Saving money is easier when your income is in the six-digit range, but if you are like most people who don’t even have an emergency fund, you might be asking yourself: “ How to save money on a low income?”
“How to find money to save when in debt?”
“How to save money when you’re broke?”
It sucks to have a small income when you want to save more money, right? I know how you feel but while saving money on a low income is not easy, it is possible with a little bit of creativity.
How to Save Money on a Low Income: 52 Week Money Saving Challenge Printable
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I want to inspire you to try this saving money challenge to help you save $1820 in 52 weeks.
I thought of setting a $5000 or $10,000 goal but I know that this is unrealistic for most people especially if you are a stay-at-home mom like me or your family is living on a single income.
So, I created this free saving money challenge printable to help you save $1820 in 52 weeks!
This is a very achievable amount to save even when you have a low income, you’re living paycheck-to-paycheck, or you’re still paying off debt. Just be creative at finding little ways to reduce your expenses.
Download free printable below!
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Money Resources to Help You Rock This Saving Money Challenge
I’ve been using Ibotta for over two years now and saved over $1000 for buying grocery items I would buy anyway!
Ibotta is a money-saving app that takes coupon clipping to the next level. Earn cash back on items you regularly buy at the grocery store such as milk, bread, vegetables, fruits, meats, toilet paper, toothpaste, medicine, or yogurt.
Even if you didn’t buy items eligible for cash back, you could still earn $0.25 by simply scanning your grocery receipt.
To learn more about Ibotta, you can read my Ibotta review here.
Never pay full price again when shopping online with Rakuten! Rakuten pays you cash back for shopping at their over 2500 partner stores, including Amazon, Macy’s, Best Buy, and eBay.
I’ve been using Rakuten for my online purchases and received over $1000 in cash back and bonuses! Like Ibotta, Rakuten is also completely free to use!
You can join Ebates through this link and get $10 FREE after you make a $25 purchase.
To learn more about Ebates, read my Ebates Review here.
Things to Stop Buying to Save Money
If you are looking for inspiration for things to quit buying to save money, check out these ideas below.
I hope that this list will inspire you to take a look at your expenses and cut out those you can live without.
1.Bottled Water
We invested in a good water filtering system so we no longer have to buy bottled water. Aside from being a money waster, I personally also don’t like buying bottled water for environmental reasons.
You may spend a hefty amount for a water filtering system but it sure will save you more money in the long run.
Savings: A pack of 36 bottles costs from $5 to $10 depending on the brand, and buying from a vending machine costs from $0.75 to $1 each. By simply not buying bottled water, you can easily save $30-50 per month /$350 -$500 a year!
2. Cable TV
If you’ve followed this blog long, you know that I always recommend cutting cable to save money.
We cut the cord over five years ago because we really could not justify this expense. Good thing there are lots of cheaper alternatives to cable!
There’s also Hulu which costs $8 monthly with the option to add $4 to watch commercial-free. There’s also Amazon Prime which not only gives you access to thousands of movies and TV series for only $99 a year; you also get free cloud storage with your account.
We use cable alternatives and have been saving at least $800 per year! Instead of wasting my time watching TV, I use my time to make money online.
If you are interested in making money from home, check out these posts!
How to Start a Blog and Make Money Guide
15 Stay-at-Home Mom Jobs that Pay Well
12 Jobs for People Who Hate People
3. Buying Lunches or Eating Out
When I was working outside the home, I used to spend at least $7 for lunch almost every day at work. It seemed way easier to just buy lunch except that it would easily cost me over $1000 a year.
I am not telling you to totally avoid eating out or pack your lunch every day, but by cutting back on these expenses, you can easily save more than $1000 a year. You will be able to control what you’re eating, too!
We use a few strategies to save money on this area such as meal prepping on the weekends and meal planning
I create a meal plan every week to make sure that we don’t waste money on food and we always have food ready on days we plan to eat at home.
If you are new to meal planning, the $5 Meal Plan is an awesome service to use to help you get started.
For only $5 a month, you will receive a delicious meal plan where every meal costs $2 per person or $5 per family. Plus they offer specialty plans, including gluten-free and vegetarian meals.
For a limited time, they offer a FREE 14-day trial through this link. You can cancel anytime with no questions asked so it is absolutely risk-free!
Savings: Eating out two times a week spending $15 per meal will cost $120 per month or $1440/year per person.
