Stop dilly dallying and start saving money today.
People will tell you it's hard, but they're usually the ones who have never learned these simple money management tips.
From someone whose been following and teaching these tips for years now, take my advice and follow these steps so that you can finally live the life you deserve.
1. Avoid late fees
If you haven't set up autopay for your bills, do it now. It'll save you so much time.
If you've already done this, you're well aware that not every company has automatic billing. Or maybe you can't afford to pay your bills on time.
Paying late fees is like throwing your money away. If you're reading this article, you probably don't have the courage to throw away crisp money bills, so make sure you're keeping track of your bill payments.
You can pencil them into your calendar, or you can use this super easy-to-navigate app called Prism. It's free, so you can breathe a sigh of relief there.
The app lets you connect to all your accounts, set up reminders, and you can even pay your bills there.
2. Lower your bills
Things that used to be cheap just aren't anymore, and you've been paying for so long that you've barely noticed changes.
For example, you're probably paying much more than you need to for your internet and cable bill.
You can call them and sit on hold for what feels like eternity, or you can call a robot called Trim to negotiate these bills for you.
Contact Trim by signing up with Facebook or your email address, then upload your most recent bill.
Keep in mind, Trim takes 25% of the savings you earn, but at least you get the rest. Any money is good money, am I right?
3. Earn extra money on the side
This may sound impossible to you, but nowadays it's so easy to make extra money on the side.
You just need to allocate an hour or so of your time every day, or even once in a while, and you could be saving a good chunk of money each month.
1. Ebates
This cash-back shopping site gives away free gift cards for just signing up.
It only takes a few minutes to join and then you can gain access to loads of great deals from major retailers like Amazon, Expedia, and Old Navy.
2. Checkout 51
You eat food, right? I would hope so. How does buying groceries and saving money sound? I'd imagine very good.
Sign up for free on Checkout 51's website or app and earn cash back on items you already buy at the grocery store.
All you have to do is upload your receipts. And the best part is that you can stack deals to save even more money.
3. PointClub
This platform lets you earn points by just completing online surveys.
Then you can trade your points to redeem cash or gift cards of your choice.
4. InboxDollars
Many cash back rewards sites will give you points for taking surveys, playing online games, or shopping online.
But what do we want? We want cash. And when do we want it? Now!
InboxDollars members have earned more than $50 million in rewards, so you don't want to miss out on this one.
4. Earn rewards
If you're serious about managing your finances, download this app called MoneyLion.
It will reward you for paying your pills on time and logging onto the app.
Then they'll give you a gift card to use at all sorts of major retailers.
You can also connect your other financial accounts so that the app can get a better sense of your spending habits.
The more they know, the more they can help you to reduce your debt and save money faster.
5. Invest your money the right way
Putting your savings in the stock market can be quite risky, but there's other money moves you can make to save for retirement.
Acorns is an app that rounds your credit and debit card purchases so that you can invest the small change.
Yes it's pocket change, but you've seen how much a piggy bank can save up in just a few months.
6. Cut interest rates
Sometimes I just want to buy a cheap tiny home and forget about ever paying interest rates ever again.
That's not an option for everybody, including me, so we have to be resourceful so that we're not paying boatloads of interest.
Even Financial will give you a personalized loan offer that will save you thousands of dollars.
You can borrow from $1,000 to $100,000 with fixed rates starting at 4.99%.
7. Make sure you're not overpaying for insurance
If you don't want to pay for car insurance, you might as well get a bus pass. But if you enjoy that luxury of cruising in your own vehicle, make sure you're not overpaying for your car insurance.
This hack will save you lots and lots of money.
The Zebra is an online insurance search engine that compares car insurance options from more than 200 providers.
The website will ask you to provide all the necessary information they need for their algorithm to do their magic. Then they'll teach you how to get the best rates.
Any questions you may have, their friendly support staff will help guide you.
8. Check your credit score
Credit reports can have lots of mistakes in them, so it's your job to catch them when it happens.
Check your credit score for free from Credit Sesame. They'll show you all your unpaid debts and tell you how you can improve on your credit score.
9. Prepare for surprises
Sometimes life happens and we need an SOS wallet.
This app called Digit helps you save money without even realizing it.
All you have to do is link your checking account to the app, and it will determine the right amount of money you should be withdrawing.
The app is free for the first three months, and then it's only a couple dollars each month after that. No biggie if you're saving thousands of dollars.
10. Find the right coupons
Groupon is great for big deals, but you can save lots of money by saving on essential items like toiletries and groceries.
ShopHer lets you print the coupons that you need.
Yes, need, because we all know that most of the random coupons that come in you mail are going straight into the recycle bin.
11. Comparison shop as much as you can
There's nothing more annoying than paying too much for a product when other places are selling it for much less.
Also, comparison shopping might encourage the retailer you're shopping at to sell their product at the same price the competition is selling it for.
Once I saved $50 for an electronic product by comparison shopping, so I encourage you to do the same.
ShopSavvy is an app that lets you scan the barcode of a product to compare prices for ultimate savings.
12. Spend money on the right things
Of course, this is easier said than done, but it has been done before.
I'm not going to tell you what you should spend money on, but there's something you should keep in mind.
Buy things that have value. Try to spend money on experiences rather than things.
Buying a ticket to a place you've dreamed of visiting will probably make you happier than buying the next big tech gadget.
13. Prepare for the future
Last week, my bank called trying to sell me life insurance in the most aggressive way possible by telling me all the ways I could get into an accident, so I just hung up.
It's not something we want to be reminded of, especially by strangers, but the fact is that we should be prepared for the future. We're human, not robots.
PolicyGenius is a company that allows you to compare life insurance.
You'll save tons of money this way and you'll have peace of mind.
14. Make a budget
You've made it this far in the article so I can safely assume that you're very serious about saving money.
The first money management hack I learned was budgeting. It sounds like a pain and a lot of effort, but you know what's more of a pain, losing money when you don't need to be.
I follow the 50/20/30 budgeting method in which 50% of your income goes towards essentials, 20% goes towards financial goals, and 30% goes toward personal spending.
I'm not going to lie to you, the first month was hard, but by month three I got the hang of it.
15. Don't wait to save
We're all guilty of saying we're going to start saving money tomorrow.
The fact is that tomorrow will turn into the day after tomorrow and then suddenly it's five years later and you're wondering where you went wrong.
So don't wait until tomorrow, start saving today. Better yet, now.
Every single one of these money management tips will help you save tons of money.
You only live once. Start staving and live life to the fullest.