How would you like to know how to save money the easy way? A LOT OF MONEY. On our journey to Financial Independence, we got serious and turbocharged our savings rate by doing some simple things. We’ve turned our best money saving tips into a checklist for you.

We didn’t want to waste time clipping coupons, driving around to save two cents off a gallon of gas, or pinching pennies. We think these are the best ways to save money that will give you the most bang for your buck.

We’ve used every one of these money-saving tips to save more and you can too.

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Best Ways to Save Money

This list includes more than 30+ ways to save money! If you’re serious about growing your wealth, saving for a down payment for a house, or a long-term goal like a year-long trip around the world, or simply want more financial freedom in your life, start putting as many of these ideas to work for you as you can.

Once we made our goal of Financial Independence, we brainstormed how to save money fast so we could get to our goal in less time. We discovered that the only way we were going to be able to raise our savings rate dramatically was to take a hard look at our life and start making some serious changes.

The more we made changes, the more we realized it wasn’t as painful as we thought. Our dreams were far more important than the things we were paying for that we didn’t even necessarily care about! Take a hard look at your life and make some changes. You’ll be happier in the long run.

1. Stop paying for cable TV.
Does anyone actually pay for cable TV anymore? Instead use on-demand streaming services, watch YouTube, listen to podcasts, or read books.

2. Cancel your gym membership.
This was a hard one for us because we always thought we would use it but it never happened. Canceling it felt like we were giving up on our health, but it’s been exactly the opposite. Transform a room in your house to be an inviting gym. Do body weight exercises. Feel younger with daily stretches. Walk in your local park. You’ll save time, money, and achieve your dreams faster.

3. Watch one streaming service at a time.
You only have so much time to watch movies and shows. Make a rule to only have one streaming service at a time. There are a lot of choices between Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Now, Amazon Prime, YouTube Premium, and many others. When you’re done with one, cancel it and start another, or try going without to save even more!

4. Do your chores instead of paying someone else.
Instead of paying someone else to do your chores, do them yourself. Mow the lawn, clean your house, and wash your car. it makes sense to do things yourself unless you’re able to make more money with your time. You’ll get exercise in the process!

5. Buy a used car or drive it for a decade.
Buying slightly used avoids the big depreciation hit when you drive it off the lot. If you have to buy a new car, keep it for more than a decade. Ask yourself, do I really need this car to accomplish my goals?

6. Get rid of a vehicle.
You don’t have to pay for a car if you don’t have a car. Do you NEED more than one car per household? We had two cars and two motorcycles and finally got rid of the motorcycles. If it makes sense, take Uber, public transportation, ride a bicycle, or walk.

7. Live closer to your job.
Save on transportation costs, vehicle maintenance, and commute time by cutting the distance you need to travel to your job. Live close enough and you might be able to get rid of your car.

8. Live in a cheaper home than you can afford.
Housing is considered one of the BIG FOUR. Buy or rent less home than you need. If you already own a home or can’t move, think of ways to get more out of what you already have. Rent a room or make an extra room into a gym. Your home should work FOR YOU.

9. Stop impulse buys with a two-week rule.
If you want to buy something, give yourself a two week waiting period to cool off. Thirty days is even better. Also skip the Amazon Prime upgrade for faster shipping because it feeds into the impulse buying high. You’ll get it when you get it.

10. Ask for coupons or a better rate.
It’s amazing how much money you can save simply by asking for a discount. When dealing with insurance, car maintenance, subscriptions like Sirius Radio, or even medical bills, just ask if there are any discounts available. Many times you can get a discount by paying up front for multiple months or years at a time. At the grocery store, we ask if there’s any coupons and many times they’ll pull out a $10 off $50 coupon just for asking. Try it.

11. Lower your cell phone bill.
Share a family plan, switch to a cheaper service like Republic Wireless or GoogleFI, or test out connecting to the world through WIFI only.

12. Master cooking grains, beans, and fresh produce.
Learn to cook the basic staples and you’ll slash your food budget with ease. Insanely delicious recipes are widely available for plant burgers, pizza, lasagna, and all of your favorite dishes. Check out The Game Changers for awesome recipes.

13. Batch your meals.
One awesome money hack to keep you from being tempted to order takeout is making large batches of food to divide up throughout the week. We love making big pots of soup, stew, rice bowls, veggie burgers, bread, tortillas, and anything else that we can use or freeze for the week.

14. Don’t eat out.
Make your kitchen the only restaurant you dine at. Have a mix of fresh food, cheap but healthy staple foods, and easy to add packaged food to round out a deep pantry. The less often you have to go shopping the better. Make colorful breakfasts, brown bag filling lunches for work, and batch your main meals with side additions to make it easy.

