10 Small Habits To Adopt If You Are Serious About Saving Money

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You may already have a money-saving system in place, but there’s always room for using tricks of the trade to save more money on a more routine basis.

While you may use a savings account or Roth IRA to store money away for the future or in case of emergencies, what about everyday ways to save more cash and live more frugally? Here are 10 habits to adopt if you’re serious about saving money, no matter how small the amount saved (after all, it adds up!).

1. Share Your Amazon And Netflix Accounts

Do you have an Amazon Prime and/or Netflix account? What about your significant other, family members, roommates and others you are close to—do they? Well, instead of each of you paying the monthly balance, you’ll save money if you add each other to your plans. For instance, with Amazon Prime, two adults (and four children) in the same household can share an account through Amazon Household. Amazing, right?

With Netflix, it depends on the plan you have. The Basic plan is just for one person, while two people can use the Standard plan and three people can use the Premium plan. With just a few dollars separating the cost of the plans, you’ll definitely see savings by sharing a Netflix plan versus each of you having separate plans.

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2. Use The Honey.com Chrome Extension

You don’t have to look for coupon codes and sales once you have the Honey extension for Chrome. Instead, when shopping online, you just click on the Honey button at checkout and coupon codes will be applied. For instance, if you’re shopping for a certain brand of headphones on Amazon, Honey will show you who’s selling them for the lowest price. Aside from showing you the sales at said store, Honey also gives you cash back. The free extension will save you money and even help you make money, so there’s no reason not to give it a try.

3. Use The Amazon Trade-In Program

To save money right now, and every day, do an inventory of your house (and storage space and/or garage). Every week, think of ways you can declutter and get rid of things you no longer use. Then, do the Amazon Trade-In Program. Just choose items, including textbooks, video games, electronics and DVDs, and send them to a third-party merchant in exchange for Amazon gift cards. So easy!

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4. Do Credit Card Check-Ins And Replace Them With Zero- Or Low-Interest APRs

As discussed in this post, make sure to constantly monitor your credit cards and switch to zero- or low-interest cards whenever possible, and keep doing so. After all, you could be doing something better with your money instead of it going to high interest rates.

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5. Use The 30-Day Rule To Spend Less

You may be familiar with the 30-Day Rule already, but if not, it’s never too late to begin. Let’s say you see a cute hat while window-shopping. You don’t really like the winter hat you have, so why not just buy the new one? There’s nothing wrong with the one already on your head, but you really like the new option.

The Get Rich Slowly blog recommends waiting 30 days instead of impulse-buying things. So look at that hat, but don’t buy it. Instead, when you get home, write down where you saw it, the date and the price. Then, put the note someplace where you’ll see it. For the next 30 days, think about if you want the item, yet do not buy it. After 30 days, if you still have the urge, think about getting it (but not with credit, the blog advises!). In many cases, chances are high that you’ll be thinking of other things by then. So, money saved!

About the Author

Natalia Lusinski

In addition to Don't Waste Your Money, Natalia is an ongoing writer for Bustle (sex, dating, relationships, and money), HelloGiggles (pop culture and news), Simplemost (lifestyle topics), and The Delite (feel-good stories). You can also find her writing in the L.A. Times, the Chicago Tribune's RedEye, xoJane, Elite Daily, Scary Mommy, Elephant Journal, and Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies, among other publications. She has a Ph.D. in couch-surfing, having spent four years sleeping on over 200 L.A.-area love seats and sectionals, all in an effort to whittle down her student loan debt. She still loves couch-surfing in other cities, too (hint, hint). More.

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