Saving money is easy once you become more intentional with your money.

We leave so much money on the table without knowing that a lot of money can be saved. For example, I saved over $290 just by doing #1 below (with screenshots to prove the savings). 

All of the tips I’ve listed are easy to do and will become effortless over time, so let’s get started!

1. Billshark

Billshark is a MUST for anyone who has a cell phone, cable, internet, or insurance bill and wants to lower their bill.

And trust me, it works because I’ve used it myself on 3 different bills and I’ve saved $290.

Here’s how Billshark works:

1. Send copies of your bills to Billshark. (I did this by uploading an online PDF of each bill).
2. Billshark negotiates all of the bills you send in.
3. You get notified if Billshark was successful. If they are, they take 40% of the savings. Ex. Billshark saved me $290 over the course of 6 months, so I pay them $116. I can do this in a monthly payment plan or all at once.

It’s definitely worth the savings and it was such an easy process. 

You can start lowering your bills with Billshark here.

2. Start a blog that makes money

If your dream is to become a full-time blogger and start a blog, I recommend starting a blog with Bluehost. 

Bluehost has 24/7 support, a money-back guarantee, and makes it as easy as possible to start a blog. 

Start a blog today for just $2.95/month with my step-by-step tutorial here. It’s easy, painless, and takes less than 20 minutes to start a blog of your own. With my link, you get a discount from $7.99/month to $2.95/month.

I started this blog in college and graduated my senior year making $80,000 a year. Now, I work from home, spend time with my family and dogs, and I’m even able to donate monthly to my favorite charities. 

3. Drop

If you’ve been following my blog for a while, you know I’m a huge fan of Ibotta. What I haven’t been a fan of with Ibotta is having to upload receipts. 

Drop is essentially Ibotta, but you don’t have to upload any receipts. Your credit or debit card is linked to your Drop account, you automatically get points. You can get points from Uber, Walmart, HEB, Whole Foods, Instacart, and many others. You redeem points for gift cards. This makes saving money effortless. 

You can sign up for Drop here.

4. Refinance student loans

Refinancing student loans with Credible can lower your interest rate, saving you thousands in interest and allowing you to make monthly payments that pay off your loans even faster. When my boyfriend graduates, we are 100% refinancing his student loans, which will most likely save us thousands of dollars over the course of his loan.

Here are some of the options that may be available to you:

• Pay off loans faster
• Reduce your monthly payment
• Reduce interest charges and monthly payment
• Relieve your co-signer of their obligations

You can get started with Credible here. Sign up takes less than 5 minutes. 

5. Use Cushion to refund fees

Savings: $1,000+

How to save: Cushion is an app that refunds bank and credit card fees.

You can expect refunds on things like late fees, overdraft fees, monthly service fees, account maintenance fees, ATM fees, credit card interest charges, late fees, and more!

6. Buy generic and pay 25% less

Savings: $100+

How to save: Buying name brand is so silly, especially when the generic brand is usually just as good. 

7. Save Money On Food Without Clipping Coupons

Savings: $300+

How to save: Use Ibotta and make REAL cash with the app by redeeming what you want to get at the store, and then taking a photo of your receipt through the app.

It’s not only good for groceries, but clothing stores, and pretty much any retailer.

I’ve made almost $100 on Ibotta so far, largely due to purchasing off Groupon through Ibotta’s app. (I made 40% back one time!)

Get $10 just for signing up here.

8. Manage money

Savings: $500+

How to save: Are you overwhelmed by finances? Are you sick of managing 6 six money apps?

Cinch takes care of everything all in one place.

Cinch monitors your credit score, if you have missed payments or unauthorized use, to how much insurance you need, and a lot more.

9. Learn how to manage your money 

We get such little financial education in high school and college, which is why learning how to manage your finances is so important. 

With the Master Your Money Super Bundle, you can feel awesome about your financial future and learn from CPA’s, Certified Financial Planners, financial coaches, and a former hedge fund manager. 

For just $49, you get 45 books, courses and printables to pay off debt, budget like a boss, and reach your financial goals. 

I bought this bundle myself and love it – I’m currently reading the Full-Time RV Finance: Learn How To Afford Your Full-Time RV Travel Dreams. We want to RV full-time sometime soon, so my boyfriend and I are getting so excited about this ebook.  

Shown below is everything included in the Master Your Money Super Bundle. There is so much value here, and it’s worth checking out!  

10. $5 Meal Plan

Savings: $1000+

How to save: Check out $5 Meal Plan for monthly meal plans, grocery lists, recipes, and a private FaceBook group. (Read below for more information).

It easily pays for itself in one meal by cutting restaurant outings, last minute fast food trips, and more.

You’ll also eat a lot healthier when meals are planned with whole, nutritious foods.

Save your food receipts for a week and see how much you’re spending at restaurants.

It’ll be a huge wake-up call! 

13. Trim negotiates bills for you

Savings: $300+

How to save: Trim helps you negotiate cable and internet bills, analyzes and gives you spending updates via text, and will find and cancel unwanted subscriptions for you.

Trim users saved over $1,000,000 last month alone.