15. Buy bulk food at wholesale clubs or online.
Buying in bulk is a big way we save money. We buy a lot of healthy staples in large amounts which drives the cost per serving way down. It gets us closer to wholesale pricing and fills our deep pantry so we don’t have to shop as often. Stores like Costco, BJ’s, and Sam’s have a yearly fee but can be well worth the membership. You can also order some bulk items online at places like bulkfoods.com.

16. Grocery shop at the farmers market.
We’ve always found cheaper deals on fresh produce at the farmers market versus the grocery store. You can save a lot by buying produce in season that tastes better and supports local farmers and vendors at the same time!

17. Drink more water.
Water is nearly free and so much better for you! Get a water filter to take out the chemicals and to save money instead of wasting money on water bottles. Add things like lemon juice or herbs for a fresh, sophisticated taste. ?

18. Brew coffee at home.
It’s much cheaper not to drink coffee but I’m guilty of this myself. I love using an Aeropress to make gourmet coffee at home.

19. Read personal finance books, FIRE blogs, and podcasts.
Check out books that will get your inspired to save more money like The Simple Path to Wealth,  Quit Like a Millionaire, and Your Money or Your Life. Reading Financial Independence blogs like Mr. Money Mustache and listening to podcasts like Paula’s Pant’s Afford Anything and ChooseFI will help make you feel like you’re part of a community and keep you on track.

20. Same experience, cheaper price?
Can you get most of what you love about an experience but pay less? If you love the ambiance of a restaurant, can you share a meal, have a drink, or only order appetizers? If you love travel, can you stay at Airbnbs or hostels instead of a hotel? We often travel with friends to split the cost of lodging and transportation.

21. Learn to fix things yourself.
Build valuable skills, save a ton of money, and learn how things work.

22. Install a programmable thermostat.
Set the temperature of your house to keep you comfortable and save money at the same time.

23. Get your books and movies from the library.
An incredible life hack that has saved us a ton of money. You’re already paying for the library with your tax dollars. Use it.

24. Find cheap entertainment.
If you can be entertained on the cheap, you’ll save money and never feel like you’re missing out. We love salsa dancing for these reasons! It has built in exercise, learning, and community all in one activity. Hiking and biking check a couple of those boxes too.

25. Travel hack by paying your bills.
Use a travel rewards credit card and earn points when paying for bills you already pay now. But make sure to pay off your card every month to avoid interest.

26. Lower your taxes by investing.
Invest in tax-advantaged accounts like a 401k or traditional IRA and you can immediately lower your taxable income and pay less taxes. For long-term investing, choose low-fee index funds that invest in the entire stock market. We like Vanguard.

27. Automate your savings.
This is a great Jedi mind trick. Set up systems to automatically contribute to your 401k, IRA, brokerage, or savings account. This will trick your mind into only seeing the money that’s left. Learn to live happily on less and becoming wealthy is only a matter of time.

28. Build an emergency fund.
An emergency fund will save you when life throws unplanned expenses your way. Living paycheck to paycheck leaves you vulnerable to overdraft fees, late fees, and sleepless nights. It will also save you from needing to take money out of your investments.

29. Pay off debt.
If you don’t have debt, you have less to pay for in your everyday life which frees up your cash flow. It also saves you from wasting money on paying interest. Credit cards debt should be considered a hair-on-fire emergency. Mortgage debt is usually not too bad, but if you have PMI on your loan, paying the debt down might let you get rid of expensive monthly PMI charges.

30. Refinance your debt.
Interest rates are at historic lows. You might be able to save a ton of money by refinancing any debt you have such as a mortgage, student loans, or credit card.

31. Make more money.
If you want to save more, make more money. You can only cut your expenses so much, but you can always make more. Side hustle, get a raise, change jobs.

32. Track your expenses.
The number one trick to save more money is simply to track your expenses! This will give you total visibility on all of your finances. The more your money is top of mind, the more you’ll take care of it. Check out our video on Tracking Your Money on how to get started.

Our Best Money Saving Tips

Everyone’s wants and needs are different. You might find that you get more happiness spending money on things that YOU love like a daily coffee or working out at the gym or having a house that you can make your own.

These are OUR best ways to save money, but they might not be yours. Spend money on the things YOU love and save money on the things you don’t. Every dollar should have a purpose whether it’s to add value to your life or to make you more money.

Experiment by cutting out the easy things that you won’t miss. Then try cutting expenses that might hurt at first, but you’ll quickly get used to and return to a baseline level of happiness. Give it some time and see how you feel. In the end it’s about saving money so you can spend it on the things that will make your life better.

Do you have favorite ways to save money?