If you are a family of 3, you could easily spend $4320 per year, excluding tips!
4. Coffees
If you’ve been scouring the Internet for the best frugal living tips help you save money, chances are you’ve heard of the “latte factor.”
The term was coined by David Back in his book The Automatic Millionaire where he talks about how small trivial things we spend every day, such as $5 coffees, add up to an extremely big amount over time.
According to David Back, here’s how much you’d wind up with over time if you invested your daily $5 coffee cost ( at7% ROI yearly):
- In one year: $1,885
- In 10 years: $30,727
- In 15 years: $62,171
- In 30 years: $339,073
- In 40 years: $948,611
Yep, the math behind the latte factor absolutely makes sense! But would you give up spending on coffees?
If not, don’t worry! There are ways to get coffee for free! Try these ways to get FREE Starbucks gift cards so you can get your coffee at $0 cost.
5. Single Purpose Cleaning Products
I stopped buying single purpose cleaning products and realized that I didn’t really need them as much as I thought. Now, I only use one multipurpose cleaning product for all my cleaning needs and it’s been helping us save money and storage space as well.
Savings: Save $10 per month / $100 a year by simply not buying these products.
6. Expensive Self Care/Grooming Products or Cosmetics
I had severe acne most of my life so I was so gullible to buying expensive skin care products hoping to solve my problem. So, yes, I’ve been there–spending hundreds just to get my hands on any new “miracle” skin care products hoping they would solve my problem.
Realizing how much money I was throwing away on these products, I decided to become smarter when it comes to buying products. Instead of focusing too much on what the manufacturer tells you what the product does, I’ve learned to look into what the product’s active ingredient does. What did I learn? Many of the products I bought contained the same ingredients so I was only wasting money buying practically the same thing!
I also decided to switch to natural remedies and change my eating habits. It’s amazing how a simple lifestyle change and change in eating habits can improve your skin! Doing this also eliminated my need to buy more makeup to cover up my skin imperfections.
Related Post
$1 Homemade Vanilla Sugar Scrub Recipe
Savings: In between hair, nail, and skin care products, it is easy to save $100 per month.
7. Paper Towels
Instead of buying paper towels, we use cloth kitchen towels to dry our hands and other reusable towels to clean our kitchen. We still occasionally buy table napkins, though, only for when we have guests but that’s a rare occasion.
Savings: A pack of 8 rolls of paper towels costs around $20. You can easily save $100-200 per year by simply not buying paper towels.
8. Magazines/ Books
I love reading and I don’t just read as a form of entertainment but for learning as well. I believe that educating yourself is one of the biggest investments you can do for yourself, but it doesn’t mean that you need to spend a lot of money on it.
If you want to save money on books or magazines, try checking out your local library and you may be surprised at all of the free stuff on offer. With the Internet and free online subscriptions, there is also no need to spend money on magazines and news.
I also just recently discovered that with Amazon Prime, there’s a wide range of books, magazine and audiobooks you can borrow for FREE. It’s definitely an additional bonus to all the benefits of Prime Membership.
With Amazon Prime, you can also borrow Kindle books for free, instantly watch thousands of movies and TV episodes, as well as get unlimited FREE two-day shipping. You can cancel the service before the free trial ends so it’s absolutely risk-free.
Try the Amazon Prime 30-day FREE trial to see if the service is good for you.
Savings: $5-$10 per subscription
9. Food We Don’t Eat
Did you know that US households toss 150,000 tons of food each day? If you haven’t thought about your own food waste, it might be high time for you to do so because his area alone can help you save lots of money!
Most people waste food by buying too much food, letting grocery items expire or not storing food properly!
We try to minimize our food waste by using the following:
- Meal planning
- Not going to the store without a list and sticking to the list!
- Meal prepping
- Using quality air-tight containers
- Designating a zero-waste week challenge which means consuming everything we buy and cook for the week. Try it, too!
10. Ziploc Bags/Pouches
Believe it or not, my husband and I never bought Ziploc bags. I try to minimize our plastic wastes so I don’t like buying these things. If we need a container for food, I use reusable containers that will last us a long time.
For meats though, I use plastic food wrap as it is cheaper. I bought a pack of two rolls from Sam’s Club over two years ago and I still have one unopened roll.
