Certainly, we all work hard for our money so we can take care of all our needs and still live comfortably. So, we're not too thrilled when we have to restrict our spending to save money consciously.

However, to fully enjoy and maximize your income, no matter the amount, it's important to have some money-saving tips and tricks up your sleeves.

Many ways to save money discussed throughout this article are tips that I've personally used and eventually turned into habits. It's how I've been able to save for a house and buy one, pay off my car loan and save both for my short-term expenses and my future.

They are not super restrictive; neither do they take out all the fun and comfort from your life. Instead, most of the short-term and long-term money-saving habits in this post would positively contribute to the overall well-being of your life.

Let's get started, shall we?

Save Money on Shopping

1. Shop with Coupons

Make it a habit to always check for coupons for anything you want to buy. For in-store shopping, make use of the store's coupon pamphlets, typically by the store entrance. Also, use apps like ibotta and checkout51 and websites like retailmenot to get discount codes you can use in stores.

While shopping online, you can install a free browser extension like Wikibuy that searches all Amazon merchants and makes sure you get the best price. It also applies coupon codes at checkout of thousands of online retailers.

2. Use Cashback and Reward Apps for Shopping

Saving money can be fun with cashback and reward apps. Apps like Wikibuy, Honey, Earny, Rakuten, and many others give you points, cash rewards, gift cards, and even refunds if an item you bought last week goes on sale this week.

Read our full Wikibuy review. Read our full Honey review.

3. Shop different Items During Sales Events

Do you know that there's a “best month” for every item you buy? That's because most sales events are crafted around major holidays and season changes.

For instance, back-to-school supplies and electronics are cheaper during the months of August and September.

Home décor, furniture, and small kitchen appliances are usually on sale in May because of mother's day and memorial day.

Of course, don't forget Black Friday Month – November, when almost every category is on sale.

So, make sure to time different purchases around the best months for those items.

4. Say NO to Saving Your Credit Cards Online

Make it difficult for yourself to buy things online with a simple click. Convenience can sometimes cost you money. Clear your card details from your browser and give yourself some time to have a second thought before making a purchase online next time.

PS: Don't memorize your card details like me, LOL.

5. Patronize Off-Price Retail Stores

Stores like Ross and T.J. Maxx sell many designer clothes at over 50% of high-end department stores' prices.

They can sell clothes at such discount prices because they sometimes buy them from high-end department stores that can't sell them.

However, they also buy them directly from the manufacturers at a good deal and still sell it at a discounted price to you.

So, before you go to the big department stores, check out the off-price retailers first.

6. Create a Shopping list Ahead of Time…with Estimated Prices

Sometimes, self-psychology is the best line of defense. Before you go shopping either to the grocery or clothing store, make a list of items you plan to buy and put the prices beside them. Then total up the cost and see if you're ok spending that amount of money at that time.

Watch how easy it'll be for you to cross some things off your list and save some money. Often, when you wait till you get to the cashier before knowing your cost, you just shrug off and pay for it anyway even though you realize you're spending a lot.

Give yourself more time to know how much you'll be spending at the store, or even online, and then slash that cost.

7. Brand and Store Loyalty

Stay loyal to a brand or store you love and reap all the benefits and rewards they offer to their members. You get perks like extra discounts, points that you can redeem to use with the store, free shipping, birthday discounts, and many more.

Save Money on Internet and TV

8. Reduce Your Cell Phone plan

Americans spent an average of $99 per month on cell phone plans last year. But if you check the actual mobile data usage, many people use less than 5GB of their monthly data plan. There's WiFi almost everywhere now.

First of all, you already pay for the internet plan in your home. Also, depending on whether you go to the office for most of the day, you have WiFi there. If you're at a restaurant, there's most likely WiFi there too.

So get rid of that Unlimited data plan you have with your service provider and switch to a much cheaper plan.

Use WiFi frequently whenever you're around a hotspot. Also, turn off the background usage of your apps.

Look through the breakdown of your cell-phone bill to make sure you're not paying for any add-on services you don't need.

9. Use Cheaper Alternatives to Cable

Let's be honest; you don't watch all 200 channels on your cable TV. So decide which channels you are really interested in and get a streaming service instead. Get services like Sling tv, Hulu, and FuboTV.

You can choose from so many options, and you don't even have to commit to one right away. They all have some free trial period that you can use to decide whether you want to stick with it or not.

You can also get most of the common channels with a digital antenna.

10. Sign up for Autopay with your Service Provider

Many mobile carriers will give you a $5 to $10 discount off your phone bill if you use their autopay service. You can save up to $100/year on your phone bill this way simply because you set up automatic payments. Another great thing about this is that you won't forget to pay the bills too.

