Use these 100 Ways to Save Money to reduce your expenses!
At WhatMommyDoes, you’ll find lots of posts about saving money. If you’ve been here since the beginning, it’s possible you’ve seen every single post and remember every single way to save.
Realistically, you only know about the savings tips we wrote about in our latest blog posts featured on the home page.
I want one place to corral all the ways to save money that have ever been discussed or ever will be discussed on WhatMommyDoes.
So below is my awesome ultimate list of ways to save money with links to related blog posts.
Note: If you are a blogger and see a topic with no related blog post link that you could totally write about, let me know, and we’ll arrange a guest post! Every one of these ideas represents a full-length blog post in my head, but there’s no guarantee I’ll ever get around to writing about all of these myself! :=)
Anyone and everyone is invited to leave a money-saving tip in a comment below – I’ll add it to the list first chance I get!
The Ever-Evolving Ultimate List of Money Saving Ideas
- Pay off your mortgage early
- Refinance your mortgage
- Go with public schools
- Break an unnecessary daily habit (smoking, coffee run, etc)
- Make a game out of saving impulsively
- Buy store brand diapers and anything else that makes sense.
- Always haggle at yard sales.
- Make a wish list and shop yard sales frequently
- Create a weekly meal plan
- Buy in bulk
- Freeze easy meals for lazy nights / work nights.
- Plan on eating leftovers at least one night per week.
- Organize your pantry so you always use food before it expires.
- Do a pantry challenge every so often.
- Replace two weekly meals with vegetarian meals.
- Grow expensive meal ingredients yourself.
- Buy in bulk if you can justify the cost of a warehouse membership.
- Cook in batches.
- Eat what’s in season.
- Mend your own clothing
- Carpool
- Ride a scooter short (safe) distances
- Use a clothes line
- Buy ethnic groceries at World Market to take advantage of their coupons.
- Set a Christmas budget and make a list of gift recipients.
- Make a rule only to buy presents for kids at Christmas.
- Never pay for shipping.
- Use free or highly discounted wrapping paper.
- Do a gift exchange instead of giving one gift per person.
- Make a homemade gift.
- Re-gift.
- Ship online gift orders directly to the recipient.
- Give the same gift to multiple people.
- Always ask yourself, “Did I need it yesterday?” before making a purchase.
- Invest in a few plastic storage containers for leftovers.
- Sign up for store newsletters (for coupons, sale alerts, special deals for e-customers)
- Seek out free entertainment
- Host a potluck
- Make extra credit payments
- Recycle old items into toys (coke bottle & rock maracas, for instance)
- Barter services
- Plant perennials instead of annuals
- Install ground cover vs. grass to save on water & maintenance
- Change your own oil
- Shop the grocery store sales flyer
- Shop with a list
- Avoid pre-made or pre-packaged food as a general rule
- Make your own baby food
- Go with term life insurance when it makes sense
- Search for online coupon codes before making a purchase
- Start online shopping sessions at uPromise or similar % back site
- Plan your gas fill up and use an app that tells you the closest/cheapest option
- Take advantage of printable coupons
- Stack regular coupons with store coupons when policies allow
- Borrow baby clothes
- Don’t take your kids shopping with you
- Buy out of season
- Borrow infrequently used high-priced items (pressure washer, breast pump, etc)
- Shop consignment for clothing & accessories
- Give your kids allowances & make them save up for purchases
- Carefully consider how many children to have
- Dine out on “kids eat free” nights
- Only order water to drink at restaurants
- Use RedBox instead of Blockbuster or Netflix
- Carry maternity insurance coverage during active child-bearing years
- Make a family chore schedule and ditch the maid service
- Become a do-it-yourselfer
- Order the smaller size (of anything)
- Eat at reasonably priced restaurants with large portions & share
- Make pasta dishes at home & order only meat dishes at restaurants
- Compost to amend your own garden soil
- Use rainwater to water your garden
- Bottle your own water
- Use your library card
- Cancel cable (use Hulu or network websites instead)
- Buy the Sunday paper at Dollar Tree
- Weigh light mail packages instead of using Flat Rate shipping boxes
