When you read articles about saving money it usually falls back to the same old advice, spend less money! Don’t buy this, or don’t buy that. While that’s all very well and good, saving money doesn’t always have to mean going without. I’m by no means a Dave Ramsey or Suzy Orman, but just like anyone else that manages their household expenses I know a thing or two about saving and spending money.
The cardinal rule is that you should always spend less than you earn. After you accomplish that feat then you should focus on saving money on items that you planned on buying regardless. There are some key ways you can do this. First, you can use coupons. Coupons include the online kind as well. Coupons have become synonymous with the kind you clip out of a newspaper, but in today’s digital age there are far more coupons available to you online. Sites like Coupon Sherpa can provide you discounts on a plethora of items from both brick and mortar and online stores alike. Then there are sites like Groupon that provide you with discounts on promotional offers and deals. Sometimes these deals are so affordable, that even if you don’t usually shop at that particular store it might be worth it to try it once.
Another great way of saving money is buying up discounted gift cards to stores that you usually shop at. This is especially helpful if you have a large purchase to make, like a home improvement project in which you can make large purchases from a Home Depot or Lowe’s. The discounted gift cards to popular stores are usually only single digit discounts, but they are still better than paying full price. Likewise, you can use coupons in addition to the discounted gift cards because they are essentially the same as cash. I generally prefer to buy up the gift cards from reputable online sites that specialize in this sort of resale activity. Then I buy up the more popular stores whenever they become available. The ones that are higher in demand sell out more quickly.
Keep in mind that these tips are for those of you already looking to make a purchase. This isn’t necessarily encouragement to spend money, rather, it’s to save money on purchases you already partake in. These simple tips can help aid a tight budget more than you might think.