How To Save Money Fast, and Not Fall Into Fads

Here they are, your money saving tips:

We all do it, that money saving thing, and some of us better than others. Last week we took to Twitter and Instagram and asked the age-old question, how DO you save money fast? The outcome was great.

“How about you send me yours” - We HAVE. We're stronger together.

“Use cash as spending money, the physical will help you spend less” - but I want to spend it all *crying face emoji

“Stay home.” – Save lives. Save your wallet. C’mon, this is a win-win people.

“Hide your money from yourself. In purses, jackets, boxes.” - Oh man, plus the bonus “found money you forgot you even had” feeling you get later on. You’re welcome future self.

“Make your own food. + stop buying things you don’t need. Simple, but it works.” - Love it..now just have to learn to cook and NOT buy that massaging foot bath.

“When I first got a job, I spent half and saved half.” - We love a compromise! Treat both yourselves, present and future.

“Rob a bank it’s free money.” – Sure, we say your bank doesn't care about you (they don't) but maybe we just ignore their texts instead, yeah?

“Take what you wanted to spend (and didn’t) and put it into savings. Passed on a $6 burger? Savings.” - Ok got it, now plz advise on how to pass on the burger.

“Don’t spend money at all.” – You...you absolute genius.

“Lose your wallet.” - I feel like this isn’t the best idea but also I’m kind of with you?

“Hide your card” - But it’s my precious :(

“Lose your card so you can’t spend any money”... Are we seeing a theme here?

“The good ole weekly budget.” – 10/10. More on that here.

“Working” – Nothing if not direct.

“Take money out and have my mom hold it for me.” - Moms do know best.

“Only buy off the value menu at food places.” - Combo meals are overrated anyway.

“Don’t have kids, ever.” - Well that’s one way to do it! But not do it in that way...uhhh..nevermind.

“Eat someone else’s dinner.”  – This hurt.

“Cereal for dinner.” - Wait, everyone doesn’t already do this?

“Use water instead of toilet paper” – This week's challenge, activated.

“Use Cleo” – And on that note, it’s our turn!

Hot Money Saving Tips Straight from Cleo

Y’all are financial geniuses and we’re loving it. Now that we’ve got some dope info from the social media sphere, we felt the need to add our hot takes. We know, we always make it about us. Sorry, sorry, but we’re just trying to help! Now strap in for some money saving tips straight from the source (the source being us):

Create a Budget

Oh stop groaning! We had to start with obvious stuff, right? Guys, we promise, budgets work. When they’re done right. When you create a comprehensive, flexible budget that works, you’ll slowly see (some) of your financial woes melt away, and you’ll see those stacks start to actually stack up. Don’t worry, Cleo has you covered on this one. Cleo can learn your expenses, your income, your savings goals, and a ton more to help you get a handle on your finances. This will help you save money pretty fast, and also set you up for future financial success. Now that’s not so bad, is it?

Cut Down the Damn Spending

Yeah yeah, keep on groaning. Look, even you guys were suggesting this stuff earlier! This isn’t news, and we’re gonna give ya a little tough love. You don’t need that Starbucks drinks every day. We know, it’s delicious and not even a little bit nutritious, but you can sacrifice it at least once a week. Then maybe twice. Then maybe it’s just a treat every now and then! Boom, you’re saving money. Also if you start cooking stuff at home, eating out less, shopping less, etc, etc, etc. yadda yadda yadda. You know the drill. It’s not the most glamorous way to save money fast, but it’s definitely a way that works.

Sell Your Shit You Don’t Need

One way to make money fast is to find all the stuff you don’t need and sell it. Have a ton of clothes you don’t wear anymore? Sell them! Been on the fence about whether or not you need that game system? Sell it! Piece of furniture you hardly use? Sell it! Not only will you get money, you’ll also get to Marie Kondo your life a little bit and declutter. You’ll feel better about your space and have some money to spare. There’s plenty of places to sell things too. You can bring clothes to stores like Plato’s Closet for a little bit of cash, but if you have more time you can sell everything individually on places like Craigslist, Poshmark, Ebay, Etsy, and Facebook Marketplace. You can sell most of your other non-clothing items on Craigslist, Ebay, and Facebook Marketplace. Just make sure you’re safe about meeting people and you do the sale in public places when possible and also make sure to bring a friend when possible!

