40 Extreme Money Saving Tips to Save the MOST Money

Hello, my name is Rowena and if you are new to my channel, I love sharing information to help you save

money

and live a better life. We are a little unusual compared to

most

people. We live on thirty thousand dollars a year, which is forty percent. of our take-home pay and invested the other 60 to be able to pay our mortgage in the next five years, so I thought today I would compile a list of my top 41

tips

that help us manage our

money

very well, but make sure you stay until the end from the video because I assure you that using all of these

tips

combined will save you thousands of dollars a year.

We eat all of our meals at home and I like to be organized, so I always plan each other's meals. Every week I check the refrigerator, freezer, and pantry to see if there are any items that need to be used before deciding what our meals will be for that week. Meal planning saves a lot of money and not only that, it also saves the headache of having to get there. At the end of the day and wondering what you're going to eat, this eliminates any temptation to buy takeaway or eat out. Following meal planning, be sure to write a list of all the ingredients you need to buy when you go shopping and follow this list.

The only time I stray from my shopping list is when I find a special deal at the stores I'm going to buy in bulk from. This is just something that we use regularly and something that I know we are definitely going to use, we only shop once a week and this saves us a lot of money in several ways, first of all it only takes gas to go to the mall once in that week and secondly, every time you enter the stores, there is a temptation to buy something you don't need, so if you shop weekly or fortnightly, this will greatly reduce that problem.

My husband and I share the kitchen and we each cook one bulk meal a week, which lasts two to three nights, so we're usually covered five to six nights a week just on those two meals. other nights I will cook something that is best eaten fresh now, bulk cooking has been a game changer for us, it doesn't just save us. a lot of money but it also saves a lot of time we save money on ingredients and the gas and electricity used to cook and we save a lot of time having to do the cleaning and cooking every night, it really doesn't take that much It's longer to triple a recipe and cook it than to cook it a single meal.

There are so many dishes you can cook en masse, so find some frugal ones to add to your repertoire and make mass cooking part of your meal planning. the best quality food you can afford within your budget just because we are frugal doesn't mean we are not interested in our health our diet is mainly made up of lentils, beans, greens and tofu because we are plant based we always try to have a variety of vegetables in our meals and we use healthy oils, but we limit them in our cooking, even if they are not plant-based, adding a couple of plant-based meals to your rotation will definitely save you a lot of money instead of shopping. takeaway or eating out we prefer to cook at home we don't buy pre-cooked food in the supermarket either the ten of us cook everything from scratch if we go out to eat it is always for a special occasion and

most

of the time Unfortunately, we are disappointed with the quality of the food that we have spent our money on and really prefer to eat what we cook at home.

I also really enjoy creating takeaways at home and when it comes to food budgets, it's really important. to find out what their prices are and where you can get the items you want to buy cheaper. I am very lucky that my local shopping center has coles, woolworths and ld as well as an indian and asian grocery store. gives me many options to get the best prices when I make my shopping list. I break it down into five sections, one for each store, and then I just list the ingredients I want to buy at each store. Then I start at one end of I go to the mall and work my way up and I don't really mind shopping from one end to the other to save money and before I make my shopping list I check what special deals are on at Kohl's and Woolworths to make sure I'm getting the best deal if you can afford to buy most of the really good specials you will often find.

Produce that is close to use by date can be frozen and fresh vegetables can also be freshly frozen at my local green grocers. They had a special on three heads of broccoli for two dollars, so I bought six heads of broccoli. I brought them home, cut them up and washed them all and then packed them in the freezer to use later. I also got a great deal on tofu for half price and it was two days away from expiration, but tofu freezes really well, so I did the same thing with that, brought it home, cut it into small pieces that I would use in our meals and then I packed.

That's all in the freezer I only bought enough to know that I would use it within the three month period that tofu lasts in the freezer and we're almost at the end of that now make water your number one drink of choice, it's the healthy time and buying cheap sodas and sugary juices is just a waste of money and not particularly good for your health, nor in summer, make sure you have water in the refrigerator, plenty of ice blocks on hand and also add a slice of lemon or lime if you wish. If you want to give it a little spice in winter to warm you up, you can add an herbal tea or even have a nice hot lemon drink.

We have turned our garden into our own little food factory. Our front yard has flower beds filled with vegetables. and our back garden has pots with fruit trees, we don't have a big piece of land but it doesn't take much space to grow your own food, in fact if you are in a very limited space and maybe only have access to a balcony you can grow some things in pots there. The best thing about growing your own fruits and vegetables is not only that they are much cheaper but that they taste great and you know they are pesticide-free.