UPDATE 06/2019: After many years, I started buying Ziplock bags again for my freezer meals. I now stock up meals in these bags to save freezer space! But instead of throwing them away, I wash them and reuse them .
Savings: A box with 75 pieces of Ziploc bags costs $7+ at Walmart.
11. Expensive Entertainment
You might want to replace your expensive hobbies with free or profitable hobbies. For example, I replaced mindless shopping with hobbies such as gardening and blogging. This blog is not only a therapeutic hobby of mine but is also an income source .
Savings: According to this report, the average spending per subscriber of cable TV is about $85 a month and subscribers of satellite TV pay an average of $100 a month. Cutting your cable TV and replacing it with Hulu (only $7.99 per month) you’ll easily save $1000 per year!
12.Disposable Aluminum/ Foil Pans
I use my glass baking pans as they are reusable and they work great and helps us lower our expenses!
Savings: A pack of two of size 13″ x 9″ x 2″ costs around $2. By not using these, you can save $30-50 or more per year and minimize your waste.
13. Trendy Clothes or Clothes on Sale
I really don’t mind buying expensive clothes or brand name clothes as long as they are practical and will last me a long time. Trendy clothes easily go out of style, which means constant shopping.
Instead of buying trendy clothes, I focus on a few quality classic pieces that I can easily mix and match.
I also don’t buy clothes because they’re on sale–unless I really need them. Because 50 percent off isn’t really a great deal if you don’t use it 99 percent of the time, right?
How about you? Do you have any frivolous expenses that need to go? Can you quit buying these things too?
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Kristy Bullard
I love having a garden in the summer and growing my own food. I also love making my own salad dressing. I just think it tastes a lot better and saving money is a bonus.
Lauren Ashley
This would be a big problem for me since then. I can’t stop buying. But I always wanted to quit so to save money. Thiese are great way.. I must try this.
Czjai Reyes-Ocampo
I don’t buy phone apps, either. If I have to pay for the app, I won’t even take a second look at it. 😀
Kathy Fahy
I can never tell if there is a cost to the app or not. I do look but maybe twice it was obvious. Can you please clue me in. I appreciate it. Thank you. Kathy [email protected]
Emily Fata, www.EmulatingEmily.com
It’s crazy to think of all the things that we frivolously spend our money on throughout the year! These are all amazing ways to save money and stop buying unnecessary items. 🙂
Eileen
I could definitely cut down on buying makeup for sure!
Holly
This is a great idea. I love this. I totally want to try it out too.
Megan
Ohhh I sorely needed this list. Phone apps and makeup are two that I can honestly live without refreshing my stock of constantly!
Jane
I know. Sometimes I see apps that seem very useful but when I see the price, I immediately click the close button LOL
Luci
I stopped buy bottle water a long time ago. I have a reusable bottle and I just fill it up at home, I feel that my water at home taste so much better and it hasn’t been sitting in plastic for a long time.
Jane
I agree!
Shruti
The amount saved on these tips when calculated individually seems not much but altogether it’s pretty big amount.
I maynot be able to cut the entertainment and food costa immediately but the rest of the tips are really useful!
Thanks
Jane
I know. A few dollars here and there may not sound much but altogether its a big amount.
Pat
What a great collection of things not to buy to save money on a limited income. Good job!
Jane
Thank you
Gladys Parker
Great ideas. I buy the zip lock bags, aluminum foil (not pans) and sometimes paper towels when on sale for $5.99. Other than that I do pretty good except growing my own good. I did get a green house tent for my deck this year.
Jane
Hi Gladys! Thanks for stopping by and I am excited for your garden!
Preet
These are some really good tips to save money. We do spend on so many things which are sometimes not even needed. I have started planning the budget, making the list and spending based on that budget, it is helping me a lot.
LavandaMichelle
I like these tips. I tend to spend a lot on wants, but I am trying to cut down. I just want my kids to experience a good and fun childhood. These were some good ideas. Thanks for sharing!
Elizabeth O
This is really great advice and definitely gave me pause for thought, there are a lot of things i can quit buying like this that will save some money. Thanks for sharing.
Regine L.
Great post! This is really helpful. I agree with you. I don’t usually buy bottled water. I always bring water when I am going outside.
AnnMarie John
I love saving money not just for my children’s future but for vacations as well. It’s always nice to take them to trips and places that they’ve never been to before. It makes them appreciate the world and the people in it more. These are great tips to save money!
