There is nothing more difficult than finding ways to find extra money to invest or to start saving. Everyone is always looking for that additional bit of cash, but where can you find the room to squeeze it out of your monthly budget?
It may be very hard or take a lot of extra work to find a substantial amount of cash in a lump sum if needed, but it is fairly easy to come up with ways to find extra money in small amounts. The little savings count too and can make a big difference when you start to add all the little ways to save together.
Ten ways to find extra money…
1) Don’t throw anything away: If you have clothes you no longer wear or books you no longer read then do not even think about throwing them away. Instead, hold a car boot sale or sell them on eBay. It may be that you sell a top for a mere $5.00 but as mentioned this will soon add up and you will start to see a difference. I also love to sell old DVDs, CDs, books, textbooks, and video games on Half.com.
2) Review your insurance policies: When choosing our insurance most of us opt for the best deal, but when it comes to renewing it do we take as much care and consideration? Generally no. We just tend to stick to the option we already have. Instead take a few minutes to go through other options and check that you still have the best deal available. Are their discounts that you now qualify for that you may not be getting credit for? It can’t hurt to ask your insurer.
3) Only buy things you really need or you will really use: So much money is wasted nowadays by the impulsive purchase of unnecessary goods. When you go to buy something stop and take a few minutes to think about whether you really need it.
4) Reconsider your cable: Go through all the channels you have on cable and make a list of the ones you watch and the ones you do not watch. If the list of ones not watched out ways the other list then perhaps you should consider canceling your cable TV as it may not be worth the money you are spending.
5) Celebrate at home: Think of the money you could save by spending time with your friends or having a party at your house or their house rather then going out for dinner or going out clubbing. There is no entrance fee to pay, and food and drink will be substantially cheaper when split equally between all of you.
6) Keep a list of the money you save: This is important to encourage you to keep doing what you are doing because you have hard evidence that it is working, otherwise you may become uninterested and discouraged.
7) Invest in a pair of scissors: Find a sharp pair of scissors and cut up your credit cards into as many pieces as possible. Credit cards can be an endless source of debt and often lead to people spending much more money than they can afford on things they don’t actually need. The sooner you quit the better. All it takes is a pair of scissors and a single phone call.
8) Organize your loose change: Get a piggy bank and stick in all your loose change. It may be the oldest trick in the book, but it is certainly effective.
9) Visit Groupon: Use money saving and coupon websites such as Groupon to find some of the best deals in your city. Sites like Groupon typically tend to save you between 50-90% of the original price of a product.
10) Take online surveys: There are various websites that offer you small amounts of money for participating in their online surveys. All it takes is a spare five or ten minutes whenever you have the time. One of my favorite online survey sites that I have used is Pinecone Research that pays $3 for every online survey you take, and often you receive free products to try out as well.
There are many ways to find extra money, but some of them require you to be a little creative. Or, you may find yourself having to do without things that you ultimately find that you didn’t need in the first place.
What are some of the ways that you save money that I may have missed? Leave a comment below with your best tip for saving a few dollars.
I have been using various survey websites to bring in extra “fun money” since my salary is budgeted for my expenses.
I have been using Mypoints.com for about 12 years, and usually redeem my points for restaurant gift cards.
InboxDollars actually pays cash… I get a check of about $30 a month.
Myview.com is another that I convert my points into restaurant gift cards (about $25 per month)
I have also recently gotten into Ibotta, which is an app on your phone or tablet that you activate rebates, then provide a picture of your receipt to redeem the rebate. Within a day, you have cash sitting in your account, and it can be redeemed for gift cards or deposited into your PayPal or Venmo account.