Frugal Living

6 Crazy Things To Do To Save More Money

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There are lots of great ways to save money. Perhaps you are already implementing some of them such as not eating out as much, spending less on entertainment, or walking more to save on gas.

You have got all the obvious money-saving tips covered. That’s awesome! 

However, there are always more ideas you could try to save more! I have put together these 6 crazy things to do to save more money for anyone looking for ways to squeeze as much money as possible out of their budget!

6 Crazy Things To Do To Save More Money

These 6 ways to save money are all a bit different from the ideas you normally hear about. Give them all a go and you could be saving lots of money!

Turn Out The Lights!

Don’t just turn out the lights – turn off the TV, the computer and anything else that uses electricity! Did you know the average electric bill for a year is almost $1500?

Using less electricity is a fantastic way to save money. Plus, it helps the environment as well!

You could have one day a week where you choose to use no electricity at all. If going a whole day sounds like too much work, then consider setting a small block of time each day that is electric-free. For example, maybe early evening you don’t use any electricity for 2 hours!

There are lots of activities you can do that don’t require power. Reading, playing board games. or sorting out the sock drawer can be done without using electricity.

One activity that is fun for the whole family is reading! Reading can also be done by candlelight making it a great choice when the lights are out. However, books can be expensive.

To save money on buying books you can order free books in the mail. There are lots of sites online offering free books for both adults and children. Use these resources to make sure you always have plenty of new reading material!

You can easily use candles for light during the evening. Also, if you get scented candles your home will smell amazing!

Cut Out One Meal

One crazy money-saving idea that could save lots of money is to eat one less meal a day. Often, we eat either out of habit or to be sociable. By missing one meal a day you will save a great deal of money!

Missing one meal a day could be too much for some people. That’s OK. Try skipping one a week instead as any small changes can still save you some money. If a single meal costs $5, then skipping that one meal every week means making a saving of $260 a year!

The average American spends up to $1000 a month on food. Any savings you can make will mean more money available to spend elsewhere.

If skipping meals is too extreme for you, then consider these other food-saving tips. Cut down how often you eat out and always make your own lunch for work. 

When shopping for food for home make sure to shop with a list. Consider cheaper food items rather than expensive brands. Following all these tips will help cut spending on food.

Please note – skipping meals is not healthy for everyone as some people must eat at certain intervals. Please consult a doctor if you have concerns about skipping meals. 

Cancel All Subscriptions

What subscriptions do you have? Perhaps you have a magazine subscription, a music subscription, and subscribe to 3 streaming services. Individually these subscriptions will only cost $5-$10 each. However, altogether you could be paying more than $40 a month!

To save the most money you should cancel all the subscriptions you have.

You could visit a local library to read magazines or newspapers. The internet is a terrific resource packed with lots of free sources of entertainment. Music, TV, and movies are all legally available for free at various sites online. 

Do a bit of searching to see if you can replace all the paid subscriptions with free services.

If you have a subscription you must keep, then ask a friend or family member if they want to share. Sharing the cost at least saves you something!

Start A ‘Zero-Spend’ Day

Every day you probably spend a few dollars here and there. Think about your average day and what you might buy. A snack, a drink, maybe a newspaper, and a pretzel.

All these little purchases add up and you could spend as much as $10 a day just on these things alone.

To start saving some money pick one day a week that is a dedicated ‘Zero-Spend’ day. On this day you will spend nothing. No snacks, drinks, or other items. Make sure you prepare for the day by having snacks ready, your own drinks, and a fully charged phone for entertainment!

If you spend nothing that one day, you’ve saved $10. In a year you’ve saved $520!

You may also find that you don’t miss those things as much as you thought you would. This could mean you start spending less on other days! Being mindful of your spending is a fantastic way to save more money.

Forget Your Credit Cards

How often do you buy something you hadn’t planned to? Give it some honest thought. You are not alone – on average Americans spend a whopping $155.03 a month on impulse purchases. That’s almost $2,000 a year!

One awesome way to reduce impulse spending is to ‘forget’ your credit cards. If you don’t have them with you, then you can’t spend anything!

You should still carry a few dollars cash in case of emergency but otherwise, you can’t spend anything!

Buy A Water Bottle

In the US the bottled water industry is expected to be worth an enormous $334 billion by 2023. That’s a phenomenal amount of money!

No doubt you buy bottled water sometimes. The question is, why?

For just a couple of dollars, you could buy a reusable water bottle and fill it from the tap! Not only will you save hundreds of dollars a year, but this is also better for the environment.

Some people don’t like the taste of tap water. Try getting a filter for your tap or adding some flavoring to make the taste more palatable.

Things To Do With The Extra Money

If you put all these things into practice you could be saving $200 a month or more! What should you do with that money?

You should already have financial goals and a detailed budget. If you haven’t you should definitely do those things now!

As you save money you can revisit your budget and start allocating those savings towards other things. Or creating new items in your budget that are targeted towards achieving your goals.

You might want to get debts paid off faster. These extra savings could be used to pay off high-interest debts faster. Building an emergency fund might be your priority – putting all these savings into your emergency fund will help that grow fast!

Building wealth might be a goal that you aspire to achieve. If you are low income you may not have had the spare cash to use for investing. The savings you could make now mean that you could start an investment strategy. Stocks and shares, cryptocurrency, peer-to-peer lending, and more are all worth exploring when you start investing.

How To Boost Your Budget

You may be feeling frustrated if you’ve cut your expenses and still don’t have money left in the budget to use how you want. The next step is to think about ways you could boost your budget by increasing your income.

Start by asking your current employer for a raise or more hours. If that’s not possible you could look for a second job to get some more money. Even working 10 hours a week gives you at least $72.50 based on a minimum wage job.

Another method to earn more money is to start a side hustle. Blogging, freelancing, data entry, and selling items on eBay are just a few of the ways you could earn extra money.

The great thing about side hustles is that you aren’t answering to anyone else. This means you can put as many hours into it as you want to make it ideal to fit around existing responsibilities.

Sometimes a side hustle can take off and turn into your main source of income!

Think about your skills and search online to find suitable opportunities.

Final Thoughts

These days as everything gets more expensive you must take every step you can to save as much of your money as possible.

Some of the ideas mentioned here may feel crazy or too much. Try them all out and see how they work for you. Apart from saving money, you may also find your lifestyle changes for the better as well! 

As you save more money using these crazy ideas, then you may think of more yourself! There are lots of other extremes or crazy ways people save money. You can too if you are willing to overcome those initial feelings of embarrassment. Go for it!


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Hey, I’m Chris. I have a degree in Business Economics from the University of Liverpool, own a small fast food business, and run LifeUpswing.com. I will help you to make money, save money, and think about money in a way that will give you back your freedom.

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