What if you could easily start saving money today? Keep reading to learn how I changed my habits and started saving over $500/month in my free time.
We all know saving money isn’t fun. A few months ago I was like many of you: in over my head in debt without a dollar saved. I started working on the steps below and now I’m saving thousands with not that much effort. I not only began saving money, but actually started making money too. It’s all about changing your habits and incorporating new routines into your day to day.
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These are all ideas that I’ve tested for months, so I know you too can benefit from them. My hope is that by sharing the process I follow, I can help you start saving too!
1. Change Your Bank Habits
It’s very easy to keep all your money in one single checking account. The problem here is that the money is too accessible. You’re out with friends and they want to go shopping or grab a bite to eat. We’ve all been there: regrettably pulling out our debit card to make a purchase we really can’t afford. Solve this problem by doing the following:
- Open a savings account and set up automatic deposits from your checking account. One of the best ways to save money is automatically set aside money every month so you don’t have to remember to set aside. I would suggest 10% of your paycheck. Some banks will even give you 1% interest! (literally earn free money just for having a positive balance)
- Remember do not touch it unless it’s an emergency! Life is unexpected and it’s good to have an account you can easily access in case of an emergency.
2. Earn Money For Your Opinion
I started taking surveys online while watching TV on the couch. I was always on my phone anyways, so I figured I could get off Instagram and start making money. Out of all the survey companies I tested, I found MyPoints and MySurvey to be the best. Why? They both had the highest paying surveys (some up to $90) out of all other websites I tested. The rest of the surveys pay a few bucks and only take around 10 minutes to complete, making it relatively easy to earn extra money. Just on commercial breaks I was able to earn over $70/month from both combined.
3. Be Smart About Where You Make Your Purchases
Or rather, make sure you are making purchases through the right websites so you can earn cash back. Yes, sites like Ebates will give you cash back to make purchases that you would have made otherwise. Every time I shop online now, I check to see if I can make the purchase on Ebates to earn a little extra on the side. I’ll find what I’m looking for 80% of the time. They even give you a $10 bonus just for signing up and making your first purchase. Just the other day I bought a pair of Converse shoes and earned 5% cash back. That’s money I wouldn’t have seen otherwise. Now when I shop, they deposit my cash back directly into my account.
Registering is completely free and they even give you a $10 Welcome Bonus. If you’re already going to buy from these stores anyways, you might as well get cash back for it on Ebates.
Here’s the link to sign up for Ebates
4. Make Extra Cash
In the past, I would look for jobs around town but it was almost never worth the effort. One of my good friends recommended that I try Swagbucks.com to make extra money on the side. I instantly made $5 just for signing up… At first I was skeptical, but it started to pay off once I found out how to use it correctly. Here is my Swagbucks winning strategy:
- Complete the high paying free trial offers first. They offer the biggest payouts and can be completed in under one minute. I initially signed up for 5 different free trial offers and made over 2,500 SBs. That alone got me $25.
- Visit the walls under the “discover” tab. They have great new offers constantly rotating.
- Find repeatable offers. Every two days I go back to the Acorn offerwall just to print coupons. That’s 8 SB every 2 days just for clipping coupons that help me save at the grocery store!
- Shop on Swagbucks. Similar to Ebates, you can make purchases at popular online stores and earn points. Last month I bought a new pair of Nike shoes for $59 and received 1,199 SB. I literally earned $10 just for making the purchase through Swagbucks.
What I really liked about Swagbucks is that my account was credited almost instantly so I was quickly able to cash out.
Use this link to get $5 just for signing up
One final note before I get going: The one mistake I made through this all was never really getting started. I dabbled into a few of these options but never fully embraced it. Don’t let that happen to you, get started right now, no excuses!
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. That doesn’t change the fact that we do recommend all of the websites listed!