My husband said it's the most relaxing hobby he's ever taken up, and although it involves a small investment at first, you'll be rewarded in fresh produce for years to come. My husband and I were talking over dinner the other night and he said he was actually really surprised at how good we are at

saving

money, we saved a hundred and ten thousand dollars in just three and a half years on a pretty average income and he had been looking on Reddit and had come across people talking about how long it took them to save a deposit and they were even people on much higher incomes than us so we were buying our house.

We looked for the cheapest house we could find that suited our needs. We don't spend the amount of money the bank offered to lend us having a smaller house means smaller bills everything generally costs less we have less space to furnish we have fewer energy bills we have fewer rates to pay we also have less insurance and it's actually a good thing have something that just fits your needs so really consider how much house you need before you buy it and if you're in a house that has a really high mortgage could you sell it and downgrade it to something a little smaller that fits your needs ?

Our plan is to pay off our mortgage in five years we opted for a low five year fixed rate with this idea in mind we borrowed 248,000 and if we waited the full 30 years to pay it back it would cost us $357,425 at the current interest rate additional interest rate of $109,425, even making as small additional payments as you can will greatly reduce the term of your loan and the interest you'll pay if you own your own home. Solar panels are a fantastic investment. The first thing we did when we bought this house, our energy bills are very low and on our last bill we received a credit for 15.

In Australia, the temperatures are very high and we just went through a really hot period, with the hottest day reaching 44. degrees since we have solar power we now have the luxury of turning on the air conditioning at 10 in the morning and turning it off at five at night in our room, we have a smaller unit and often use it until seven in the morning. Watch at night when we no longer have enough power generated by our solar energy. If you're trying to save for a deposit on your own home, consider sharing accommodation. This will significantly reduce your rental costs.

There are many people who are willing. Rent out spare rooms in your house and there are also plenty of other people looking for housemates and flatmates, especially with such high rents, so a little inconvenience for a short period of time will really help you achieve your financial goals. what your needs and wants are now, this doesn't mean you should never buy anything you want, but it does mean that we often think we need a lot more than we really need, for example, we all need to wear clothes, but how many outfits do we need? needs? we really need how many pairs of shoes how many bags we buy the things we need and the things we like but we don't buy excess of anything and by doing this, one simple thing we definitely save a lot of money, a budget allows us to know how much money comes in and which ones They are your expenses, so calculating what your basic costs are, such as housing and bills, will allow you to know how much you have left to spend on food and living costs, and how much you can save.

A budget is simply a guide. I personally don't like having small categories that I save for everything, like clothing, gifts, and entertainment, for example, so now I know what our general living costs are and I'm always looking. Find ways to reduce our expenses and increase the amount of money we are

saving

. Another great way to save a lot of money is to take care of everything you own, make sure you keep it clean and in good condition, most of the furniture. Our house is almost 12 years old and we have no plans to update it anytime in the near future.

I still use my almost nine-year-old laptop to write even though I've now upgraded to a new system to work on my phones. It lasts me at least five years and on my last phone I still have the original charging cable and the headphones that came with it. Not having to replace items regularly saves us thousands of dollars. Using your money wisely means you don't worry about impressing other people and honestly, you probably wouldn't impress anyone with what you have anyway, money is a form of commerce and not the status symbol we've made it into. , so think about what you want to do with your own money and what you really need. your life rather than what other people are going to think of you, we don't have a credit card and nowadays with debit cards you don't really need credit cards, card rates are around 17 here in Australia which It's ridiculously high unless you have cash. to pay for something and you can pay for it in advance, you would rather not spend the money;

However, if you are someone who likes to use a credit card to earn your rewards points, be sure to pay the balance at the end. of each month so that you don't incur any of those high interest costs perfection is the enemy of frugality frugality will never be perfect frugality embraces imperfections it's about being happy with what you have and seeing the beauty in what doesn't match and in the strange knowing that you are saving a lot of money and being happy with what you have that you need, avoid visiting sites like Pinterest for decorating ideas because this will leave you dissatisfied with what you have, instead enjoy your own style unique and your unique home.

You think for yourself being frugal means that you often do things a little differently to other people and this is something we accept, we are used to being different and this means that we are always willing to try something different without worrying about what others do. the rest. are going to think about us, don't live your life worrying about what other people are going to think of you, this will definitely get in the way of you saving money and considering all the options that exist for you. To save money, I don't care what other people think, this is your life, you should live it the way you want.

