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There are several ways to be creative about saving money.  As the cost of living increases, unfortunately not all of our salaries increase with the cost of living.  For most of us, it has become harder and harder to make ends meet while living on one income. The cost of groceries are higher, utilities are higher, insurance is higher, rent and monthly mortgages are higher (and they plan to increase property taxes in PA by $330 more dollars in 2025) as if taxes aren't already high enough.   To avoid losing our homes or our minds,  we have to find creative ways to save money, as well as to make more money so that we have money to save. 

Some of the creative ways you can save money are:

-If you get paid bi-weekly, have at least $50 automatically sent to your savings account each pay period, so that you have $100 per month saved.  If you start this process in January, by the end of the year you will have saved $1200.00.  If you can afford to save more, do it.  If you can only afford $10 or $20 dollars, save what you can.

-Look around your house for things that you don't need or haven't used in several years.  Gather those things and hold a sidewalk sale, or post them on Facebook Marketplace or Poshmark to sell.  When pricing items, be mindful of shipping costs as well.

-Shop for groceries that might be off brand, but edible.  Shop in bulk when you can, so that you can get food that last longer than one day.  When  you cook more at home, you save money on dining out for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Cook enough food so that you have some left over to take for lunch.  Buying lunch everyday adds up, that could be money that you save. 

-Use coupons and promotional deals, some store apps have discounts that are only offered through the store app, so download apps for the stores where you shop.  Be mindful that a coupon for buy 5 items get one free, is not really a savings, unless you NEED those 5 items.  You can save money by just buying one, if you only need one versus buying 5.  If you have to buy five items, to get the free item, trust me you have already paid for the "free" item.  If you have to spend a certain amount to get a discount, and you didn't need to spend that much money, you're still spending more to get the "discount."  It's not really a discount, unless you planned to spend that much money.  Don't buy into the hype, most stores mark up to mark down to make you think you're getting a deal.

-Save your change in a piggy bank and at the end of the year, deposit the change into your savings account.

-Write a book and self-publish the book on Amazon.com or Lulu.com, where you have minimal upfront cost, but long-term residual income when the books sells.

-Cancel unnecessary subscriptions.  Things that you can live without, or hardly use.

-Comparison shop for better deals on insurance, utilities, cell phone carriers, and other bills that might have a lower rate.

-Track your spending habits and eliminate impulsive purchases.

-Eliminate or reduce your gambling habit.  Take the money that you spend on gambling and put it in your savings account and see how much money you save in a year.  You'll probably get more than you did in lottery winnings.

It is important to have some money saved for incidentals, because there is always some unexpected expense that we didn't plan for, so saving something will help you prepare for it.

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By Jason Torrents