101 Ways to Save Your Money When You’re NOT Naturally Frugal

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I’m not naturally frugal. I’m the girl who will always pick out the most expensive: coffee, shoes, trip, food items, sweaters, basically…I’m that girl. I have expensive taste and that’s a problem when you’re trying to pay off debt and quit your job especially if you don’t want to negatively affect your quality of life.

A few years ago I wanted to quit my job and change my life, but in order to do that I had to lower my monthly/yearly expenses. Here are 101 ways that I managed to do it, and in the process was able to cut $13, 500 of spending fat from my budget.

101 Ways To Save Your Money

• Brew your own coffee

• It’s Pumpkin Spice Latte season-learn how to make them at home.

• Single? Go to Meetups, use O.K. Cupid, and Bumble-all for free.

• Enjoy watching t.v.? I use rabbit ears and watch Hulu. No cable for me and I’m still up to date on most shows.

• Hate thrift shopping and love shopping online? Use EBATES.com to earn money back on purchases. Sign up via my EBATES.com affiliate link and get a $10 credit towards your first purchase. It’s almost the Holiday season! Don’t leave your cash on the table.

• Enjoy movies but hate going? Watch them at home.

• Enjoy movies but enjoy the experience of going? Keep a look out for free movie passes for upcoming releases.

• Still focused on movies? Netflix and chill is a phrase for a reason. Movies are freaking expensive!

• This is the last one…I swear! Go to a Matinee and watch a movie for less.

• I love saving money on groceries and my Ibotta app is bae. Sign up using my affiliate link and receive $10 towards your initial payout when you make your initial redemption. For more information on Ibotta check out the following post. Already sold? Sign up for Ibotta Today!

• Meal planning is the best thing ever. You don’t have to be obsessive about it. Spend some time looking through your pantry on a Saturday morning and get a feel for the meals that you can create with the items already in your home.

• Are you always going to the grocery store? Build some efficiency into your life and go once a week. Basically, you’re piggy backing on the meal planning concept. Once you know what’s in your pantry go to the grocery store once a week and then use what you have.

• Bored? If you live in a decent sized city check out Meetup.com! I absolutely love it and I find that there are almost too many events to choose from. My favorites are: hiking and happy hours.

• Need to get into shape? I know I do! I have fallen in love with The November Project a free fitness community that have you working out at the crack of dawn with the friendliest people ever.

• Need more fitness inspiration? Watch live-streamed classes so that you can get your move on.

• Need to attend actual fitness classes? I use Classpass and I love it! I also share my affiliate link to give first-time users a $30 credit towards their account (normally it’s $20 but the amount was increased for the Holiday season). Share your Classpass link with friends and love ones and earn affiliate credit too!

• I am obsessed with travel. But, it can get expensive, in an effort to lower the cost I will travel slightly off-season so that my overall expenses are lowered.

