Save Money In Ways You've Never Thought Of Before With These 10 Tips

Take your savings wherever you find them, even if they aren’t in the bank.

“You can definitely start with the change in the middle console of your car,” said Sheldon Crow, branch manager at Bellco Credit Union in Arvada, Colorado.

“If it works for you, that is a savings account.”

Guys who toss their pocket change each night into a jar or drawer may be astonished at how much they’ve piled up in change.

Do you have gift cards lingering in your wallet, a pile of tips you haven’t bothered to deposit, store credit, a cash-back account you’re ignoring, or a reloadable charge card you forgot you reloaded?

Maybe you let your PayPal or Venmo account balance increase whenever you sell something on eBay or a friend pays you back for a night out.

Honor your cash-stashing habits as creative ways to save money, whatever they are.

It’s great to do all your banking in one place, especially if you bank online.

But when the money you saved is just a few keystrokes away, even determined savers can give in to the temptation to make a quick transfer to cover a bill, or withdraw savings from the ATM “just this once.”

So make it a challenge to access that money.

Deposit savings in a different institution from your everyday accounts.

Shred the ATM card so you have to bank in person.

Pick one that’s far away from your home or work, with inconvenient hours.

Choose a bank that charges big fees for withdrawals or a brokerage that makes you wait 48 hours for a transfer.

As always, before you make any big spending decisions, ask yourself a few very important questions about your purchase.

If you’re finally making your last car payment, or paying off a credit card or a student loan, avoid the temptation to bump up your spending or accrue new debt.

Instead, divert into savings the same amount you’ve been paying all these months.

Such money-saving tips don’t change your standard of living, so you won’t notice any difference in your budget, but you’ll be paying yourself instead of a creditor.

If you find yourself tempted to get back into debt, there are steps you can take to break the habit of overspending.

Congrats, you got a bonus (or a big tax refund or a check from a relative).

Good for you! Use this rule of thirds: Put one-third into savings, one-third to reduce debt, and the final third to spend on something wonderful for yourself.

Don’t save the whole amount, which will make you feel virtuous, but deprived.

This plan gives you balance—you allocate some of your unexpected cash to the past (paying off debt), some to the future (saving), and the rest on a present for yourself.

Understanding that people need encouragement to save, the financial industry came up with a clever and painless way to do it: automatic savings.

Every time you use your debit card to make a purchase or pay a bill, these accounts round up the purchase amount to the nearest dollar, transfer the difference from checking to savings, and keep track of how much you’re putting away.

It’s just like your change jar, only virtual.

Bank of America calls their product the “Keep the Change” Savings Program, and many banks and credit unions offer something like it.

And when you do use a credit card, make sure it works in your favour. It may sound counter-intuitive, but using your credit card account cleverly can actually save you money, too.

The app Acorns works like a roundup account, but with a twist, sending a percentage of each transaction, up to a dollar, into an investment account.

The good part: You’re giving your cash extra chances to grow, in one of five portfolios of exchange-traded funds. Acorns offer a mix of equities or bonds, depending on how aggressive or conservative you want to be. The tricky part: Because it’s an investment account, money saved with Acorns isn’t federally insured in the US, as it would be with a bank or credit union.

Another US app, Digit, analyzes your bank account balances and spending habits, with the goal of sneaking a little money from checking to savings every day. Both apps charge fees, so check the user agreement carefully.

Here’s a fun project to do with kids: Put five cents in a jar today. Tomorrow, put in ten cents, then 15 cents the next day, 20 the day after that… you get the idea.

If you carry on for a full year, the most you’ll have to deposit in the jar on a single day, on Day 365, is $18.25, and you’ll have stashed away $3,339.75.

A less regimented, but more lucrative, money-saving tip goes like this: Every time you get a $5 bill, put it aside.

One of the world’s wealthiest men, Alan Corey, knew just how to turn saving into a game to his advantage, as did many others of the world’s mega rich.

If you enjoy buying lottery tickets or playing slot machines, a couple of new apps combine round-up savings with online gaming. Long Game works like the other round-up apps, but lets you play online games for cash and prizes with credits that you accrue based on the money you’ve deposited.

Although the prizes are real, your deposited money is never at risk—the larger your real balance, the more game credits you receive.

Another free banking app, Qapital, encourages its users to set up goals to save toward, so you put your round-up savings into your “Mexico trip” goal, rather than just into savings.

You can also set up applets on Qapital that automatically move a little money into savings as a reward (every time you go to the gym), a penalty (every time you don’t), or just for grins (every time your favorite team scores).

Some banks still count coins for free, and almost all provide paper coin wrappers. Some kiosks do a speedy job of transforming your pile of coins into cash, donations, or gift vouchers, but be careful some machines can charge a fee for cash redemption.

Skip the search beneath your couch cushions, and instead cut dollars from your budget by examining your monthly bank and credit card statements for recurring charges that you don’t want or need anymore.

A quick review will unearth the gym membership you never use, monthly charitable deductions, and subscriptions to magazines or music streaming services you can do without.

Then take a few hours to call your insurance, cable, Internet, and mobile-phone providers.

If you’ve been a longtime customer, your rates may have crept up without you noticing.

Communications companies and insurers know it costs much more to lure a new customer than to keep an old one, so a few minutes on the phone asking – nicely – for discounts can reset your rates and save hundreds.