I said, "I have been with you guys for probably 12 years, and I have never had an accident. Can you give me a loyalty discount or something?" At first, they said, sorry, our rates are what they are. I can't help you. I replied that I just wanted to call and see if I could, but I was going to warn them that I would look for cheaper rates elsewhere when I got off the phone.

They suddenly were able to give me a $12 discount, which doesn't sound like a lot, but that adds up. If they don't give you a loyalty discount, go ahead and leave; find somebody else that's cheaper.

8. Look at your subscriptions

Sometimes, you can forget how many subscriptions you have until they come out of the bank account. So I went through and asked everybody to tell me their favorite streaming service.

We don't have cable in this house because we only have streaming services. We find that it is more affordable. So, I had everybody tell me their favorite streaming service, and I marked out the ones that nobody watched very much. I removed three subscriptions, saving me around $26 a month.

Money saving hacks

So you add all these savings up during the month that I'm telling you that I have done, which is a substantial savings. That is what I have changed up in my home to help combat inflation.

So, if you are like me and are feeling the effects of inflation, I challenge you to look at all of your outgoing expenses and see where you can cut back a little bit. You can probably come up with even more things that I did not come up with.

What money saving hacks do you use to combat inflation? Have you been able to cut your monthly spending? Share your hacks and ideas in the comments below.