Happy Friday friends!
We all know saving money is important whether it be for an emergency, moving out on your own or for those days where you want to #treatyoself after landing your dream job. Growing up my parents have always preached how important it is to save money and spend it wisely which I guess I should take their advice since they are now retired at the prime age of 45!
Since moving out to college I have picked up on some little money saving habits along the way that has helped me saved some bucks here and there that I wanted to share with you all.
1. Don’t buy Tupperware
Am I the only one who thinks buying Tupperware is a big waste of money? Let me explain. There are so many things we already buy that we can reuse to use to store our lunch for the next day. For instance, the butter container? Clean that sucker out and use it to store some snacks. Sure it may not be the cutest thing in the world, but it’ll save you some extra bucks and the best part is that if you do get lazy and want to throw it away, you can and not feel bad about it. I just have to warn to be careful with finding items to store food that you want to microwave in…
My family always saved the salad containers you get from fast food places such as Zaxbys and Wendys and they make great containers to store your own salads for work. You just have to get creative with it!
2. Cut notecards in half
Ok, I did this all the time in college when I had to make flashcards for exams. This kind of my mistake because my freshman year in college I didn’t have a car and I didn’t have enough note cards to make flashcards to study for my exam. So what did I do? Cut them in half. Voila! Now you have double the amount of cards.
I know I’m not the only one who never uses the entire note card to make flashcards, so this worked out pretty good for me. If you want to spend no money at all on note cards you can always go paperless and make them on Quizlet! They even have an app where you can go through the cards on your phone. Such a lifesaver when you’re walking to class before an exam!
3. Grab a basket
This mainly works for if you’re grocery shopping for yourself, but snag a basket versus a cart next time you go shopping. Why? Well for one it’s a great arm workout and two you’ll most likely not buy as much. Think about it. The basket gets pretty heavy putting the items you already need in there and since it’s so small you’re tricking your brain that you’ll already buy a lot so no need for those impulses (and most of the time unhealthy) purchases. I started doing this when I first moved into my apartment sophomore year and I’ve noticed I buy wayy less junk food doing this.
If you want to step it up even more, just go in and carry the items with your hands yourself. That way you’ll be even less tempted to make impulse purchases because chances are you don’t have enough arms to carry it all!
4. Reusable cups
I’ve actually been pretty bad at doing this, but didja know you get a discount if you go to Starbucks and bring your own cup? It’s only about 10 cents, but hey, every penny counts am I right? This may not be the most Instagram worthy way to get your coffee, but you are saving money and the environment.
Want to step it up and save even more money? Use that $5 you’ll spend on a latte and put it towards some coffee grounds and make some homemade coffee of your own. So much cheaper!
5. Student discounts
Are you currently in college? Whip out your student ID whenever you can! There are so many places that offer student discounts that range from clothing stores to fast food places! For instance, if you go to Subway you get 10% off your order with an ID and if you’re shopping for a Macbook for college, tell them you’re a student and they’ll give you a discount of a couple hundred dollars on your computer! Don’t be afraid to ask for a discount at places, chances are they’ll probably have one!
To see a full list of places to use your student discount check out this list!
6. Meal Prep / Pack your lunch
This is kinda a given, but you’ll save so much money if you stop spending $10 - $15 a day buying your lunch. I usually go to Trader Joe’s and pick me up some spinach, lettuce, dressing, and croutons for about $10 and it’s enough to make my salad for lunch for the whole week!
You can also try meal prepping on Sundays to make lunch for the whole week. I usually make veggie pasta or veggie rice bowls that are not only super cheap and healthy but easy too! I’m pretty much 95% vegetarian (I will occasionally eat fish and sometimes chicken if there’s nothing else to eat or if it’s a special occasion) and I think that also helps cut down a lot on my food costs because generally, vegetables cost way less than meat! If you all want to see a post on my cheap meal prep ideas let me know in the comments down below!
7. Ditch the cards, pay with cash
Ok, this is another given, but it really works! Set aside a set amount of cash you would want to spend every week and you'll likely be more cautious about how much you're spending. If you want to go a step further, carry larger bills such as $100s and $50s since they're harder to break.
For more money saving tips, be sure to check out my shopping tips post where I share my tricks and hacks to save you time and money clothing shopping!
And those are my tips! Do you have any tried and true money saving tips? If so let me know in the comments down below, I'd love to hear them! I hope you all have a great weekend and as always, thank you for reading!
xoxo,
Amy
Amy
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