16 WAYS TO SAVE MONEY IN 2022 💸

Now more than ever people are wanting to save more money and create a budget to protect their future. Here are some ways you can save money in 2022 without depriving yourself of some fun money too!

Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates) is a cashback service that has thousands of stores you could shop from and earn cashback.

 

I have used Rakuten since August 2012 and have earned $343.54 cashback since! That’s HUGE! I currently don’t shop as much as I use to because I learned how to budget better, but when I did, I was getting $10-$45 in FREE cashback every 3 months!

 

Click HERE to get $10 cashback when you spend $25+ at any of the thousands of stores on the Rakuten website at no extra charge to you.

Unfortunately, budgeting is not taught in most schools, so we as adults have to figure it out all on our own and it could be scary and unsettling. The good news is that it is possible to create a budget. Budgeting does not have to take hours! I create a budget in 20 minutes or less using my Planner Mode Budgeting Forever Planner (coming soon). 

This step is so important! Sometimes I see that people think they're spending way less each month than they really are. I suggest keeping a daily or weekly tracker of exactly how much you're spending each month, so that you're able to adjust your budget, if needed.

 

I understand that this may be hard, but so worth it to know where every dollar is going each month. I earned my Bachelors in Finance and I didn’t even learn how to budget. I had to teach myself discipline! Though I still enjoy getting things that I want. Its about balance.

 

According to Business Insider, the average debt in America is $51,900! Wowerz! That simply means that tracking spending and budgeting aren’t a priority for some people, but most of us weren’t taught how to budget or track our spending and expenses.

I used to work at a gym, and I can’t tell you how many people were paying for their membership and haven’t stepped foot in a gym for YEARS. I too had a gym membership and was paying for it and for about 6 months I was using it. That’s over $60 wasted!

 

If you’re someone that uses your gym membership and like it, then by all means continue to use it. This is for those that are paying for it and haven’t used it in a while and don’t plan to. 

I think we can all agree that there are way more people using Hulu and Netflix than there are accounts. It’s a common joke that there are 50 accounts, but 50 million streams on a movie. You or someone you know may have asked “what’s your Netflix password?” to save a few bucks!

Credit cards don’t have to be a scary thing if you’re using them correctly. Most (if not all) major credit cards offer cashback (or miles) and some have cashback blocks where if you shop at a certain place you could earn even more cashback.

 

For some credit cards you can redeem your cashback to pay your credit card bill, get it deposited into your account, or use it for gift cards and they may even throw in an additional few dollars if you redeem it as a gift card.

 

Its also easier to get your money back if there’s fraudulent charges on your credit card than if it were your debit card. I’ve had fraudulent charges on my card before but for me, using a credit card had helped the process. Imagine someone stealing from your debit card and you have a credit card bill due...you can't really use a credit card to pay for a credit card, so go with a credit card, but use it responsibly. Remember to do what's comfortable for you!

 

Due to this possibility along with other reasonings I only use my credit card. I use my debit card to pay off my credit card and that’s it.

Plus, it makes it easier to keep track of everything when all purchases are on 1-2 cards.

By adding items into your online cart, then waiting to purchase you ultimately have more time to decide whether or not you need/want the items.

There’s been times where I’d like clothes or shoes to make shopping cart and then come back to it 2-3 weeks later and decide I no longer want, need, or like it. I suggest waiting at least a day or 2, but if you can wait weeks even better!

We get tons of emails every day and promotional emails are some of them.

If you know that you’ve just purchased something from the company’s website I recommend deleting the promotional email, then going into your trash folder and deleting it from there too. This way you’re not tempted to place another order.

Serious couponing may be a full-time job in itself, but if you’re looking to purchase something ALWAYS search online for a coupon or coupon code. Places like Rakuten (formerly known as Ebates) and RetailMeNot offer coupon codes for thousands of items all in one place.

Are you someone that loves to eat out? I know the struggle is real! If you can’t stop eating out right away, wing yourself off. Eat out only 2-3 times a week, then 1-2 times a week, then if you really have self-discipline 0-1 times a week.

  

Don’t feel like you have to stop right away, but you may save a lot of money by not eating out or by cutting it down to 1-2 a week.

At this stage in my life I don’t believe in spending $6 a day on coffee every day. I purchase a chai tea latte with 7 pumps of cinnamon dulce syrup (I like it sweet) and I do this 1-2 times a year. Usually around my birthday as I don’t crave coffee or tea and certainly don’t want hundreds of dollars going towards it every month.

You don’t have to spend $85+ on your phone bill each month, ESPECIALLY if you’re someone who works from home and has a stable internet connection at home.

 

I pay about $30 a month for my phone bill and use my home internet instead of my cellular WiFi 95% of the time. I do it this way because when I’m not home I still have data left. I like to listen to Spotify in my car and I can’t do that if I don’t have any data left, so this method works for me.

 

Check out Planner Mode’s Plan & JAM Playlist HERE.

This year I switched from bottle water to my Brita Water Filter for two reasons...

 

1. I LOVE to recycle and though I was recycling every day I wanted to reduce plastic and 2. I was spending about $3.50 per case of water. Though that is not a ton of money it really adds up. The filtered water from my Brita tastes just as good!

eBay is a great place to sell unused items. I remember when I had a bunch of jewelry left over from my direct sales days, I was going to throw it all away! NO JOKE! I was ready to get rid of it, but right before trashing it I thought I would try to sell it on eBay first. Thankfully, I went with that route. Within a couple of weeks, I made over $900! Like they say, “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure”. I was getting sales left and right and to think it would have ended up in the trash. Don’t worry I won’t make that mistake again.

 

Plato’s Closet is another great option to sell unused clothes, shoes, and accessories. I made about $90 in one day selling unused clothing. I went to two different locations. The first location took a few items, but then I took what was left over to the second location and they bought most of the items.

  

This process is subjective, so be mindful or that. I once had a man go through my clothes and he rejected some beautiful pieces, so a few days later I went back to that same location and a woman took a look and accepted a lot of the items that the first associate rejected. Going this route takes time, but its worth it to get a few bucks to pay for a meal, gas, or just to save.

There are so many gift cards out there and I’ve found that the BEST deals are around the holiday season. If you frequent a store or restaurant or want to gift a gift to someone you can purchase them during this time.

 

The most popular gift card deal I’ve seen is spend $50 and get $10. They usually give you a $50 gift card and a $10 gift card versus giving you $60 on one. That way you can give the $50 as a gift and keep the $10 for yourself.

The best way to save money is to save money. This may also be the hardest way for some people, but an older version of yourself may thank you when you’re retired and have money saved up or when there’s an emergency and you have peace of mind because you saved. 

   

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