14. If you’re a blogger, check out Making Sense of Affiliate Marketing

Savings: Using her strategies, you can start making affiliate income on your blog.

How to save: I just started affiliate marketing, and I’m still kicking myself for not starting sooner.

I highly recommend the course because affiliate marketing can be tricky, and it needs to be done right.

There are also legalities to it that a lot of bloggers don’t know about, which can lead to some trouble if not done correctly. 

You can sign up for her course here.

15. Qoins

Would you like to pay off debt without even thinking about it? Stay with me for a sec because this isn’t some generic money-saving app.

Qoins helps you by using your spare change from everyday transactions to make an extra payment to your debt. 

Let’s say you go to Starbucks and pay for a coffee that is $3.71. Qoins rounds up your payment to $4.00, meaning $.29 goes to your debt. This might not seem like a lot, but it definitely adds up over time. Qoins has helped users pay off $4.5+ million with this method, so it must be working.

You can get started with Qoins here.

16. Read finance books and learn what they didn’t teach you in school

Savings: $$$

How to save: Check out The Total Money Makeover, a #1 bestseller and has over 4,000 5 star ratings on Amazon.

Figure out the most dangerous money myths and come up with a plan to pay off your debt for good. 

17. Go to YouTube to fix things

Savings: $$$

How to save: A woman recently built her entire house from watching YouTube tutorials, so I’d give fixing things a shot by learning how to do it yourself on YouTube.

I fixed my car headlights on my own when I was 18, which was not only free but made me feel so good about myself! 

18. Save on travel accommodations

Savings: $1000+

How to save: Check out Couchsurfing, WorkAway, or HomeExchange.

19. Automate savings

Savings:  $$$

How to save: Automate your savings each week or go biweekly.

In your bank account, set up automatic transfers of $100 (or whatever you can do) so that you’ll save without even thinking about it or having to do it manually. 

20. Digit 

Digit is a fun money-saving app that helps you save money for a particular goal.

Say you want to save up for a vacation, Digit will analyze your spending and automatically move money from your checking account to Digit when you can afford it. 

Digit knows exactly how much to save, and allows unlimited withdrawals so you can access savings at any time, and even has a 1% savings bonus.

Get 30 days free of Digit here. 

21. See the world as an au pair

Savings: $2,000+

How to save: See the world as an au pair and save money on accommodations, food, cell phone, and more.

Certain families will pay for your apartment, car, and more.

I was in au pair for two months, and I wouldn’t do it again (I rushed it into and found a random family that I didn’t mesh well with), however, if you found the right family, I’d highly recommend it. 

Read my article on how to be an au pair here.

22. Order pet medications online

Savings: $200+

How to save: Order pet medications on sites like 1-800 Pet Meds.

We have to give our dogs monthly heart guard AND flea medication, which adds up to $50 or so a month at the vet.

On 1-800 Pet Meds, the medication is usually $20 cheaper than the vet, which is some serious savings! 

23. Watch The Minimalists

Savings: $$$$

How to save: Watch The Minimalists on Netflix and get your mind out of consumerism.

We are living in a society that puts happiness on clothing, cars, bigger houses, and other products.

While those things aren’t necessarily bad, we are buying it in excess. 

24. Clothes

How to save: Use Ebates to get cash back on online shopping.

Ebates gives you cash back on online purchases.

Get $10 just for signing up for Ebates here. 

Ebates even has a free browser extension that automatically applies the best coupons to your purchases and activates cash back. There are so many times I forget to use Ebates when I’m online shopping – so the Ebates button reminds me every time I go online shopping. It’s a must. 

25. Wait 24 hours before you make a big purchase

Savings: $$$

How to save: Don’t make impulse purchases, especially on costly items. 

26. Compare phone company prices

Savings: $240

How to save: I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile, got unlimited everything, much better traveling coverage IN 195 countries, and I’m paying $20 less than I was with AT&T.

Switch to T-Mobile if you can. Not sponsored, but wish I was. Haha.

27. Cut the alcohol and smoking habit

Savings: $2,400+

How to save: A weekly $50 alcohol spending habit can amount up to $2,400 a year.

Add in the smoking habit of $15 a week; you’re looking at a total of $5,280 a year.

I quit smoking cold turkey a few years ago and haven’t looked back.

You CAN and MUST do it, if not for saving money, for your health. 

28. Write down your expenses in a budget book

Savings: $$$

How to save: Writing down what you buy is going to be a serious wake-up call, especially when you see how much you’re spending on restaurant outings.

Seeing the numbers on paper will motivate you to start cooking more at home and saving money.

Here is an example of a budget planner.

29. Take your lunch to work

Savings: $2,400

How to save: Going out to lunch every day can amount to $2,400 a year if you’re going out five days a week and spending $10.

That is a lot of money that could be going into savings.

Get a reusable container and start bringing your healthy meals to work.

30. Make your cleaning products

Savings: $100+

How to save: Cleaning products can have a lot of dangerous chemicals, which is why I advise making your own not only to save money but to create a safer living environment as well. 

Here is an awesome list of DIY cleaning sprays.

Do you have other savings tips you can share?

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