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My Favorite Ways to Save Money in 2024
Whether it is inflation, the lack of a job, saving for a vacation, or simply wanting to keep more of your own money, everyone needs to learn a few ways to save money around the home in 2024.
The cost of heating and groceries alone has many families in a tailspin.
Here are over 20 ways to help you save money around the home in 2024.
Know What You Have
Do you know exactly what you have in your home?
Have you taken inventory lately?
What’s in your pantry?
What is hiding in your freezer?
How much do you have stored around the house?
Not knowing what you have on hand can become quite costly.
Inventoring your home can prevent you from things you already have on hand.
Stop buying things you already have but can’t locate.
Take inventory, then put things in order so you can quickly locate what you have in your home.
Inventoring can also help you buy things you should have keep on hand.
Don’t make mad dashes to the store and pay full-price for things you thought you already had at home.
Think ahead.
Make a plan.
Keep a good inventory of what you have and what you need, then do some Strategic Shopping.
Take Good Care of Your Groceries
Groceries are expensive.
I know, that’s quite an overstatement.
After paying all of that hard-earned money at the grocery store, make sure you take good care of your groceries.
- Wash produce. Dry completely. Store properly.
- Repackage meat into portion size packages. Seal well. Store in the freezer or can for later usage.
- Seal things like cereal, pasta, chips, etc. into air-tight containers.
Do you find that you are buying a lot of produce that ends up in the compost pile or trash can each week?
Make it part of your routine to prep the fruit and vegetables ahead of time to help make sure they are lasting long enough to be eaten.
Wash and dry the produce.
Use a vegetable wash, or simply use vinegar or food-grade peroxide to kill the bacteria that causes fruit and veggies to go bad quickly.
Store everything in air-tight containers, like Mason jars or baggies. Add in a paper towel or piece of cloth to help absorb moisture.
Store in plain site in the refrigerator.
Meal Planning Made Easy
I don’t think I have ever met anyone who loves meal planning, but the thing is, it works.
I don’t do typical meal planning either, but I do have a few meal planning tricks that work at my house.
I keep my pantry filled up with all of the ingredients I have to make our normal go-to meals.
I keep my pantry stocked up, especially with my family’s favorite meal ingredients.
My meal planning tactic is to keep ingredients on hand to be able to make my family's favorit meals.
I don’t want to end up running to the store for one or two things, and coming home with $50.00 worth of stuff.
Plus, who wants to waste gas running to the store for just a couple items with today’s gas prices!
It is so easy to pull the night’s meal or even a week’s worth of meals together when I already have everything on hand.
Use Your Left-Overs Wisely
While you are making your meal plan for the week, make sure it includes all of those leftovers stuffed in the refrigerator.
I have read that Americans tend to throw away 50% of the food they buy.
Using the groceries you buy before they go bad, including your leftovers could literally save you 50% or more on your grocery bill.
So, why aren’t you eating your leftovers?
Save 50% on your grocery bill by using your leftovers.
There are certain foods that I think are just better the next day, like spaghetti and scallopped potatoes.
The problem is most people don’t want to eat the same meal day after day.
Since I worked from home and my children were homeschooled, it was easy to eat our big meal at lunchtime and then eat the leftovers later for supper.
This worked really well because the same people who wouldn’t think of eating leftovers the next day would often want more of the same thing they had for lunch later in the day.
This was an easy way to use up leftovers, plus as a bonus, I only had to cook once on those days!
Eat your big meal at noon and the leftovers for supper.
The best way to use leftovers up is by turning them into a totally different meal.
One good piece of meat, like roast beef or a whole chicken can be cooked the first night.
The second night can be either cold or hot sandwiches from the leftover meat.
The third night can be soup made from the meat, bones, and leftover vegetables.
The fourth night could be stew by thickening up the soup.
Adding fresh vegetables and different types of bread can freshen up any leftovers.
Turn leftovers into new meals.
Finally, you could preserve your leftovers and use them for future meals.
- Store leftovers in the freezer. This works great for meals like, tacos and spaghetti sauce. These make great freezer meals.
- Can the leftovers. This works really well for soups and leftover meat.
- Throw leftovers onto the dehydrator. This works really with leftover vegetables.
Try Making It Yourself
The word homemade scares some people, but it doesn’t need to.
Many things are way easier to make than one would think.
Try making things yourself rather than paying for convenience.
The internet is full of recipe ideas for convenience foods.
You could save a lot of money by learning how to make homemade brown sugar, taco seasoning, homemade bread/pizza dough, and hot cocoa.
Use the Right Amount
It has been reported that most Americans generally use way too much laundry detergent while washing their clothes.
This results in dingy clothing and worn-out washing machines.
Take the time to read the instructions on the laundry detergent.
Many liquid detergents have numbers on the inside of the cup to measure out the proper amount.
You do not need a full cap with most detergents.
You may also want to read the owner’s manual that came with your washing machine to see the recommended amounts and ways to use laundry detergent with your machine.
How much toothpaste are you using?
How much shampoo do you need to use?
How much dish soap do you use?
Clean and Declutter the House
Have you ever walked into the kitchen, looked at the mess, then stepped to the phone to order pizza?
Clean kitchens save money.
Nobody wants to cook, or eat, in a messy kitchen.
Go clean your kitchen.
This concept applies to every area of your home.
