Spend Less with These 5 Life Hacks
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If you’re trying to climb out of debt and get your finances back under control, there are a few things you may not have thought of that can really help make a difference in the amount your spending every month.
Sometimes you have to get creative to save some dough or make some money, and here are a few things that I use to help me and my family.
Also, before I forgot I created a Daily Agenda printable that I use daily to keep my busy schedule under control, and a Budget Worksheet that is amazingly helpful when trying to rework your finances, I’m making them available to you guys completely FREE, in hope that they’ll be able to help you as much as they’ve helped me, so be sure to check those out!
Have a Garage Sale
Garage sales are an amazing way to make some money and give yourself that fresh start you’re desperately needing. And what better time to have a garage sale than spring. Go through your home and get rid of those items that have been collecting dust, not only will you make some money on the things that you don’t use anymore but you’ll tidy up your home in the process.
If you live in a house or an apartment complex organize a neighborhood garage sale and put some signs out. Neighborhood garage sales bring in more people and increase your likelihood of actually selling your junk, than if you were a single garage sale alone!
Learn to sew
I don’t know about you guys but I’m always looking at dresses and other clothes and think how easy and fun it would be to make it myself.
If you don’t want to take on such big projects like creating a completely new outfit, sewing can still save your family some money.
If you have boys or a significant other that are always losing buttons or ripping their pants, instead of throwing those clothes away and having to buy new stuff, or paying someone else to fix it for you, you can easily do it yourself.
Even if you don’t know how to sew now, there are SOO many resources out there that can teach you enough to make those kinds of repairs really anyone can learn.
I also use sewing to recycle the old pieces in my closet that I don’t wear anymore or have gone out of style and transform them into a cute dress, or into an outfit that inspired me from a Pinterest photo.
Star using coupon apps
You really should be using these even if you aren’t worried about money. I wrote a post on a list of money making apps you can find HERE. The apps I use regularly and love are ibotta, you can use my referral code oadsbop when you sign up. Ibotta is a rebate app where you can actually get money back from the things you buy at all the stores you go to.
All you have to do is find the products you normally purchase on the app and add it to the “My Offers” section, when you go shopping just save the receipt and when you get home to take a photo of it with the ibotta app and submit.
The app is able to read through all the items you bought and match it with what’s on your “My Offers” list and then rebate you the total amount.
The best part of ibotta is you get actual money back, and you can spend it wherever you want. The rebates you get can be pretty good too, and add up quick.
Sometimes you’ll get .25c back on an item but on other products you can get back $3, it just depends on what you buy.
The offers do change though so I recommend checking the deals when you make your grocery list before you go.
I recently was able to get back $15 on just a couple small grocery trips where I spent less than $50 just in the last few days.
Not too shabby!
The only stipulation is that you have to earn $20 before they’ll give you the money, but that’s not hard to do at all, especially if you have kids or a larger household.
Some of the offers can be used multiple times too, so if you buy a few packs of something you may be able to get back that rebate amount for each pack. I have a little trick I use for some of the offers that don’t allow multiple redeeming on a receipt.
I’ll write out which ones those are and separate them into multiple purchases. For example, my boyfriend loves the Ben & Jerry Pint Slices, and he usually buys like 6 packs of them because they’re often on sale. Ibotta has a $1.50 cash back on them so I’ll break them up into separate purchases so I can get more than just the one time $1.50 rebate.
You may think it sounds crazy, but imagine how much money you can potentially make and put back towards more groceries or other bills if you just spend a little more time putting together your grocery list.
Try it out, and if you want to be super nice and use my code oadsbop when you sign up I’ll get $5 for referring you, it won’t cost you anything and I would really appreciate it!
But if you don’t want to use it no hard feelings either 😉
The other app I frequently use is Swagbucks. Swagbucks is pretty cool too because not only can you get a percentage of cash back on a bunch of purchases you make but you can also make money by not spending anything at all!