Save Money on Utility Costs

11. Adjust Your Thermostat

You can save up to 10% a year on your HVAC system by simply turning your thermostat to 7°-10°F for 8 hours a day from its normal setting.

So in the winter, while you're away from home or asleep, you can set your thermostat below 68°F. Also, in the summer, you can set your thermostat higher than 78°F while you're away from home.

12. Reduce Hot Water Use

Reducing your hot water usage can lower your heating bill. You can use cold water to do most of your laundry, do the dishes and, wash your hands.

Even take shorter showers, and you don't have to turn the water faucet all the way to the scalding hot side.

13. Get Rid of Incandescent Bulbs

Incandescent lights waste 90% of energy as heat. So by replacing all the incandescent lights in your house, you can reduce your electricity cost. Go for alternative energy-saving light fixtures like LED.

14. Lower Temperature on Water Heater

Your water heater is usually set to 140°F by default, but you can set it to 120°F, which is still enough to heat your water and save you energy costs. You won't even tell the difference if you take a shower after lowering the setting.

Why? Because you don't even turn the water knob all the way to the left when using water. That's because you don't need it to get that hot anyway.

You will save about 5% on your energy bill for every 10°F you lower your water heater temperature.

Learn More: How to Save Money While Renting

Save Money for the Long-Term

15. Invest in the Financial Markets

I know stocks, bonds, and the “bulls and bears” jargon might seem a little intimidating, but investing in the financial markets has been a long-standing favorite wealth multiplier of many, and it can be yours too.

The great thing is that investing doesn't have to feel like rocket science anymore. You can take very simple steps to start investing either as a beginner or an experienced investor.

Learn More: How to Start Investing Like a Pro – The beginner's guide

Technology has made investing very easy and even fun these days. With modern investing tools and platforms such as M1 Finance and Wealthfront that let you buy fractional shares, investing in stocks, mutual funds, and the likes are now readily accessible to everyone, even with low capital.

Qapital is a fun app that helps you save money and also has an investing element to it. While you can save towards your short-term goals on the app, you can also save toward long-term goals using Qapital's invest feature, which automatically invest your savings for you.

Learn More: Read our full Qapital Review.

16. Open a Retirement Account

Put some money away for the future by creating a retirement account that you can't access until you're 65. It can be in the form of a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA, or a SEP IRA.

Retirement accounts are usually invested in the financial markets to achieve high returns rate and benefit from compound interest. So if you start saving for retirement early, your money has more time to grow.

Honestly, when I first realized I couldn't touch funds in a retirement account until I'm 65 years old, I didn't really feel like having one. Yet, I know I don't want to work for money or worry about taking care of myself when I'm old and gray. So, retirement account it is.

I'm in my 20s now, consistently investing in a retirement account, and I know 65-year old me would be thankful!

17. Match your company's 401k contribution

A great way to get free money is to match your company's 401k contribution. If your company will match up to 6% of your salary for your 401K, make sure you contribute the full amount and don't leave money on the table.

18. Refinance your loans to get a lower interest rate

Take advantage of low-interest rates by refinancing a high-interest loan to get a better rate. In the long run, you'll save on interest payments.

For example, let's assume you took a 30-year fixed mortgage of $300,000 at 5.125% in 2019.

If you refinance the loan at a lower interest of 2.966% in 2020, you will save $34,300 over the loan term and lower your monthly payments by $262.

However, you have to make sure that you check your specific loan conditions to see if refinancing will actually save you money.

19. Buy Quality

For items that are supposed to last you a long time, go for the quality option. That way, you don't have to change it frequently. The cheaper option may temporarily save you money, but you lose money instead when you have to replace it continuously.

20. High-Yield Savings account

A checking account does nothing for your money. While you keep your spending money in a checking account, open a high-yield savings account to save your money. You can earn up to 1% interest on your savings account.

However, this is not the best account to save money for more than 3-5 years. For that, you should consider an investment account.

21. Automate your Savings

Don't want to worry always about manually setting aside money for your savings goals? You can automate this process by using a money app to help you out.

Apps like Qapital, acorns, and digit can do all the work for you by rounding up your spare change and saving cents that you'll hardly even notice.

All you have to do is link a bank account to the app first. Then, create savings goals and set recurring deposits or rules to transfer funds to your savings goal accounts automatically.

22. Establish and Maintain Great Credit

It might not seem fair to you, but having great credit gets you the best deals when it comes to lending.

If you have a great credit score, you get opportunities for the best interest rates, the best credit cards with the most rewards, and even a better insurance premium.

Sometimes, landlords would also request that you have good credit before they can rent out to you.

