10 Extreme Ways To Save Money


money save ways, ways to save money

Money in the form of many large bills

Lately, we’ve been talking about ways to save money in our money save ways series.

There are some ways that a family can save money that aren’t the normal way people do in order to live extremely cheap on very little. These ways may not be for you, but maybe you can find a way to modify these money saving ways to fit into your lifestyle a little better. Saving money can mean making sacrifices, so here are some you could make changes in how you can find extreme ways to save money.

Now keep in mind– we are talking EXTREME… so some of these may not work for you, but interesting to read nonetheless 😉

10 Extreme Ways To Save Money

 

1. Give up your car and ride the bus. If you live in a very urban area, you probably already know why this is being suggested. Taking public transportation may be a real pain to do when it comes to running errands or getting groceries, but you may be able to use it solely for your morning commute to work and save yourself a bundle on gas and wear and tear on your vehicle.

2. If you have a place that is big enough, consider renting out to someone. Whether this is just an empty room you have or an entire finished basement, you can make some rental income from your property that can help pay some of your living costs.


3. If renting out is not your thing, consider downgrading. This can be tricky with the housing market, but one thing to consider is, you can rent out a home that you already own and rent a place for yourself to live in, instead. If you are able to, sell your home and downsize to a rental. With renting, you don’t have to worry about the expenses that come with owning a home such as maintenance, insurance or even lawn care in some cases.

4. Cut up your credit cards. Do  not use them under and circumstance. Instead, for electronic payments, get a re-loadable debit card. Unless you are paying off your entire balance each month, credit cards are a waste of money.

5. Give up expensive “toys”. Don’t buy the newest electronics or movies. Instead, go to the local library and check out books, movies, even video games at some locations for free.

6. Make a coupon pact to only buy household items you have a coupon for. Items cycle throughout the year based on what is on sale. Stock up during these sales cycles and you will have enough to last the year.

7. Shower every other day. Saving water saves you money. Plus, if you are only showering every other day, your shampoo, conditioner and soap lasts twice as long. Of course the only time you should cheat here is if you do heavy activity or exercise throughout the day.

8. Cut your own hair. There are a lot of youtube videos that show you how to cut hair, and it’s even easier if you have a short hairstyle or on men and boys. If you just don’t have the confidence, at least go to a barber or beauty collage and save yourself half or more on the price of a cut.

9. Line dry your clothes. When the weather calls for it, hang your clothes to dry rather than run the electrical bill up with your dryer.

10. Stop buying convenience. Make your own spice mixes, bread, and sauces. Shred your own cheese and dice your own veggies. You will save a lot of money at the market if you stop buying into the idea that these things take too much time. Most inconvenience items that are sold take less than 5 minutes to do yourself.  Ask yourself, “Is that 5 minutes worth paying twice as much for in some cases?”

What are some EXTREME ways to save money that you can think of? Leave a comment and let me know!

You can find more GREAT money save ways tips in our money save ways section of the blog!

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2 Comments

  1. I thought that I was doing lots of saving but we only do three (and maybe two other partially because I only get my hair cut two or three time a year and we use credit but pay off in full every month). We don’t have cable and we don’t eat out. We get take out once a month for the family which is between $5-$15 as our splurge. We live in a small house that we have been in for 12 years and we keep thinking that we should get a bigger house but the expenses always turn us off and we end up staying where we are. We live within our means but I don’t see us giving up our cars anytime soon 🙂

    • February 15, 2014
      Reply

      Alison, thanks for sharing.

      Yes I can’t see giving up my car either. However we have gone from two cars to one. My husband works a job that he is gone most of the time so his car just sat. It made sense to give it up and lessened our load a WHOLE lot. But we don’t have live in a city where commuting is easy where I would feel okay with not having a car at all.

      I am about at the point of getting rid of the cable. Part of me holds on to it for the DVR. I have trimmed my package to one of the lower packages. Then I call every 6 months to get a new offer. But I’ve found ways that we can watch our shows for free, so at this point, we really don’t need it. Thanks for sharing!

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