5 Surprisingly Simple Ways to Save $500 and Barely Notice the Pinch
- Posted: February 15, 2021
- By: Nations Lending
Go out to lunch instead of dinner.
Lunch menu items tend to cost 30-50% less than items on the dinner menu both at sit-down restaurants, and lunch-goers rarely order appetizers along with their meals. Dining out for lunch instead of dinner, when possible, can easily save you at least $20 off your bill—but you’ll still get to experience the relaxation of going out to eat. If you can’t do a lunch outing, try asking for half portions instead of full portions at your favorite eatery at dinnertime. Not only will this save you the extra calories associated with large meals, but it’ll save you cash too.
Make your dollars holler in a singles bank.
When you’ve got cash leftover in your wallet at the end of the day, go through it, take all the singles, place them into a bank or box, and then don’t touch it for a year. Over time, those singles will turn into hundreds of dollars—$730, in fact—if you deposit just $2 a day into your dollar box. You won’t feel the pinch in your pocketbook, but when you count out your savings at the end of the year, you might just have enough to pay off the debt you may have incurred over the holiday season.
There’s no doubt about it: clothing can cost an arm and a leg. Instead of buying all new clothes, why not save hundreds of dollars by hosting a clothing swap? Make it a fun event for everyone: ask folks to bring a dish or drink to share in addition to all of the clothing their family doesn’t wear anymore. Both kids and adult clothing is fair game. Organize it on tables and allow everyone to pick out clothing items that their family could use.
In today’s online marketplace, there is no reason at all to pay full price for anything. Use an online shopping strategy called “The Three Cs” to save big on the purchases you need to make when you complete them online: Compare, Cash, and Codes.
Many large retail grocery chains sell retail gift cards and offer gasoline savings for purchasing them. In most cases, shoppers can save 10 cents per gallon for each $50 they spend on gift cards—sometimes as high as 20 cents off per gallon at the store’s gas station chain. If you’re buying something large, those savings can really add up.