- Print USPS shipping labels at home to save on delivery confirmation
- Christmas shop at sales throughout the year
- Shop DollarTree for random, otherwise expensive stuff (spatulas, sponges, etc)
- Choose the optimal number of texts/minutes
- Avoid most warranties
- Take advantage of certain warranties or guarantees (washers, Lowes plants, etc)
- Shop at double coupon grocery stores
- Watch for triple coupon grocery store promotions
- Learn store sales cycles
- Eat before grocery shopping
- Get to know your grocery store’s produce guy
- Don’t be brand loyal – follow the best deals
- Buy generic store brands as a general rule
- Portion out food yourself instead of buying individual sizes
- Buy the smallest package available when using a coupon
- Join a local deals forum
- Use cash back credit cards
- Seek AAA member discounts
- Use cash back gas cards
- Join a local moms club that enjoys group discounts at local establishments
- Use group buying power (Groupon, Living Social, Plum District, etc)
- Seal and insulate your home against energy leaks
- Program the thermostat (see link at #99)
- Clean HVAC filters (see link at #99)
- Go with Energy Star appliances (see link at #99)
- Shade your windows (see link at #99)
- Invest in a second freezer
- Make your freezer more efficient*
- Use an Energy Star shower head*
- Use a pressure cooker to cook meals*
- Go with insulated drapes*
- Weather strip your front door*
Awesome Posts That Explain Several Tips
The five tips with the * asterisk beside them come from Maggie @ Square Pennies: Save $700-800 Every Year with 5 Easy Tips
Related Posts Not Already Linked Above:
Cheap Meal Ideas for College Students
How to Save Money on Food – 8 Ways to Make Family Meals Less Expensive
- 30 Non-Toy Christmas Gift Ideas for Kids - 10/31/2023
- 50+ Fun Family Christmas Gift Ideas for Every Budget - 10/31/2023
- 19+ Creative Birthday Money Gifts - 08/04/2023
Brick By Brick Investing | Marvin says
We like cooking in batches. It has helped us cut down on our food expenses significantly!
Lena says
Hi Marvin – What kinds of dishes do you like to cook in batches? I know it will save me money and time, but I haven’t gotten into that because it seems so overwhelming to cook that much at once. Do you devote full days to cooking or just a few hours here and there?
Mike says
Great list! A few more that we’ve done!
Sell unnecessary things
Get completely out of debt
Sell your car and walk or bike to work
Drop cell phone plans
Cut cable
Frugal family outings to park and outdoor activities
No gym membership. Meet a group of friends to work out outdoors or at a home gym.
Buy used.
Good luck with Yakezie!
Lena says
Thanks, Mike! I’ll get those added to the list.
mbhunter says
Pantry challenge = eat only what’s in your pantry for a certain amount of time? Don’t know if I’ve heard that one before.
I like the “never pay for shipping” one.
Lena says
Yes, a pantry challenge is where you try to use up the contents of your pantry. Some people do it to get by when money is tight, others do it when they’re trying to fulfill a “no-spend” challenge, and I do it when my pantry gets too cluttered and out of control.
For instance, you might challenge yourself to not visit the grocery store for three days while you utilize ingredients from your pantry, fridge, and freezer to make a complete meal. I can usually scrounge up a frozen pack of chicken or beef, some pasta, and ingredients for a sauce or cheese topping of some kind.
I also do fridge challenges like this when I feel like the fridge is crowded and we’re on the verge of throwing away some expensive ingredients.
San Diego Lawyer says
We also use the library now instead of buying books.
The savings are incredible and we can read tons of books in a year.
Lanny says
Dear Lena, I am Lanny from Indonesia. I enjoyed your family finances posts very much. I am currently juggling with 2 credit cards and 2 debit cards which offer cash back until 5%. One debit card offer 5% cashback for grocery, gas and online shopping, max cb is $50. The other debit card offer 5% cashback for purchases above $20/purchase but limit the cashback to only $5 per month. Credit cards only offer 0,1-0,2%. My husband and I paid our credit cards in full each month so we won’t fall into the credit trap.
Lena Gott says
It’s definitely a great idea to pay your credit cards every month! That essentially makes them function more like cash or debit because you’re only using what you have. Glad you like my posts!