Finance

5 Ways To Save Money During Quarantine

Cash is tight worldwide these days so I compiled a short list of ways you can start saving a little more money at home. 

1.My first tip is to cook more! Yes, ordering delivery or take out is so much easier and a time saver but we both know how quickly those expenses add up. You’re much better off if you take about an hour a week, preferably the day before you intend to go grocery shopping, to sit down and plan out your meals, snacks, and desserts for the week (desserts are a necessity here, ok?).

 I usually start by cleaning out old leftovers and taking an inventory of what I already have and then figure out what meals I can make with that. Try and buy things you can spread out into multiple meals. I know not everyone is comfortable cooking but there are loads of free tutorials on Youtube for cooking basics to really intricate dishes. Don’t be scared! You’ll never learn if you don’t try. 

For extra support, if you ever need some immediate cooking assistance feel free to reach out to me on my Instagram and I’ll try to help!

2. My next tip seems simple but everyone could use the reminder. STOP impulse buying. I’m guilty too. We all are. It makes sense that when so many things are out of our control we try to find comfort in material things. But money is tight for everyone these days and though we all love opening up a package it’s more important to be frugal right now.

Find joy in different things that don’t take money from your bank account. Go through your current closet and see if you can make new outfits from what you have. Think about all the money you’ll save if you sacrifice new purchases now!

3. Third, call your service providers. You may have been overpaying for a while now and it never hurts to call and see if you can reduce your bill in some way. You could be paying for a service you don’t use or on an old plan that doesn’t work for you anymore. 

This may actually be the best time for you to call now that just about everyone is in a financial crisis. Lots of companies have created new policies or are working with people to help them save money right now. Give it a shot!

4. Next, switch to eco friendly, reusable or multi-use products in your home. When we ran out of paper towels and couldn’t find any for weeks we bought a pack of reusable bamboo towels and it made me realize how much we didn’t really need the paper towels anyways. 

There are so many companies now with products that are affordable and made for sustainable living. Write down a list of all the household products you buy, from detergent to towels and then do some research online. Literally just jump on google and you can find so many products that will save you money on the basics!

5. If you’re used to most of your meals being meat based this might be hard but please, eat less meat. This is usually the most expensive thing on your list (aside from those household cleaning products!) and even cutting back one or two meat based meals a week could help your wallet. 

This is also a favorite of mine because it forces us to incorporate more veggies in our diet.

Bonus tip for parents with kids still in diapers: if you can’t stomach using cloth/reusable diapers, buy your disposable diapers from Aldi (I hope you have one near you!).  Run to Aldi and see for yourself. They’re $10.99 a box and I believe $3.99 for a small pack. Did you read that correctly? TEN DOLLARS AND NINETY NINE CENTS for a box. Pampers would be crying over this post. Start saving yourself some money!

I hope this helped you! Let me know in the comments if it did or if you’ve got some money saving tips to add to my list.