I am a frugal gal and always have been. For as long as I can remember, I’ve always tried to find ways to save a little extra on every day purchases and needs. I wanted to share with you my top 10 ways you could be saving money you never knew about!
Car Insurance
Something I never even considered until a few years ago was to check rates and prices on Car Insurance. I couldn’t believe how much this was costing us and that I never took the time to research. After doing some digging I discovered that we were over paying! We had additional coverage we didn’t even need and our rates were too high. After making these changes I saved us over $1,000 a year!!
Home Owners Insurance
This kind of goes hand in hand with the car insurance because usually, if you get these two insurances from the same company, you get a better deal or a discount. In the past, we had our auto through one company and our home owners through another. I had no idea the discount we were missing out on! Once I combined these I saved almost another $1,000 a year. That’s a lot when you combine that savings. Call around and get quotes from many insurances.
When we purchased our new farmhouse I got quotes from many agencies for the SAME provider and coverage that ranged in price from over $300 a month and some as low as $125 a month. I have yet to figure out why one company wanted to charge me over double for the same coverage from the same company.
Electric Bill
So many people stay with the same electric provider thinking they have the best pricing. So not true. Once I started doing some research, I realized we were paying many pennies more for KWh than we had to. Yes, it can be a hassle to switch companies but not that you have that option, do it! So many companies offer discounts to first time customers. I was paying well over $.11 per KWh and got it lowered to $.6 per KWh. In Texas we used a lot of electricity in the summer. This savings will add up fast!
Groceries
This one sometimes takes a little time. I didn’t know for a long time that Wal-Mart price matched. That can save you a ton when other stores are having big sales on food. You can also stack coupons on these savings. They also have the savings catcher that will give you money back if they find another store had the same items for less. I’ve recently been shopping at Aldi for some items and have to say I am loving it. They now carry organic fruit and veggies and they have some great prices.
On some things I am a “brand name” gal. But on so many other food items, I found that just by buying generic I save a lot. Especially on items I use for cooking like cream of chicken or spices.
Shopping Online Equals Saving Money
I sign up for a lot of emails for discounts. The kicker is, you don’t shop just because they are having a sale. You have to have some self control. A concept that is often hard for me. I have none.
They will send you coupons and discounts and I take advantage of these. If there are things I need but can wait to purchase until on sale, I do that. Especially when making large purchases like appliances, cars, etc.
Coupons on Every Day Purchases
I also use apps like “Retail Me Not” when in store to save money when shopping. I can’t tell you how much money I have saved over the last few years just by opening that app before check out.
Craft stores usually have great coupons on their own apps like “Michaels”, “Joanns” and “Hobby Lobby”. I hardly ever pay full price for anything anymore. And some of these stores will even let you stack!
Using Credit Cards with Rewards
Ok, this a tricky one. If you are someone who knows you won’t pay off that card when the bill comes in, I’d say skip this saving tip. However, if you set that money aside as soon as you make that purchase and pay off your bill when it comes, you can get some really great benefits.
So many cards offer great travel benefits like free flights and hotels. Others offer gift cards or money back. We even have a Lowes card that we get free gift cards that we are using to work on our farmhouse.
You can also call your card companies and often get your interest rates reduced!
Canceling Cable
This was a no brainer for us. We were paying over $80 a month on satellite television. That’s almost $1000 a year. On tv. We got some Roku devices and we have Netflix and Hulu. I also LOVE LOVE LOVE my Amazon Prime for saving money. There are so many free movies and shows just from having a prime account.
If you want to see what prime is all about and try it for free for 30 days you can click this affiliate link!
Buying Second Hand
This is something I share often on my blog and a passion of mine. You can find so much at thrift stores and second hand like the buy sell pages online including Craigslist. ( I will share some of my favorite Craigslist scores soon!) I’ve shopped thrift all my life. Clothes, home decor, furniture, and so much more.
Antique Malls, Flea Markets, Garage sales and Estate sales are some of my favorite places to find true vintage and antique items. Saving money on home decor is so simple shopping second hand.
Here are some of my posts:
Adding Farmhouse Style with Thrift
Adding Primitive Style with Thrift
Lower your Internet Costs
Much like shopping around for insurance, sometimes looking around to see which businesses offer internet in your area is a great tip for saving money. I’ve also just called my current internet provider and asked what specials they may have going on. Sadly, we can only get Satellite internet at this house but, I did some calling around and price checking before deciding on our current provider.
Thanks so much for stopping by the blog today and I would love to hear about the fun ways you save money! I am sure there are so many more things I could add to this list!
Leave a Reply