However, it's easy to build great credit or even rebuild bad credit by following straightforward steps.

Learn More: How to Build Excellent Credit Score – 9 Proven Ways

23. Be Health Conscious

Health is Wealth! It's not a cliché

Taking care of yourself and your health can save you lots of money in hospital bills. Do simple things like eating healthy, exercising, doing an annual physical, and resting properly.

Keep your body happy and prevent yourself from getting sick

24. Maintain Everything

Equipment, machinery, and appliances break down the same reason the body does, no maintenance.

Take care of your car by changing the oil regularly and getting a tune-up as required to keep the engine and other parts working for a long time.

Service your HVAC at the right time and frequently change your air filter to make it last longer and get quality air.

Also, handle your appliances with care, your dishwasher, laundry machines, and everything else.

Treat everything you own properly to reduce unwanted repair and replacement costs.

25. Invest in Yourself

This is one of the best investment decisions you will ever make. Get yourself books, courses, and training resources to either help you develop some skill you find interesting or to develop your mind.

I'm a big advocate for getting financially educated, so invest in your money-handling skills, and your finances would be better off for it.

Manage your Money Efficiently

26. Create a Budget

A budget would help you keep track of your finances, plan your money wisely, and develop better spending habits.

There are several budget techniques you can try to find one that suits your lifestyle.

Whether you're the hands-on type of budgeter or you prefer a laid back approach that still keeps you in control of your money, there's a budget for you.

Learn More: How to Budget and Save Money to Transform your Finances Free Budget Templates

27. Build an Emergency Fund

Set some money aside for unexpected events. No one expects emergencies like needing a new transmission for your car, but things happen.

It's recommended that you save up to 3 – 6 months' worth of living expenses as an emergency fund. That way, you're prepared for surprises.

28. Refine your Spending Habits

You'll be surprised how much money you can save yourself just by becoming conscious of how you spend your money.

Simple things like buying your frequently used items in bulk, committing to a no-spend day, limiting the number of grocery runs per week, or triggering saving rules based on your spending activities can go a long way to improve your money habits.

You don't have to worry about figuring it out on your own. Many apps can help you track all your transactions and see what you spend your money on the most.

Clarity Money, a free budgeting and saving app, lets you see what you spent on any type of purchases (like McDonald's) over time.

Personal Capital is also has a free money management app that helps you keep track of your transactions.

29. Say Goodbye to your Gym Membership

In June of this year, I walked into Crunch fitness to cancel my membership and walked out $29 richer monthly. My reason was the COVID-19 pandemic, but I had stopped using it since September of 2019 when I moved back to campus.

Although I had put a 3-month hold on it, I ended up paying for 6 more months ($174) because Crunch fitness has an annoying cancellation policy requiring you to cancel your membership in person.

All that to say get rid of your gym payments ASAP if you don't use it at least 3 times a week. Try out fitness apps or youtube easy-to-follow fitness videos instead.

Learn More: 23 Money-Saving Apps that will Fast Track your Savings

Manage/Avoid Debt as Much as You Can

30. Consolidate debt

Debt can be super annoying, and managing multiple debts can be draining. However, if you have too many different debts from credit cards, high-interest loans, and other bills, you can combine them all into one and save some money in the process.

Bundling up all your debts into one monthly payment can help lower your overall interest rate, reduce your monthly payment, and pay down debt sooner.

A personal loan is a simple way to consolidate your debt. Get a personal loan at a fixed interest rate, use it to pay off your multiple debts, and simply pay back the personal loan.

31. Pay Credit Card Bills on Time

Credit card debt is one of the worsts to have especially because they tend to have very high-interest rates. So, try to pay off your credit card balances every month and on time.

No doubt, it may be difficult to do this if you've already accumulated a high balance, but at least try to pay off a little more than the minimum required amount monthly.

A good credit card practice is to never use a credit card for more than the amount you can comfortably pay off in a month. This way, your balance never has to snowball month after month.

32. Start Saving for College Early

Whether you plan to go to college soon or you have kids who will someday go to college, the earlier you start putting money aside for college, the better.

The average student loan debt in the U.S in 2020 is $32,731. By saving consistently in advance, you can take care of some or all of your college costs.

If you would like to save for your kids' college fees, look into setting up a 529 college savings plan on their behalf.

Finally…

There you have it! We've talked about easy ways to save money that require minimal lifestyle changes. Ever since I decided to be intentional about how I save, my life improved considerably when it came to my finances.

There are 32 tips mentioned here, but you can pick the best 5 or the best 10 ways for you to transform your saving habits today.

I would love to hear from you in the comments. What do you do to save currently, and which tips discussed here do you want to start using?