10 Ways to Save Money This Year

Hey y'all!

I don't know about y'all, but I feel absolutely spent in more ways than once.

The start of a new year totally wears me out; I feel like there are so many things to be bought over the holidays, then all the pressure to buy things on sale once the holidays are over, then we jump right into buying for Valentine's Day!

There are just so many things to spend money on and if you're like me, not too much money to be spending.

So today I'm rounding up ten things that we have done in our house since the start of the new year to help save money. In the future we want to buy a house, take vacations, and one day have kids so it's important to save money now in order to be able to finance those things later!

1) Opt Out of Store Emails

If you're anything like me, then you probably receive about a million store emails every single day. These emails are telling you about the latest deals, new arrivals, and everything in between...but you don't need them!

They're so tempting, but they cause you to over-buy and to purchase things you normally wouldn't.

Who is guilty of going to Bath & Body Works when they're having a candle sale, even though you know you don't need new candles? I'm raising my hand over here!

You can use a website like Unroll Me that shows you a list of every email subscription list your on and you can take yourself off of them or you can open the emails one by one and go to the bottom and hit unsubscribe, whichever is easiest!

But I promise, this is a number one money-saver at our house!

2) Stop Eating Out!

This is SO hard for me because I love the idea of having someone else prepare my food, cook it, serve it to me, and clean up after me.

That's just so ideal and food tastes so much better if you don't have to cook it!

But cooking at home truly does save so much cash because you do pay for the convenience.

An alternate plan is to invite your friends or family over and have potluck meals (maybe on the weekends). That way you aren't stuck preparing ALL the dishes & you get to spend quality time with the ones you love.

3) Brew Coffee/Cook Breakfast at Home

This sort of goes in the same vein as number 2, but all of those Starbucks/Chick-Fil-A stops really do add up over time.

It costs about $0.18 per cup if you brew Starbucks brand beans at home, versus almost $4.00 for a latte at Starbucks.

The same goes for breakfasts; you can have a chicken biscuit at home for less than $2 per biscuit (buying your supplies from your local grocery store) versus over $2 for just the biscuit or almost $5 for the combo.

It just makes good sense to buy in larger sizes at the store and save your cash for other things!

4) Sell Old Clothes/Home Items

I'm a huge fan of buying and selling gently used clothing (that's how I've amassed my rather large Lilly collection, through re-sale!)

There are so many avenues to sell clothing and home items (think books, decor, furniture, etc.) but a few of my favorite ways are yard-sales, Facebook groups, and through apps like PoshMark.

Yard Sales are awesome, especially if you get together with one or two people so you can have a large spread. You can make a lot of money and get rid of a lot of stuff...and trust me, people will buy ANYTHING!

5) Skip the Gym Membership

No, I'm not telling you that you don't need to lose weight or get fit if that's what you want to do. But what I am telling you is that there are plenty of free ways to do it!

I personally love to walk at our local city park with Forrest, our pup.

It's a great way to get in cardio and get in some fresh air.

If you can't get out to a local park there are SO many YouTube videos that you can do for any kind of workout.

I'm a huge fan of Blogilates because Cassey is so motivational and fun to watch; she has all sorts of fun workouts ranging from 5 minutes to 30 minutes!

I also really like the ballet workouts that you can do at home.

You don't need any extra equipment (maybe a yoga mat) which makes this absolutely free!

6) Shop Your "Stash"

So many times I think I have to make a certain recipe I see on Pinterest and it requires a special trip to the grocery store for a million ingredients that I will never use again.

Or, I'm watching a beauty guru on YouTube & see them use a special product & think if I have it, I'll be able to achieve her look.

But guess what...you don't have to do that!

Over the past few months, I have gotten so good at shopping our pantry and freezer for meal ideas and we've been eating better than ever before.

I will say this; it does help that we have a farm and raise beef cattle so we usually have beef in the freezer and veggies that I've put up in the freezer as well.

But you can also shop your makeup and beauty stash as well and use makeup that you had forgotten about because you bought new items.

7) Sell Your Old Devices

I'm a big fan of yard sales but that's not the place to sell your old iPhone, iPad, iPod, etc.

Try online places like Gazelle  where you get a quote in less than 1 minute and they can pay you by PayPal, Amazon gift card, or by check.

Facebook groups or phone stores are also very good places to sell your old devices.

8) Kick Cable to the Curb

This is one that I haven't done yet, but my hubs and I have discussed this several times.

We could easily live off of Netflix and Hulu and only miss cable when it came to the 9 o'clock news!

9) Use Rewards Programs/Coupons

I LOVE a good rewards program (Target RedCard, I'm looking at you) and coupons are saviors for me.

For example, if I'm going to shop at Bath & Body Works I will only go when there is a sale AND a coupon, not just one or the other-I gotta have both to go.

I also highly recommend Rakuten if you're an online shopper. Long story short, if you go to stores through the Rakuten link they will give you so many percent cash-back for shopping in that store.

I have used this for years and received over $100 in cash back, so I promise it's the real deal!

10) Buy in Bulk!

We love our Sam's Club membership because we save so much money by buying in bulk.

You can buy meat in bulk (freeze it or cook it and freeze it!), you can buy large amounts of beauty products/vitamins, if you have pets you can get great deals on dog food and flea/tick treatment, plus they have killer deals on things like printers, books, and seasonal items.

We also buy all of Charlie's fruit there since he goes through it so rapidly-if anything starts to go bad, I'll stick it in the freezer to save it!

If you go in with family members then a club membership is even cheaper, so I highly recommend it!

I hope these suggestions gave you some ideas on how to save up for those big moments in your life.

If you have any more suggestions, please leave them down below!

Until next time. . .

xoxo,