You can take surveys, or my favorite option watch videos and earn Swagbucks.
I’ll play videos on my iPhone in the background while I work, that way I’m still earning but I’m able to do other things too. I have a referral link for this as well HERE, and similarly if you use it I’ll get 10% cashback on every purchase you make for life, again it won’t cost you anything extra and I’d love you for it!
Unlike ibotta though, you don’t get actual cash back, instead, you get a gift card to a store of your choice.
Don’t fret though, there are a lot of options to choose from, you could even choose to get your rewards back in a PayPal card or Visa card.
The last app I really love if Shopkick, you earn what’s called “Kicks” from purchases you’ve made just like with ibotta or Swagbucks but what is even cooler is you can earn “Kicks” for finding and scanning the barcodes of the products Shopkick lists for different stores, so you don’t have to actually buy anything either but you’re still earning.
I read about a really creative way a mom used Shopkicks to maximize her earnings. When she’d be in a store shopping she’d hand her phone to her kids and have them search and scan the items. This created a fun scavenger hunt game to keep her kids occupied while she did her shopping, genius!!
Use cheaper services for cable and phones
My parents don’t have cable at all. Instead, they pay for a few cheaper services like Netflix, or Hulu, and Roku. Using a few of these subscription services still gives them access to the shows they love but they’re not left paying a $150+ bill every month.
The other service I highly recommend and personally use is called MintSim, and it’s a cellular service.
I was paying over $100 for just my one phone before I found out about MintSim. They have multiple plans but the cheapest plan is just $15 a month.
All plans include unlimited talk text and data and you don’t have to sign a contract.The best part is you can use your existing phone and keep the same number!
Make your own cleaners and consumable products
Honestly making your own household products is something that’s not only good for your wallet but also better for your body.
There are so many harsh chemicals in the cleaning products we use in our home when you make your own you have a better idea of what’s going onto your body and can cut down on a lot of those chemicals.
Check my post where I share my super simple recipe for the DIY laundry detergent that I’ve been using for a few years now.
Making one batch will last you at least a whole year, and it works great! You can also get my bonus DIY fabric softener recipe to go along with it.
One of the other obvious hacks you can use to spend less is….
Cook more and dine out less
I was all too guilty of dining out more often than I should. Restaurants are so expensive and the amount of money you can save by cooking at home and staying in is in my opinion worth the extra time.
You can save more money if you have kids by making their school lunches too.
The last little hack I’ll suggest is….
Shopping at the Dollar Store
I go to the Dollar Tree at least a couple times a week, and I’m not ashamed of it! I did not come from a wealthy family or even a mid-class family for that matter.
My mom was a single mother of two at the age of 18 when she had me and my brother just shortly after, and to say that I grew up as a frequent shopper of thrift stores and dollar stores is an understatement, and I’m totally ok with it.
The Dollar Tree is great because they carry a lot of name brand products that are marked up 300% at regular stores like Walmart or Target, except EVERYTHING only cost a single dollar at the Dollar Tree.
I’ll get things like Comet and Toothpaste, kitchen utensils to foil and lunch baggies.
I’ve even found packages of veggie patties in the frozen food section that I normally buy for $5 somewhere else, or sometimes even multigrain high protein wheat bread.
They have so many things there and it’s not all knockoffs or off-brands. If you’re the kind of person who gets embarrassed by going into places like this (like my boyfriend was before I converted him),
Think about the fact that you’re making the decision to pay dollars more for something you know you can get way cheaper somewhere else, that’s the same exact thing.
Alright, guys, there are a ton of other ways you can make significant cuts to your budget but I’ll stop here. Don’t forget to check out my Budget Worksheet, and Daily Agenda printables I made for ya’ll!
I hope you found these hacks helpful, and if you have any unique hacks you use in your life share it with the blog family in a comment down below!! Thanks for all the support you guys give me every day, I love you guys!!
