4 Tips to Save Money in The New Year
Start the year off right by following these four easy tips that’ll have you saving hundreds of dollars in the new year!
Negotiate Rates for Services
Once a year you should negotiate, and ask about discounts with companies where you make monthly payments to such as your car insurance company, internet or cell phone provider. Often times you can maintain your current rate if there’s a price hike, or receive a discount just by asking about it.
You can also negotiate with your credit card company to reduce the APR on your cards — this is especially helpful if you’re carrying any credit card debt.
Use Coupons & Comparison Shopping
Take advantage of sales, price matches, online coupons, or subscription discounts for any of your reoccurring purchases.
In his book The Millionaire Mind, author Thomas J. Stanley writes that the average millionaire uses coupons. This is because they’re thinking long-term — it isn’t really about how much money you save on one trip, but the cumulative savings over time.
Sites such as RetailMeNot or Honey offer a FREE Chrome extension that automatically finds the best promo codes and cash back as you shop online. Other websites such as Coupons.com, DontPayFull.com, and Savings.com offering online and printable coupons, so you won’t need to spend countless hours cutting out coupons.
Open A Savings Account
If your money is just sitting in a checking account, you’re leaving money on the table and missing out on earning interest on it over time. Most savings accounts are now offer interest rates between 3–4%, and many don’t require a minimum balance to open.
If you’re looking for a safe investment with a higher rate of return to fight off the effects of inflation, consider a Treasury Inflation Protected Securities, or TIPS. These are government backed bonds with a fixed interest rate paid twice a year with inflation protection built-in. TIPS are designed to protect you from inflation because the principal, the original sum used to purchase the bond, is adjusted for inflation based on the Consumer Price Index.
TIPS are great assets to invest in if you’re risk-averse or simply want to protect your initial investment from the effects of inflation.
Cut Unnecessary Expenses
If you don’t use a subscription service (i.e., Netflix, cable, app) often, consider cutting it and watch your bank account grow by hundreds of $$$ a month instead.
Limiting how often you dine out and preparing more homecooked meals can also save you big bucks over time. For example, if you eat out for lunch every day and spend $10/day, that’s $50/week or $2,600/year. If you pack a lunch just twice a week, and assume that it’ll cost on average $5 to prepare that meal, you’ll have saved an extra $520 a year!