• Still thinking about travel? Click on the following post on how to use low-cost carriers for international trips.
• I rock AirBnB and it’s a lot cheaper than a hotel. Click here for a $35 credit towards your first AirBnB reservation. Here’s a link to a post about my AirBnB process.
• Need to pay a lot less than AirBnB prices? No worries, I stay at hostels too! Here’s my reflections on how to stay in a hostel when you’re no longer in your 20’s.
• Check your cards and see if you’ve accrued mileage points! Don’t leave them on the table.
• If you’re super disciplined and have cash in your bank account you can give travel hacking for mileage points a try. I tried this and failed. Do this at your own risk.
• Trying to save money and it never works? I use Digit 🙂 Sign up here and begin saving!
• Love Perrier as much as I do? Well, I decided to get a Soda Stream and it has saved me a TON of money. Read the following post on how I hacked the cost.
• Need new eyeglasses? Warby Parker might be the website for you.
• Can’t keep track of your overall financial picture? Use Personal Capital-a free tool that helps give you a comprehensive overview of your entire financial picture. Personal Capital – Join for Free
• Share-sometimes you just need to share your stuff with other people and vice versa.
• Love your library! Your local library has a ton of resources, tools, and activities for local users.
• Practice gratitude-I work on this every.single.day.
• Make things yourself. This winter I plan on learning how to: make vegan cheese, almond milk, and sew.
• Bored? Explore your town. I am amazed by all of the cool things that I discover whenever I roam around town. There are areas that I don’t visit that often and I find that they change quite a bit between visits.
• Volunteer, instead of spending money, spend time helping a cause that you believe in.
• Double your money! Work at a place that gives you access to what you enjoy. Love taking classes? Work at a university. Love dance? Work at a dance studio. You get the picture.
• Buy things used.
• I ride my bike whenever possible. Good for my wallet, waist, and the environment.
• Walk. I love to walk and my legs thank me. You don’t pay for gas or bus fare.
• Work at a grocery store and get a grocery discount.
• Coupon. I’m not great at this but I do try to double my savings with paper coupons and the Ibotta savings app.
• Go camping instead of going for posh vacations.
• Go on a picnic when you need to socialize.
• Change your phone service. I side-hustled my way out of an expensive carrier and use Republic Wireless. Now, I’ve switched to Google Fi. I was very happy with Republic Wireless but I wanted to try out both.
• Side-Hustle like a boss and put that money in your savings account.
• Eat less meat. I eat good meat. Think grass-fed beef and bison. But that stuff is expensive. Now, I eat a lot less of it, eating less saves me money, is good for my health, and great for the environment.
• Found money. I find money all of the time. Like…a lot of money. I now put that found money in savings. It’s pretty awesome.
• I keep snacks on me at all times because it never fails that I will get hungry when I’m roaming around town.
• Happy Hour is the best thing ever. Don’t go to dinner-go to happy hour.
• Brunch is also THE BEST THING EVER! I love brunch. I still get to be social without paying the premium dinner prices.
• Use Groupon to purchase goods and services.
• Use Living Social Deals to pay for goods and services.
• Barter like a boss. You don’t need to pay for things that you use. You can barter for them.
• Visit your favorite farmer’s market at the end of the day. You may be able to pick up fresh veggies and fruit at a discount as vendor’s wrap things up.
• Buy food that is close to the sell by debt. It’s always discounted. If it’s meat get it in the freezer as soon as you get home.
• Maintain EVERYTHING. Keeping things well maintained will save you paying on repairs.
• Make connections with people who can hook you up with great things, inexpensive events, or swag. I know a lot of those people and I try to be that person for a lot of people too.
• Be mindful. When I’m in debt repayment mode, saving for a trip mode, etc. I become SUPER mindful about how much money I’m spending.
• Eat the weird stuff. It’s usually cheaper.
• Become an urban forager. Now, you need to be careful when doing this because you don’t want to eat poison but I eat a lot of food that I find around town and in the mountains (no mushrooms!) and only berries that I can 100% identify. Think: pears, grapes, apples, plums, the occassional strawberry, and a few other items.
• Grow a garden. For the last couple of years I’ve had a community garden plt.
• Sometimes it has been a great experience, sometimes it’s a bit of a hot mess. But, I keep trying because I love it.
• Do a No Shopping Challenge! I stopped shopping for one year and I saved thousands as a result of that challenge.
• Buy food in season. It’s cheaper.
• Purchase your next year’s wardrobe at the end of the the season and use EBATES.com to save even more (read the ins and outs of what is eligible for a rebate).
• Purchase a gas friendly car.
• Host potlucks at your home when you need some people time.
• Go to the doctor…because you have to maintain your health.
• Embrace Minimalism. I’m currently embracing minimalism. It’s not that difficult and pretty straight forward. Get rid of your extra crap. Each time I get rid of something I feel so free! It’s a bit addictive. Whenever possible I I try to sell my excess items.
• Get rid of your extra clothes via ThredUp’s closet clean-out program. I have a polka dot bag waiting to be sent to them right now.
• Hold a garage sale and save the money.
• Purchase “day of” theater tickets.
• Exploit age-based savings. Kid/Millennial/GenX/or Boomers-there is a savings program out there for you. Just do your research.
• Use subscription services to access savings on goods and services only shared via newsletter or with subscriber base.
• You served your country! Get your discounts. If you’re currently in the military or retired military there are tons of opportunities for you to save.
• Pay cash for services and ask for a discount! Cash is king!
• Negotiate your rates. This one is very uncomfortable for many Americans because we’re not use to haggling or actively asking for different rates. Start small and see how it goes.
• Wait. This one can be hard but sometimes the best way to save money is to wait until the time is right to make a purchase.
• Live in a less expensive neighborhood. My friend Aja from Principles of Increase paid off a ton of debt and has been able to aggressively save after inheriting a free home located in the South Side of Chicago.
• Use cloth diapers. It has been a LONG time since I was a baby, but my mom swore by them.
• Make your own laundry detergent. I plan on doing this sometime this winter as a fun project.
• Make your baby’s food. Almost all of my European friends did this when they had kids. It’s not that difficult to do and save a ton of money.
• Embrace inconvenience. I don’t purchase convenience foods from the grocery store and I got rid of my microwave. I’ve saved a ton of money since I no longer buy foods for the microwave or pick up pre-cooked food (which is usually more expensive).
• Join a Beta group. Beta groups are a great way to get: courses, apps, coaching, for a lot less.
• High-End Coaching for free. Join closed Facebook groups, subscribe to challenges, and check out Facebook ads with training. Kimra Luna mentioned learning a ton via this process.
• Participate in focus groups. I love them. They are a great way to make quick money easily. All you have to do is share your opinion.
• Rock your affiliates. If you use apps, or participate in a savings program look to see if they have an affiliate program that you can share with friends and family.
• Use your electric blanket. I got this idea from The Frugalwoods. I keep the heat off for as long as possible and then use my electric blanket to stay warm at night. It works perfectly. Don’t worry, I live in a triplex so my neighbors keep my place warm whenever they turn their heat on.
• Use what you have. Literally, just use what you have, for as long as possible, until it’s time to replace it.
• Do a grocery challenge. I love challenges and a grocery challenge is a great way to creatively use the food in your home.
• Take a social media and television break. By doing this you remove yourself from daily marketing messages. It’s hard to want things that you haven’t heard of. Ignorance is bliss.
• Just say no to fur babies. They are expensive. OR, adopt from your local shelter.
• Don’t pay for your kid’s college. Work with them on identifying scholarships that can be applied towards their studies. Start this as young as possible.
• Don’t borrow. Borrowing costs money.
• Don’t pay to get your money! I don’t withdraw money from atms that I have to pay from.
• Wear a signature look. When you’re in big cities that’s usually a chic combination of black. Whatever is your signature look-rock it and keep it simple.
• Do your own hair. For the past 5 years I’ve done my own hair. It’s a pretty freeing process, saves a ton of time, and a lot of money.
• Go natural. Say no to perms, coloring your hair, and straightening your locks. Just…rock your natural do.
• If you prefer to have someone else do your hair, check out your local beauty school.
• Pick up discounted wigs if you like to change your look or are dealing with hairloss.
• Practive gratitude. It always saves you money 🙂

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Michelle

I am an obsessive foodie, but not self-righteous with it, love travel, meeting new people, helping you look good, and am freaked out by people who don't enjoying reading...something! Grab a Perrier, read my blog, feel free to drop me a line! Hope to hear from you soon.

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