Regardless of what your current financial situation is, everyone can always use a few tips and tricks for saving money.
Thanks to the Internet, the days of digging for spare change in your couch cushions to add to your piggy bank are long gone.
Whether you want to save some extra cash for the dreaded monthly student loan payment, or set it aside for specific goal, here’s five money saving tips that will have you racking up some savings in no time!
1. Sign up for a Cash Back Program
There are a multitude of companies that allow you to earn cash back for simply making purchases through their website.
This one is a no brainer, really. Use your preferred company to make purchases that you would need to make regardless, and make money doing it!
One of the best websites out there for this is Ebates.
All you have to do is make an Ebates account, and go to their website to do any of your shopping.
For example, right now, any purchases you make on Amazon.com through the Ebates website will earn you 7.0% cash back!
Ebates keeps track of all of your purchases made through their website, and sends you a “Big Fat Check” at the end of each quarter, for a total of four payouts a year.
This payment can be in the form of a check or a deposit into your PayPal account.
As an added bonus, when you sign up for Ebates, you get an automatic $10.00 welcome bonus just for making an account.
You can also get $25.00 each time you refer a friend to Ebates and they make a qualifying purchase of $25.00 or more.
Spread the word and watch your “Big Fat Check” grow!
Another great website to get you on your way to being a cash back king or queen is Swagbucks.
The website is similar to Ebates, in that you get cash back bonuses simply for making purchases at online retailers using the Swagbucks platform.
Simply sign up for a Swagbucks account, make your purchases through their website and you’ll be on your way to earning cash back in no time!
One difference with Swagbucks, however, is that instead of getting actual cash back in the form of a check of PayPal deposit, you earn “swagbucks” or “SBs” for every dollar you spend at certain retailers.
For example, right now you earn 10 SBs per every $1.00 spent on Amazon.com.
Swagbucks keeps track of all your purchases made through their website, and you can cash in your SBs for gift cards once you accumulate enough points.
This is a great way to easily save up for gift cards that can be used for holiday gifts, birthday gifts, or simply gift cards for yourself for that item you’ve been eyeing out for the past few months.
Just like Ebates, when you make a Swagbucks account, you get an automatic $10.00 bonus, and can earn 300 SBs every time you refer a friend and your friend accumulates 300 SBs.
Even better, you get 10.0% of every friend you refer’s earnings for life! I.e., if your friend earns 500 SBs, you automatically get 50 SBs of your own.
You quite literally earn rewards for doing absolutely nothing!
2. Save on Student Loan Payments by Using Auto-Pay
We all have to pay our monthly student loan payment regardless of what method we choose to pay, so why not save some money by setting yourself up for automatic payments?
Some student loan servicers, such as FedLoan Servicing, offering a 0.25% interest rate reduction when you use a form of direct debit.
Check with your student loan servicer to see if they offer a similar service.
It might not seem like much, but over time 0.25% will add up and save you a good chunk of money in the long run!
3. Download a Specialized Banking App
Another simple, effortless way to save money is to download a banking app that automatically rounds up the total spent on any purchase you make using the bank account you link to the app.
Qapital is a great app for this.
All you have to do is download the app, make an account, and you set the rules for however much you want to want to round up each purchase.
All of the money that is rounded up goes into your Qapital “Goals” account, which holds the funds that you accumulate over time.
There are no fees on your purchases, but you do have to pay $3.00/month for a basic membership to access the app after your first 30-day free trial.
If the app route isn’t your thing, see if your bank offers a similar program.
Many banks offer a service that will round up your all of your purchases and make a weekly deposit into your savings account of the change from each transaction.
Same concept as app like Qapital, but this way you don’t even have to download an app or set any rules.
Putting away a miniscule amount of money like this with every transaction you make is a great way to rack up savings without even realizing it!
4. Download a Budgeting App
In this new era of technology, there truly is an app for almost anything, so why not use it to your advantage?
Instead of getting to the end of the month and wondering where all your money went, download a budgeting app to manage your monthly finances and keep track of where all your money actually goes.
EveryDollar does just that.
Enter all your sources of monthly income, all of your monthly expenses, and designate exactly where your leftover income will be spent each month.
Sitting down and making an effort to make a realistic budget will not only help you keep track of your finances, but will help you cut needless spending
5. Open a Savings Account
Now, while this seems obvious if you are trying to save money, you need to take a look at how much interest your savings account is earning you each year.
Not all savings accounts are created equally, and some offer much better interest rates than others.
If you are going to be putting money into a savings account, you might as well get the most bang for your buck and make those saved dollars go even further!
A quick Google search will provide a wealth of information, so do some comparing across different banks to find the provider that best suits your needs!
There you have it, folks.
Five easy ways stretch your dollar without even having to leave your couch.
Get those smartphones going and watch your savings soar!