Category: Money Saving Ideas

No one likes to be stuck inside, but on the plus side, it could be a great way to spend less while still keeping busy.

(You could use any savings from not going out to bulk up your emergency fund or pay down debt, for example.)

With that said, here are 19 free or mostly-free things to do when you’re bored at home.

1. Borrow and enjoy digital books, audiobooks, and movies.

Your local public library is at your fingertips anytime of the day or night when you use the OverDrive app. You can use it alone or in combination with the Kindle app, on all kinds of devices. If you are a reader, listener, or watcher, you will love having thousands of choices for free.
Read more

Negotiating prices is quite an informal culture. It’s a way to bargain so that you pay less or get a better deal. However, it’s not always easy to determine which items come with a set cost. You may be surprised to learn how many products you can at least try to negotiate on before buying.

This article will cover some of the most important purchases to negotiate rather than simply accepting at face value. Knowing this will help you avoid leaving money on the table and spending more than you need to. This is especially important when making a major purchase.
Read more

Meal planning can be a GREAT way to save big bucks.

It doesn’t have to be painful, either! There are ways to make meal planning super-simple, and so doable that it quickly becomes a habit. (It might even be fun to do your meal prep for the week.)

Why meal plan? For one thing, groceries and eating out can take a HUGE chunk of the budget each month. We spent an average of $679 per month on it ourselves last year. (Can you tell we I love eating out?)

But that kind of spending isn’t really out of the ordinary.

Groceries and meals out are big budget busters

According to The Economics Daily, Americans spent an average of 11.2 to 15.4 percent of their household income on food in 2015.

That’s a LOT. It breaks down to somewhere between $3,767 and $12,350 per year on average, with lower income households naturally needing to spend a larger percentage of their income on food. (Of course some people spend more, and some spend less.)

But it’s not just about saving money.

The things you and your family eat matter

If you are what you eat, what would you be? (I might be a giant pizza right now, which is a problem.) The point is, eating the right things can improve your health and help reduce or eliminate issues.

Living better + spending less money on healthcare is another huge win if you ask me. Meal planning can make that easier too.

I’m a big believer in making things easy on yourself. The easier something is to do, the more likely it is that you’ll actually do it. Meal planning is one of those areas where this is especially true.

3 simple ways to meal plan

With that said, let’s talk about 3 simple ways to meal plan that can put you on the path to using some money saving tips and feeling better.

(Because not everyone likes to meal plan the same way!)

Take a look at each of them to see which feels like the best fit for you and your life. Then get started!
Read more

(This article contains affiliate links, so I may receive a small commission if you buy something through them. There’s no extra cost to you.)

I don’t know about you, but food (*cough* eating out *cough*) is a huge portion of our budget.

But do you know what things that take up a huge part of your budget ALSO are?

Huge opportunities to save some cash — cash that you could apply to your debt snowball.

With that in mind, here are tons of ways to save money on food & drink, broken down by area for easy reference.
Read more