How to Budget and Save Money Around the House: 5 Insanely Easy Methods

Everyone wants more money, but making more money takes time. So what do you do in the meantime? 

You save.

But that’s easier said than done, right? 

What if I told you that saving money doesn’t have to be hard? It’s possible to save more money each month without making huge sacrifices.

Here’s how to budget and save money.

1. Create A Household Budget

Before you start saving money, you need to create a budget for your household. Track every expense, from rent or mortgage to utilities. Don’t forget your expenses for eating out and casual shopping.

Creating a budget will help you see where your hidden expenses are. It’s easy to forget about a one-time purchase from two weeks ago. Enough of those will add up and snowball, increasing your expenses. 

Creating a budget can be done easily in a program like Excel. Or you can use a budget calculator and input your expenses.

2. Stick To Your Shopping List

Once you have a budget, create a shopping list and stick to it.

This isn’t just for your groceries. It’s all too easy to go overboard with online shopping. Before you know it, you have a “full” digital cart.

3. Make Your Own Food And Drinks

Making your own lunch and taking it to work is one way to save money. 

So is making your own coffee. If you’re worried about it getting cold, invest in a good thermos that will keep it warm for the entire workday. A good thermos is also great for keeping soup warm.

4. Reduce Your Energy Bills

Reducing your energy bills is an easy way to save money each month, and you can do it by managing your electricity and water use 

You can install a low-flow showerhead to reduce your water usage. You can also take shorter showers. And when brushing your teeth, make sure you turn the water off.

You can reduce your electricity by remembering to turn off lights when you leave the room. Switch to energy-efficient LED bulbs.

Finally, if you own your own home you can install solar panels. How much you can save depends on a number of different factors, but you can always get a savings estimate. 

5. Entertain Yourself For Less

One of the most superfluous spending aspects of any budget is the entertainment portion. You need to examine how much you are spending on entertainment and try to find cheaper alternatives.

If you’re holding out on being a cord-cutter, it’s time to make the leap. Getting rid of cable (or even just switching to a cheaper plan with fewer channels) is an easy way to save a lot of money each month. For the price of one cable bill, you can subscribe to multiple streaming services each month.

Reading is an inexpensive hobby. You can borrow books from your local library for the nominal fee of a library card. Even if you want to buy books, many ebooks are affordable and often go on sale. If you prefer physical books, check out a local used bookstore for affordable finds. 

Learn How To Budget And Save Money

Budgeting can be hard, but now that you know how to budget and save money, you can start setting and working towards your financial goals. You can save for an upcoming vacation, increase your emergency fund, or invest more each month for retirement. When you learn how to budget and save money, you increase your financial independence and lower your stress.

For additional money-saving tips, check out more articles about finance on our site.