If it’s a mess, then the chances are high that you don’t even know what you own.
Clutter causes you to spend money on items you have lost in your own home.
Wintertime is a great time to declutter your home.
Clean Large Appliances
Keep the Lint Filter Clean in the Dryer
You know you are supposed to be cleaning the lint tray.
You know the dryer won’t work as hard or as long if the lint is kept cleaned out.
So, just do it!
Vacuum Out the Dryer
When was the last time you vacuumed out the back of your dryer?
Keeping your dryer clean not only helps it work better and last longer, but it also keeps it from becoming a fire hazard.
Don’t forget to clean out the dryer vent too.
Clean the Washing Machine
I have seen a lot of people go out and buy a new, expensive washing machine when theirs stops working properly.
Many times, it just needed to be cleaned.
Remember to clean the filters in the hoses that connect to the washing machine.
When these filters get clogged up, the washer quits working properly.
I don’t normally remember to clean mine until I open the washer to find the clothes didn’t wring out.
No, it doesn’t mean you need a new washer. You may just need to clean the filters in the hoses.
Make Sure It's Full
Only Run the Washing Machine When It’s Full
It takes just as much energy to run a small load of wash as it does a large load.
Don’t run the washing machine until you have a full load of wash.
It same thing applies to the dishwasher.
Turn Down the Heat
I am sure that most people are already doing this, but turn down the heat when you aren’t home and when you are going to bed.
I love my heating pad.
I keep the house cool at night, but use the heating pad to heat up my bed for me.
It keeps me toasty warm!
Don’t Leave Things Plugged In
Yes, you know if you keep things plugged into the outlet it will continue to use phantom electricity, but are you still leaving things plugged in?
Unplug anything that is not in use!
Use power strips to make it more convenient.
Change Your Light Bulbs
Your mother spent half your childhood following you around just to keep turning off the same lights over and over again.
It is not new or shocking news to hear that switching off lights when you leave a room will save you money.
My question is are you doing it?
Change your light bulbs to more energy-efficient bulbs.
Switch Cellphone Carriers
Consider dropping the monthly phone plan and trying a pay-as-you-go phone.
I saved hundreds of dollars every single month when I dropped Verizon and switched over to Straight Talk.
My service has been exactly the same.
Straight Talk uses the Verizon towers in my area.
There are more and more options these days.
I have heard a lot of good things about Mint Mobile.
Have any of you tried it?
Let me know in the comments.
Ceiling Fans
I love ceiling fans. They keep the air circulating and bring the hot air back down into the rooms I want to heat the most.
Just make sure you keep them clean so you are breathing in clean air, and switch the blades to turn clockwise in the winter and counterclockwise in the summertime.
This determines which way the air is moving.
In the wintertime, you want the air moving down to the room you are in, so set it to clockwise.
In the summertime, you want the air to move up and out of the room you are in, so set it to counterclockwise.
Buy Used
Buying second-hand has never been so easy as it is today.
Practically anything you want to purchase can be found second-hand.
Thrift Stores and Facebook Marketplace make buying used items super easy.
Before you buy anything, check to see how much money you could save by buying second-hand.
Yes, this especially includes vehicles.
Shop the Weekly Sales
Most store sales will save you 40 to 50% off your bill right off the away.
No coupons needed.
No rebates included.
This is a no-brainer.
Shop the sales.
Use Coupons and Digital Rebate Apps
Coupons save me thousands of dollars every year.
One of the most popular things people ask me is, Where Do I Find Coupons to Save Money Now?
Here is a list of 12 different places you can find coupons to start saving money now.
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Shop in Season
You probably already know winter isn’t the best time to buy strawberries and watermelon.
You have learned that winter is the time to buy things like oranges and lemons.
Fruit isn’t the only things you should be buying is season though.
I stock up on turkeys and butter in November.
Baking supplies are best purchased during November and December.
Conditments, hot dogs, hamburgers, and sausages are at their best price during Memorial Day and the 4th of July.
Holiday items will be 90% off AFTER the holiday.
Toys can be found for pennies on the dollar in January.
Learning what to buy at what time is a huge part of Strategic Shopping.
Learn to shop in season.
Don’t Shop
Do you really need to go shopping?
Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship. – Benjamin Franklin
Car Pool
I am blessed enough to live really close to the majority of my children and extended family members.
One thing we do to save money on car is simply let the others know when someone is running to town.
It just takes a quick text message, Hey, I’m going to town, do you need anything.
If you don’t have family near by, maybe you could start this with some neighbors.
Trade Off Babysitting
The same concept works with babysitting as it does with car pooling.
Check in with family, friends, and neighbors when you need a babysitter.
The idea is to trade off babysitting instead of involving any cash.
Patience
A large part of Strategic Shopping is just patience.
Most things are going to be marked down to their rock-bottom price.
You just need to wait it out.
You will save a lot of money if you just learn to be patient.
Contentment
Everyone always wants to know my number one way to save, but they never like the answer.
My number one way to save is through contentment.
Learning to be content with what you already have while working towards goals to get the things needed and wanted will save you a lot of money.
Stop falling into the trap of consumerism.
You don’t need everything.
You don’t need most things.
You don’t even need to purchase everything you find on sale.
Be content.
My Favorite Ways to Save Money in 2024
Now, it’s your turn. Leave your favorite ways to save in the comments.
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