Cut Down on Your Extraneous Expenses

Expenses are expenses right? Which means they’re kind of set in stone? Not necessarily, you can always check in with your various expenses and see if there’s any savings. Maybe your cable bill is more expensive than it needs to be. If you never watch TV, you can just pay for the Internet instead of the full cable package. Also, you might have faster Internet than you need. Also, you might have subscriptions that you’ve long forgotten about. Going through and canceling these is instant savings.

Obviously, you also have non-negotiable expenses like groceries and gas, but that doesn’t mean you can’t save money on these. Finding the cheapest version of your groceries, looking for coupons, and finding the cheapest gas near you can all add up in the long run. You can start buying in bulk too, if it’s an item that saves for a long enough time. Also, the pandemic has helped make online grocery shopping much easier. If you buy all your grocery items online, you can find the cheapest version of whatever you’re shopping for easily. Plus, the websites usually have all the coupons built in. Finally, you get to see what your final checkout price is before you buy, unlike when you’re at the grocery store and don’t find out until you’ve already scanned everything. And we all know how awkward it is to ask them to take something off. Yeah, not happening.

You can also lower your utilities expenses by keeping an eye on the thermostat, making sure you turn off lights that don’t need to be on, and not taking as long of showers. We know, a long hot shower is the best, but if you can limit them a little you can save a little on your utility bill.

Even your car insurance might be able to be renegotiated. If you take a lens to your expenses, you’re bound to find some stuff that you can reduce at least a little.

Have Friends Over, Don’t Go Out

We want this blog to be applicable at all times, so please pretend there’s currently NOT a global pandemic going on when you read this (note, there definitely is, make sure to wear your masks and social distance). When you’re finally allowed to see people again, you can save money by just having friends over instead of going out to a bunch of bars or a restaurant. Of course, go out every once and awhile, but mixing it up can’t hurt and if anything it can be a lot more fun.

Get Those Side Hustles Going

This might be one of the best ways to make money fast. If you can grab some good side hustles, you can really start stacking up the cash. With the pandemic and technology evolving, there are more gigs and freelance work opportunities than ever before. You can do a variety of different things like teaching on Skillshare, doing gigs on Fiverr or TaskRabbit, driving for Uber or Lyft, and freelancing on Upwork. And that’s just the beginning. If you have a skill, chances are there’s someone out there that will pay you to utilize. The nice thing about side gigs is that you can also make your own hours and determine how much work you can take on. In fact, many people are able to get enough work to make their side hustle their full-time job. If you’re an entrepreneur, you can even start your own business! The possibilities with side hustles are definitely out there for you to take advantage of. In fact, we wrote an entire blog about it. Make sure to check it out if you want to learn more.

Find a New Job

This might be a crazy suggestion during a pandemic, but it’s still something to strive for if you feel like you’re underpaid. It never hurts to find out what’s out there and take interviews. If you work for a company that doesn’t value you, you shouldn’t have to put up with that forever. In fact, one of the best ways to get a significant raise is to get a new job altogether. It’s almost impossible to get a $10,000 plus raise at your current position, but you can definitely find a company that pays that much more. Remember, even though the job market is uncertain right now, you should still keep in mind that you have value and that you deserve to be treated fairly when it comes to your career.

Use Cleo to Help You Save Your Money

If you want to save money fast, Cleo can definitely help with that. Cleo is designed to help you get your financial life in order, in whatever way you want. Cleo can help you set up a budget, Cleo can help you set up savings goals, Cleo can help you learn what expenses to cut. Cleo can do all of this and so much more. Plus, Cleo can be your friend. She has sick burns in spades and she can uplift you whenever you need it. In summation, Cleo is a financial, money saving, budget making app, but like, a cool money saving, budget making app.

So if you want to see what all the fuss is about, download Cleo today. You’ll definitely love what Cleo can do for you! Don’t forget to subscribe to the Cleo blog and get the latest posts delivered straight to your inbox.