I've made it a game to see how little product I can use and still get good results. For example, when it comes to washing clothes, you only need between one and two tablespoons of washing liquid to get them clean. I was recently reading an article in which the authors talked about how many people were using too much washer fluid. in their machines and that builds up inside the drum creating a film and as counterintuitive as it may seem, apparently there is a certain level of liquid that you can pass where your clothes get the dirtiest, remember that the manufacturer is selling you a product. andThey want you to use as much of their product as possible so you can buy more.

This goes the same with things like shampoos and conditioners, soaps, dish soap, liquid toothpaste, play with the quantities until you find you're no longer getting great results. but generally you need to use much less than you think. Another great way to make body and face moisturizers go further is to always apply them to slightly damp skin, this not only reduces the amount of product you need to use but also helps. To retain moisture, use every last bit of product you buy instead of throwing it away when it's difficult to get it out of the containers or tubes.

When we use our toothpaste, we always cut the bottom of the tube when it is filled. It's too hard to get more out of the top and we made sure to use everything inside the tube. I also always add water to shampoos and conditioners when I use them, since I use a little bit of the product I will add a little bit of water mixture which together I always add water to our hand wash and to our soaps and conditioners adding a little bit of water really doesn't do no difference in the effectiveness of the product, but it does. help the product go much further after all, you have spent money buying these products so you might as well make the most of them.

Being a minimalist means that we consider any purchases very carefully before bringing them into our home. We know enough. It seems and I think this is a really important thing to know enough feels good it doesn't feel like a deprivation but it feels great to know that you are actually using everything you have minimalism saves us a lot of money because we don't want to have too many items in our house and we usually only replace items rather than adding to what we already have. A lot of money is spent trying to persuade you that you need an item or that your life will be better in some way if you have it.

Just being aware of this can really help you stop buying something. Have you ever been in an Ikea store, for example, and wondered why they have all those cute little rooms set up for you to look at? This is not an accident. An example of the Diderot effect is essentially based on the assumption that when a consumer buys something, he aligns himself with what he believes it to be and buying a new item means that he is more likely to buy new items to complement that item as he believes. What could it be. It doesn't fit right now with what they currently own, so by creating this nice, cohesive package they encourage you to spend more money in their store and not just walk in and buy the item you were planning on.

This is just one example of how companies persuade you to buy more than you really need without you really realizing it. I currently have a Frugal Research Challenge this month here on the channel and this is a challenge you can participate in any month of the year. I like to challenge myself in different ways, like how low I can get our grocery budget or how long I can make a product last, how many new and frugal meals I can make, and how I can make takeaways at home, for example. , setting these challenges is really fun for me and keeps me super motivated when it comes to saving money and staying on a frugal path.

I consider buying quality instead of quantity. Buying quality does not always mean buying the most expensive, so it is very important to compare prices and look at many products. reviews when you make big purchases, in particular, one thing we always spend a lot of money on is our computer equipment because we both use it for work, we each have a macbook pro that is almost nine years old and, although I don't already use mine as my main source of work. I still use it to write and research my videos. I recently upgraded to an imac because I needed it for video editing, but that will last me for many years, I'm sure forever.

We are considering new purchases. We always compare prices to get the best deals. This is really easy to do from the comfort of your home and is definitely worth the time you have invested in it, for example, we wanted to buy ourselves a powerful but economical blender, so my husband shopped around and we ended up buying a blender on eBay for 85. It has a 1500 watt motor and we have been using it weekly for the last three years without any problems. We always give time to consider any purchase we are going to make when we think there is something we want to buy we will write it down and consider it over a period of a week I will ask myself during this time if it is really going to add value to my life or are there other solutions I can Of course, there are other times when I decide to do so, but this really stops impulse buying and It makes you think about what you are spending your money on.

Another option to consider when you are thinking about purchasing an item is to buy used now, this can take a while. A little more time and patience, but in my experience, it's worth it. We bought our sofa. We use my desk chair. A lawn mower. An air conditioning unit we have since sold and also bought used games and books. Everything you buy becomes new. It gets used as soon as you bring it home and most items lose much of their value within a couple of years, so definitely consider buying used as an option. I'm currently looking for a new phone and I've kept my phones for five years.

Before I started having problems with them, I was originally just going to replace the battery, but my phone has become very slow. I'm having some problems with the screen and I'm having trouble turning it on. to silent mode so I have decided that I will have to buy a new one, however I will not be buying the latest phone. I did some research and decided on an iPhone 11 which has a slightly better camera than my current iPhone I have also decided that I am going to go with a refurbished model which will save me another hundreds of dollars.

