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How To Save Money Fast

23 Mar 11 / Posted by: Alex Wilson

We recommend that saving money should be done using the slow and steady approach, making small changes to your lifestyle and money habits that will equate to massive savings over the long term.

But we all know that life isn’t always that methodical. Sometimes we just need to save money fast.

Here are our killer tips for saving money fast, stashing the cash and getting yourself in order.

To save money fast, you should start by getting a big jar from your kitchen, labelling it the ‘saving money fast’ jar and then proceed with some of the ideas below.

Make Do With Less In The Kitchen

If you are like me, you probably have what feels like 100’s of cans of beans, corn, soups, spaghetti and more sitting in the cupboard. Why not set a game plan to eat all the wasted space over the course of two weeks. Any money you would spend on food for the week, simply put in your saving money fast jar.

The added benefit is you will clear space and get organised in the kitchen cupboards. Just be careful of eating baked beans all week – this method of eating has a tendency to alienate the diner in social situations.

Sacrifice All Daily Pleasures

We would never normally say that, but if it is just for two weeks – how bad can it be? This means no coffees at work, trying to walk to work and not use public transport (if possible), don’t buy magazines, don’t hire moves, don’t eat takeaway, don’t go out – simply put, just don’t do anything that costs you money.

For our dedicated readers and newsletter subscribers you know how much we try to avoid sacrifice for the sake of saving money, but in this instance we hope you see the value in just spending a couple of weeks as skint as possible.

Every time You Have Some Coins, Chuck Them In The Jar

When you get home, chuck all the coins in your purse or handbag into the jar. Make it a game for the whole family, household or whatever. Just get rid of those heavy coins and into your save money fast jar.

Grab Your Family, Find 5 Things In Your House To eBay

This can be a bit of fun. Sometimes we end up with a lot of excess purchases that we don’t really need. Think about that DVD you thought you were going to love, only to watch once, hate Leonardo Decaprio’s performance and never watch again. Grab 5 items that you think you could sell, hopefully for a good price and chuck them on eBay.

Better yet, do you have enough stuff to have an impromptu garage sale on the weekend? All you need is enough stuff to sell, some cardboard to write on and a hell of a lot of sticky tape to sling around the neighbourhood.

If You Must Buy Groceries, Why Not Try Something New

If you cannot live off the out of date beans in the cupboard from our first example, perhaps you could reconsider your grocery requirements for a couple of week. Recently we bought a heap of vegies to make a vegetable soup (perfect for wet winter weeks) that costs only $30 to make, yet feeds a household of 4 people for an entire week.

Also try and avoid buying anything in what we call ‘convenience sizes’. For instance, buying chips, if they come in little bags, you pay a premium. If they come in big bags, odds are they are cheaper.

Cutting The Cost Of Essential Purchases

There are some things in my household that I cringe at when I think deeper. For instance, why would we buy a well known brand tin foil? Why would we buy a well known brand for toilet paper? Why would we buy brand name cleaning agents? We should instead be buying these items as cheap and nasty as possible. The foil will still stick, the toilet paper will still do its job and I am certain that all cleaning agents nearly contain the exact same ingredients.

Opt to buy only home brand, cheap and nasty brands when it comes to these items. It will leave you with lots of extra money to help your saving money fast plan.