How to Save Money: Practical Tips for Building Your Savings

You Might Have More Money Than You Think

Most people would agree that it would be nice to have more money. The good news is that there are ways of “finding” money where you didn’t expect to look. Of course, this doesn’t mean digging up some buried treasure or spotting a $20 bill on the sidewalk. It refers to unexpected ways to save and make money that you may not have thought of.

We’ve talked before about how small financial behaviours add up, and the same is true for savings. If you can save a few dollars here and there, you could end up with a bit of extra money to help make ends meet.

Ways to Save a Little More Money

You can save money by keeping a budget and sticking to it, and you certainly should, but there are a couple other things that you can do to save some cash that you may not have thought of.

Change Your Bank Account

Depending on what bank account you currently have, you could save some money by switching to another one. Many banks charge a monthly fee for having an account. This amount doesn’t seem like much at first glance, but it certainly adds up. Assume your bank charges you $10 each month to have an account. That’s $120 each year. It’s not a huge amount of money, but you’d probably rather have $120 than not have it, right?

Talk to your bank and see if you can switch to an account with a lower fee (or no fee at all). Some banks may require you to have a certain account balance before they will give you a reduced fee. If your bank isn’t willing to help you, consider switching to one that will.

Adjust Your Insurance

You might be able to save some money each month by making some changes to your insurance plans. For instance, if you raise the deductible on your car insurance from $500 to $1000, you could find yourself with a lower monthly premium. Of course, you’ll need to make sure that you have money saved in an emergency fund so that you will be able to afford the higher deductible if something happens.

Whether or not this is the right strategy for you will depend on various factors, but it could be a good thing to consider if you’re looking to save a little money.

Ways to Make a Little More Money

Saving a bit of extra money is just one part of the equation. The other half is making some extra cash.

Search Your Home for “Treasure”

We said that this wasn’t going to be about finding buried treasure, but in a way it is. Of course, this doesn’t mean digging up a chest filled with gold and jewels, but it does mean searching through what you have around your home that could be worth something.

Most people have items they don’t use very much anymore. While these items may not be worth much to the current owner, they could certainly be valuable to someone else. And this isn’t just true for rare collectibles. Just about anything you have that is in good condition could be sold for some extra money. Plus, you’ll be reducing clutter in your home.

Think about what you can sell and then have a yard sale or a garage sale. You may also want to look into selling items on an online classified site such as Craigslist or eBay. You never know what someone may be interested in buying from you, so give it a try.

Sell Your Skills Online

You don’t need to stop with selling your items on the internet. You can sell your time and your skills as well. There are many sites out there where you can do tasks such as data entry, customer service, and various errands and chores for other people in exchange for money. However, before you start, do some research to find out which sites are legitimate and which are scams.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of “get rich quick” opportunities out there that are not on the up and up. If a site is promising something that seems unreasonable or too good to be true, then it probably is.

Read reviews and talk to friends and family before committing to anything to make sure you don’t get ripped off.