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4 Easy Ways to Save Money Without Changing Your Life

Disclosure: There are affiliate links in this post, which means if you sign up or enter through my link, I will receive a small referral fee.

Admittedly, I am not the best bargain hunter. I have very little patience for shopping. I don’t have time to go from store to store to take advantage of the best deals. And, I like what I like…I tend to be loyal to my favorite brands. But like anyone else, I want to save money, and there are “easy” money saving tips all of us can do to save a little, without changing our lives.

4 Easy Ways To Save Money

Ebates

If you shop online at all, you need to check out Ebates. Basically, it’s free money! Ebates gives you cash back when you shop online through their site. Almost all of my favorite online shopping sites are on there! Their selection is huge…Lands End, Gap, Athleta, American Eagle, Macy’s, JCPenney, Apple, Wag.com, Tavelocity, even iStock for when I need stock photos for my blog…just about anything you could ever need! Before I place any online order, I always check to see if the site I am shopping on is on Ebates. 2% here, 5% there…it all adds up. To date, I have received over $500 cash back from Ebates. (If you sign up for Ebates using my link above, I will receive a one time bonus for referring you.)

Online coupons

Another great way I save is with online coupons. Again, this is free money! You’re planning to buy the item anyway, why not use an additional coupon if it’s available?! I always google to see if I can find one before I check out, and a good portion of the time, I do!  When I score a coupon in addition to cash back from Ebates, I definitely feel like I have gotten a bargain!

Use your rewards cards

The downside to rewards cards is they capture your shopping habits. The upside is that you get rewards in the form of savings. I don’t use rewards cards everywhere I shop, but my favorite is the CVS extracare program. They email you discounts that you can transfer to your card, and send you coupons you can print out. Their flyers have extrabucks rewards for spending a specific amount on certain sale items. These coupons print out with your transaction, and you can use them the next time you shop. Right now the milk I buy is on sale for a dollar less than I would pay for it at the grocery store, plus there is an $1 extrabucks reward for my next purchase! My favorites though are when they offer $5 and $10 extrabucks rewards. Last year I saved $465 using my Extra Care card!

Meal Planning

Meal planning is often overlooked as a way to save money AND time. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, the average American throws away approximately 20 pounds of food each monthIf you go to the grocery store without a list, you’re going to buy things you don’t need. Plan ahead, and you won’t come home with extra food that you may not use before it goes bad. Stretching your leftovers is another good way to save, but again, that involves planning. I made white bean pork chili on Sunday, which we ate over rice. The leftovers are being made into enchiladas for dinner tomorrow night. You might also want to consider planning your meals based on the sales. If a certain meat is on sale, I might plan a meal around it, and buy extra to freeze. Or I might make a double (or triple) batch of my meal, and freeze the rest. The one thing I try not to do is buy things without a purpose in mind for them. Even if it’s a great sale, if I don’t have a use for it, it’s a waste of money. 

What do you do to save money?

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Kim

Monday 28th of April 2014

Meal planning is a huge winner for me. Eating leftovers are a large part of that, which includes more dinners and bag lunches, too. I see a definite drop in our grocery bill when I plan. Plus, we are far less apt to go off budget and eat out when we have a plan.

Kenya G. Johnson

Friday 25th of April 2014

I hate throwing away food. I cook a little at a time and therefore I cook a lot. But I don't throw away much. This past week I had to throw away six boiled (dyed Easter eggs). I made potato salad using two of them. After that nobody ate them. One thing I use to waste was celery. I'd buy it for a recipe and then only use a couple stalks. Now I chop it all up and freeze it. I'll have to check out ebates. I've heard of it but I'm not familiar with it.

Michelle Nahom

Friday 25th of April 2014

I hate throwing out food too! I do love ebates...I use them all the time! It's like free money. Seems silly to waste it!

Danielle

Friday 28th of March 2014

I would be lost without reward cards and online coupons!

Savvy Working Gal

Saturday 1st of February 2014

Meal planning is huge for me. I also find we eat healthier. I used to be into extreme couponing then I realized we never actually ate or liked all the processed packaged food. Now I only use coupons for stuff I was going to buy anyway.

Heather

Saturday 1st of February 2014

I am signed up for Ebates, but I always forget to use it! Silly me. However, I always check for a coupon code. Even at work (I'm a purchaser). Great post with great reminders!!

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