Four Unconventional Ways to Save Money

If you’re anything like me, you probably wonder how to save money past what the “gurus” tell you. You probably already cut out cable, shop sales at the grocery store and don’t eat out very often. I’ve slimmed my budget down so much that I thought I couldn’t possibly save any more money. At least without giving up internet, my iPhone, or compromising on my food. None of these were options for me because:

1) I work from home and need internet to do so, and going elsewhere for work doesn’t work with a toddler

2) You’ll have to pry my iPhone from my dying hands because I won’t use anything else (call me a princess, I don’t care)

3) I won’t lower my grocery budget anymore for health reasons. 

 

So I found myself in a bit of a rock and a hard place. I wasn’t willing to give up the few luxuries I did have, but I needed to cut some expenses. Here are four things that saved me money and the environment with no sacrificing and NO COUPONS! Can I get an amen?!?

 

1) Downsize your trash can. We went from a 60 gallon trash can to a 30 gallon trash can. I didn’t even know this was an option until I started researching more on my cities recycling and food waste collection. I save $20 a month just my simply using a smaller trash can. It not only saves me cash, but helps me be more mindful of what I throw away. I compost and feed the chickens almost all my food scraps. My city even let’s us throw bones and other food waste into the yard waste bin for free collection. Check with your city and see about downsizing your trash can. Recycling is your friend if you do it! 

 

2) Hide the paper towels. Have you noticed how expensive paper towels are? They’re a pretty penny if you’re not careful how much you use them. I find if I put the paper towels in the top cupboard out of sight, and slightly out of reach I don’t automatically grab them. They’re there when I actually do need them, which is not very often…Like drying lettuce or meat, or if I forgot to wash my reusable cleaning clothes. But instead of going through a roll or two per week, I go through one every two weeks. This also helps cut down on garbage, which helps you achieve a smaller trash can!! Hip Hip Hooray!!  

 

3) Lower the speed of your internet. 12mbps is perfectly fine for streaming Netflix or Hulu. Let’s be honest, slower internet makes us slow down and use less technology. No one truly needs a higher download speed unless they’re doing some serious downloading and uploading. This can save you anywhere from $20-$50 a month on a standard internet charge. I don’t know that being able to download something in 30 seconds verses 60 seconds is really worth that money. But that’s just my opinion. 

 

4) Set your thermostat to 65 at night-time and 67 during the day. My husband hates that I do this but I still do it (Love you Luis!!). It’s a hill almost worth dying on. It costs so much money to heat a home, especially a 100-year-old home with lots of cracks in the doorways and an underground finished basement. Not to mention the natural gas that is being used to heat it. What’s the point of wasting that money and resource when you can just put socks and a sweatshirt on? 

 

Saving money doesn’t have to be dreary. Coming up with fun ways to save money is so much fun, it’s amazing how much we actually don’t realize we spend. Just start with a couple of easy things, and you’ll be well on your way to financial freedom! If you’re looking for budgeting tools, we use “You Need a Budget”.