Ashley | Honey & Pine Co
We never bought most of these things anyway, but especially salad dressing, bottled water, and paper towels. We have a water filter and just use our own reusable bottles for water.
Jennifer Prince
It’s so funny how I never would have thought of these! Yes, the simplest changes can really add up when we’re talking about finances for sure.
Rose
Thanks for sharing! I agree with most items except for Ziploc bags. I buy meats in bulk and freeze them in dinner-sized portions with Ziploc freezer bags. I hate spending so much $ on plastic but we’d easily spend 5 times more on meats without bulk purchasing. Any alternative ideas for freezing meats? I haven’t come up with one yet that won’t leave freezer burn.
Simon Howes
I use greaseproof paper.
Acupofassamtea
Great post. And never thought of few things actually has hidden cost in it and we do not necessarily need it.
Alison Rost
Who wouldn’t want to save money. I think it’s better to invest in a home filter than buy water bottles. All the tips that you mentioned will save you a lot of money and waste as well. I love the idea of making your own salad dressing, I do that as well!
Maria
These are great tips, I am a very frugal person BUT the one thing I do is color my hair. I can’t stand the gray. What are the alternatives? I might mention my Grandma had a full head of gray/blue hair at the age of 40 and I vowed NOT me, lol
Vanessa
Very insightful tips. I definitely apply them. Especially cutting out bottled water. It all adds up
Vanessa
This was a good read! I would add disposable paper products to the list.
Ariel Shanelle
I love most of these tips, but it REALLY is expensive where you live. Jeez. Great post!
Jane
Thank you !
Peter J. Brooks
I Like Your Philosophy, ‘Spend Less’ ‘Live Debt Free’
Jane
Thanks, Peter!
Sara
Hi, I just wanted to say that this kind of stuff are only bought in the US, the rest if the world (with some exception) cant afford those thing that you intensionally dont buy anymore.
But we dont call us because of that minimalists, it is just our way of life or if you prefer I can call myself minimalist too but from birth
Sorry if this is not a positive post or Im not writing that this what are you doing is amazing , but I want you to know how the majority of people is living and is not natural for one country to have so much while others dont. This is sadly the truth.
I must add that you delete my posts and this is so fake if you, pretending to care about the environment and our planet and deleting messages that describe how ither people live.
Jane
Hi Sara, I grew up in the Philippines, a third-world country and we also didn’t buy many things people buy here in the US. I wrote this post from my own experience living here in America, so I must agree that this is for US readers and this may not be relatable to others. I believe minimalism is a way of life and it means different things to different people. I believe it’s just not quantifiable with what you have, what you buy or not. We all have different ways of life, we don’t have the same aspirations and situations. So my minimalism may be different to yours or to anyone. 🙂 P.S. I never delete comments unless they are spammy. I see three same comments from you on this post, so the first comment probably didn’t show up right away and you thought I deleted it. 🙂 But thank you for dropping by and for your comment. I love hearing what people have to say, negative or positive.
Dyana
I’ve also started using multi purpose cleaner and find that I save more money that way! I’m guilty of using plastic bottles but I am looking into a water filter.
Sara
Hi, I just wanted to say that this kind of stuff are only bought in the US, the rest if the world (with some exception
I must add that the creator of the blog deleted my posts and this is so fake oh, pretending to care about the environment and our planet and deleting messages that describe how other people live.
Noels
Great tips! When my four children were young we used the library all the time and we used the local play park. All clothes except underwear and shoes were bought from thrift shops or I made them and we had an allotment. Now we keep bees and share the honey with friends and I use garden plants to dye fabrics for textile art. I could do better though, there’s still too much plastic in our shopping so the shampoo bars are a great tip! Keep up the great blog!
Sara
Hi, I just wanted to say that this kind of stuff are only bought in the US, the rest if the world (with some exception) cant afford those thing that you intensionally dont buy anymore.
But we dont call us because of that minimalists, it is just our way of life or if you prefer I can call myself minimalist too but from birth
Sorry if this is not a positive post or Im not writing that this what are you doing is amazing , but I want you to know how the majority of people is living and is not natural for one country to have so much while others dont. This is sadly the truth.
I must add that you delete my posts and this is so fake if you, pretending to care about the environment and our planet and deleting messages that describe how ither people live.