Saving money can seem like more trouble than it's worth, given the relatively small sums yielded by trimming expenses by a few dollars a week here and there. But take those savings and invest them, even conservatively, and that can deliver thousands of dollars over the long-term.
Try the following suggestions to cut your expenses—daily, monthly, and annually and supercharge your savings. If these long-term figures don't boost your commitment to save, nothing will.
1. Brown-bag It
A sandwich at a deli near work can cost $5 to $10 a day. That might not seem like much. But over a year, spending that every workday puts your annual expenditure into four figures. If you instead bring food from home, you can feed yourself for half as much.
While making your own lunches requires extra time and effort on your part, as you need to do the cooking and prep work at home, meals like soup and pasta can be made in large batches over the weekend. Sandwiches don’t tend to do as well when made in advance, but they’re very quick to put together before you leave for work in the morning.
If you are going to eat lunch at a restaurant once in a while, look for online deals. Restaurant.com allows you to buy restaurant certificates at a discount so that you might pay just $20 for $40 in food. If you invest those savings—of up to $35 a week, you could save about $1,800 a year!
2. Brew Your Own
Store-bought coffee has one of the highest price markups out there. You might pay anywhere from $1.50 to $2.50 or more for a hot cup of Joe from your favorite coffee shop. Want a latte or flavored concoction? Expect to shell out a minimum of $3. Buying just a single cup every day and you’ll be spending $625 to $1,000 a year—in after-tax money.
Consider that a pound of good coffee at the store costs about $15 and brews at least 30 cups of coffee. If you brew one cup a day at home, instead of buying one at the store, you'd save about $125 - $500 a year!
3. Join Supermarket Loyalty Programs
Signing up as a loyal customer at a major food chain can allow you access to member-only specials and sometimes to manufacturers' coupons, too—the kind that fall out of Sunday papers or you download online at such sites as Coupons.com.
Most chain loyalty programs can save you money on two fronts – groceries and fuel. For the grocery discounts, you will need to create an online account and look at the discounts and coupons available to you based on your shopping history. The discounts and coupons will deduct when you ring up your purchases. You could save over $25 per week on groceries, which could equal out to $1300 a year.
4. Shop for Home Telecom Service
Most areas have more than one company that provides cable TV, internet, and landline services. Try calling your current provider and threatening to leave—a move that may yield some offers you won't find on the website.
You could also save money by dropping your landline, for modest savings, or your TV service. Cutting cable or satellite TV will offer more significant savings, especially with the arrival of streaming services such as Netflix, YouTube TV, Hulu, etc. Another option is to ditch paying for TV entirely by spending $40 or so on a new antenna that allows you to receive over-the-air digital broadcasts of the major networks.
Don’t be surprised if you save more than $40 a month by switching—or at least reducing—your home telecom service. You could save up to $100 per month with some significant changes.
5. Consider Switching Mobile Services
If you're no longer under a contract to your carrier—and you're not paying off your phone—you might be able to switch to a less expensive network without having to buy a new phone. Most standard mobile phones can generally be used interchangeably.
Compare the extra features your provider offers such as phone insurance and data rollover as well. A plan with unlimited talk and text for a single line could cost $10 a month less with T-Mobile versus Verizon. Or opt-in for autopay which you could save $5 per line a month. Those savings could deliver over $180 a year.
6. Shop for Electricity
In many states, you're allowed to buy electricity from providers separate from the company that brings the power into your house. These alternatives often have lower rates than the utility company.
Shopping for energy is a lot easier than you might think. Once you get a few basics down in order to make an educated decision about which gas or electricity plan to choose, the rest is an easy sign-up process. Being able to choose your energy plan not only provides the ability to compare energy companies for their competitive rates, but also allows you to have a fixed-rate plan, customer perks, and exceptional customer service.
While it doesn’t sound like much, you could save between $5 and $10 a month depending on how much electricity you use. That could add up to roughly $120 a year.
7. Reduce Your Insurance Premiums
Review your homeowner’s and auto insurance policies at least every year for changes that could save you money. Consolidating all the policies you hold with one company typically earns a discount of between 5% and 25% on each.
Compare your rates with quotes from different insurers. Despite strict state oversight, companies have different pricing algorithms, so shopping around should pay off. This is especially true if your credit score is low, you’ve had a recent accident, or you have an insurance claim on your record. Companies will treat that activity differently, so getting quotes from several insurance carriers is a good way to find a proper fit for your situation.
Based on pricing car insurance for a sample driver, the least expensive carriers nationally (GEICO and Erie) offered rates that were 30% below the national average for that driver and car. You could save about $450 a year!
8. Use Apps To Help Track and Save Money
A rise in both the number and the quality of personal finance apps has made it far easier to know from your smartphone or computer where your money is going and to help you save more painlessly. Budgeting apps let you easily manage your money right from your mobile device.
These resources will help you create a budget, track your spending, connect all your bank and credit card accounts, and remind you of all your monthly bills.
You make not be able to take advantage of all of these savings strategies. Still, it's the little actions you take that can make a big difference to your overall bottom-line savings.