We have purchased refurbished electronics in the past. My husband had an iPad a few years ago and bought it refurbished. He also had an iPhone that was refurbished and none of them gave us any problems, so I think this is a very good option for buying a phone. Speaking of cell phones, I always buy prepaid SIM cards and save about a thousand dollars a year. By doing this I pay 89 because I always seem to need to replace my SIM card when there are special offers but the regular price is only 120 anyway this SIM card gives me free texting and calling plus 80 gigabytes of data for a year and I haven't had any problems with them, if you only need an item for one or two jobs or just for a short period of time then ask someone you know if they have it on New Year's Eve we were hosting a little meeting at our house. and I wanted to create a dish.

I didn't have a board that looked suitable to me, so I knew my daughter-in-law had one and asked if I could borrow it, which of course wasn't a problem. coming anyway, but even if she hadn't been, I know she wouldn't have minded sharing it. I think most of the time people don't mind lending you anything as long as they know you'll take care of it and they'll get it back in the same condition they lent it to you. When you're done with an item, consider whether you can reuse it for anything else. This Christmas I received a gift in a beautiful box, so I took it.

I took out the inside and put the box aside so I could use it for another purpose. I still have to decide what to do with it, but I'm sure it will come in handy later. We've reused quite a few items in our house, from old sheets and towels that we use for cleaning cloths or some candle jars that I now use to store toothpaste and toothbrushes. We prefer to see if we can reuse an item for something else before simply disposing of it in the landfill when living a frugal lifestyle. It's really beneficial to consider the alternatives to anything you buy and do, for example.

I'm currently in the middle of a frugal reset challenge on my channel and part of the challenge is to find a new frugal skill to do that month, so I decided that for this month I wanted to try making my own oat milk. Oat milk is very expensive in the stores and since we use about a liter every day it has been costing us about 21 a week, the recipe that was recommended to me turned out quite good and I am very happy because this small change will save us about of a thousand dollars a year and I'm looking for a bread maker that Of course, I won't be buying this month with the frugal reset challenge because part of that is a no-shopping month.

However, it is on my list of things to keep in mind. I am very happy to buy it used. I just have to find it. the correct model and brand and if anyone knows what a good brand of bread maker is, feel free to comment because I would love to get some suggestions on this. I don't really know anything about them, however, I don't just feel like it probably will. It saves us a lot of money but also eliminates all the additives and extras found in the store. Boiled bread whenever you face a problem of any kind is your first thought: buy the solution if you have a leaky faucet or a clogged sink.

Calling a plumber things like a leaky faucet can be as simple as replacing a washing machine for a very small amount of money and this is an easy and simple job to do whenever you've had a clogged sink. I have always used a combination of baking soda. and vinegar to unclog and this usually works without any problems. I also find that that is the best way to clean my stainless steel sinks in the kitchen and dirty clothes, besides air conditioning there are a few other ways you can stay cool in the hot weather, first of all, make sure that blinds and curtains are closed during the hottest hours of the day, use blackout curtains if you can, secondly, make sure you dress in appropriate clothing, shorts or loose skirts and blouses are definitely the best option.

It is best if you have access to a sarong. They can be great in the summer months. A pedestal fan is relatively inexpensive. Keep a spray bottle of water next to you. Sprinkle water on yourself from time to time while sitting in front of the chair. fan, it will really help you cool down, the same goes for the warmer months, instead of turning on the heating constantly, wear suitable warm clothing and some nice, comfortable, warm socks. We have rugs on our couch that we like to curl up under during the colder weather. and when it's very cold we often prefer to go curl up in bed to read or watch television.

Also invest in a hot water bottle. Water has one of the best heat retention capabilities, so filling the bottle with hot water will keep you warm. For hours turn off your appliances at the wall, as appliances on standby can really drain your energy and add hundreds of dollars to your electricity bills. If you have solar power, make sure you're running your washing machine, your dishwasher in the oven in between. of the day if possible and make sure you have a full load of clothes for the washing machine and dishes for the dishwasher before turning them on.

I always shop around for our auto and home insurance to make sure we get the best deals. Companies vary greatly in how much they charge for insurance and not only do I do this when I take out the initial policy, but when it comes time to renew I also do a quick search to make sure we are still getting the policy. Best deal and this has actually saved us hundreds of dollars over time. It doesn't take much time to make a few phone calls or fill out an online form and it's really worth the investment of your time, as I said at the beginning.

There are many different ways to save money, but I have tried to focus this video on the main ones that I think help us save the most. I really hope you got something useful from today's video and that there is something new here that you can try. or to think about thank you very much for joining me again, I really appreciate it take care, see you next time and bye for now uh