1. Pay yourself first
Rather than budgeting during the month and then saving whatever’s left over, try paying yourself first.
As soon as you get a paycheck, set aside a fixed amount — $75 per check, for example — in an account that’s separate from where you keep your day-to-day money.
That way you can spend whatever you like from your regular account and not have to worry about scrimping during the month to meet your financial goals.
Make sure to keep the money you set aside in a high-yield savings account. That way whatever you save will actually earn decent interest and grow over time.
Some high-yield accounts offer an auto-deposit feature that allows you to easily connect your checking account, so the amount you want to save will automatically be deducted each payday. You won’t even have to think about it.
More: Best high-yield savings accounts
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Having a single loan to pay off makes it easier to manage your payments, and you can often get a better interest rate than what you might be paying on credit cards and car loans.
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2. Save your spare change for the future
If setting aside a piece of every paycheck doesn’t seem doable right now, another option is to save your spare change.
An app called Acorns is easy to use and works by rounding up every purchase you make with your debit or credit card to the nearest dollar, then drops that spare change into an investment account.
So if you spend $2.75 on a coffee, for instance, Acorns will round up your purchase to $3.00 and put the extra $0.25 into the investment account.
That might not seem like a lot, but just $2.50 worth of daily round-ups will become $900 per year.
Acorns also offers a retirement account, so you can start saving for your golden years now without stressing about the future.
And if you sign up using this special link, Acorns will add $10 to your account as soon as you make your first investment.
3. Lower your monthly expenses
Another way to save without budgeting is to trim some of the fat from your monthly bills.
Check whether you’re paying for any streaming services that you barely use or magazines that you can read online for free. Subscriptions that auto-renew are easy to forget about and could be costing you a lot.
You should also look into whether you can get a better rate on the essentials, like insurance.
Most people just stick with whatever rate they’re offered when they sign up. But by shopping around for a better rate, you could save up to $1,127 a year on car insurance alone, according to a CarInsurance.com study.
Try using a comparison service to sift through hundreds of insurance companies at once. SmartFinancial allows you to shop for better homeowners insurance, health insurance and auto insurance all in one place and even tracks down discounts that might apply to you.
All you need to do is answer a few questions about yourself, so it’s worth trying even if you’re just curious about how much you could save.
Stop overpaying for home insurance
Home insurance is an essential expense – one that can often be pricey. You can lower your monthly recurring expenses by finding a more economical alternative for home insurance.
SmartFinancial can help you do just that. SmartFinancial’s online marketplace of vetted home insurance providers allows you to quickly shop around for rates from the country’s top insurance companies, and ensure you’re paying the lowest price possible for your home insurance.
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4. Save money when you shop online
Let's be honest, we can't all just cut out all spending completely. Instead, save money each time you shop online. Thanks to easy-to-use browser extensions, doing so is simple.
Install the free Capital One Shopping browser extension, which will automatically try to apply coupon codes to your order when you make purchases online.
5. Let an app do your budget
If you’d like to use a budget but don’t have the time or patience to draw one up yourself, a number of free apps out there can handle the tricky parts for you.
Rocket Money is a handy option because it will track and categorize your monthly expenses and show you your cash, credit and investment balances all in one place.
The app will also check to make sure you’re not wasting money on any subscriptions you may have forgotten about, potentially saving you hundreds of dollars a year.
And if you feel like you’re paying too much for your monthly bills, Rocket Money can negotiate a better rate on them for you for a small fee.
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