12 Ways to save money this year

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After spending money on gifts for Christmas and on deals for Black Friday and Boxing Day, it’s time to save some money in 2019. I’ll be sharing some ideas that could inspire you to save more money this new year.

These are simple ways that anyone can save money.

There are two main categories. One is about doing an action that will lead you to not spend money, thus saving money. The other is to make some money decluttering and you will have the extra cash to save.

Here are 12 Ways to save money this new year:

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(In no particular order)

Regift your Christmas gifts

You received a lot of gifts from family, friends, and maybe neighbours this past Christmas. Some you love, and some not so much.

With the gifts that you think might be better for others instead of for you, you can keep them aside to regift them next Christmas or someone’s birthday. Please do not regift back to the gift giver.

You can save money and not buy one gift because you can regift this gift from last year. It might be a good White Elephant gift.

If you want to let the giver know that you appreciate the thought and want to bless someone else with the gift, they might appreciate it. However, you will have to decide based on your relationship with the giver.

Watch Google Play Movies or Netflix instead of going to the Movies

Unless you are going to the movies for a specific movie, maybe try Google Play Movies or Netflix (if you have an account) instead.

For Google Play Movies, you can either rent the movie or buy it. When watching with others, you can all share the cost and have a movie night at someone’s house with all the snacks that you can make.

Or, if you are having a date night, you can enjoy a rented movie on your couch and cuddle together under a shared blanket.

If you have a Netflix account, there are so many movies you can watch. Some of them have trailers that you can watch before deciding on the movie.

Before we had Baby K, M and I would browse way too long and have such a hard time to decide what to watch.

Hopefully, you’re better than us.

If you want to watch a specific movie, look up the different theatres in your area to see the price difference. We found one that was a few dollars cheaper (not 3D, but we were fine with that).

Eat more frequently at home

Eating out can be very expensive. It really adds up. With tips and tax, our meals can cost a lot more than we want them to.

Let’s try eating more at home. Groceries can seem very expensive, but if we can make multiple meals with what we bought, it saves us a lot of money per meal.

Sell furniture

When we are clearing away our Christmas decorations, it would be a good time to look around the house for furniture that we do not need or use for a long time. Sell them on Facebook Marketplace or an online marketplace local to your area.

Not only you can declutter your space, but you’ll also be able to make some money as well.

You can do some research online to see how much furniture similar to yours sell for. Then, you can post it online with good pictures to attract the customer and price you’re looking for.

Make your gift list for the year now

Some of you love to do tons of research, and you want the best deal when shopping. Why not try making a list in the beginning of the year for birthdays, anniversaries, and even Christmas?

It might be too early for some of you, but you can think about what the person likes and when the item goes on sale, you will be able to get it earlier and save it until it was time to gift it.

When I go shopping and I see something that my nephew might like, I might get it if it is on sale or at a really good price.

Use coupons from flyers

I’m not talking about extreme couponing. Companies send out coupons once a while, or on a regular basis. If you do not use them, then consider it as wasteful.

When we buy diapers, we go to Loblaws (a supermarket here in Canada) to get the $10 coupon before buying it at the other store that has the diapers on sale. We do the same with McD, eating there when they send us coupons in the mail.

Go online to your city’s website to see if there are any free activities or festivals happening near you. Depending on your interest, there might be an event that has free entry and you can walk around.

You can also take strolls or drive by neighbourhoods that have really nice Winter decorations in their lawns.

In Toronto, you can skate for free at Nathan Phillips Square (provided you have your own skates). Near Toronto, you can walk around Main Street Unionville to enjoy the decorations and sometimes live music.

Sell old textbooks or clothing

Similarly to selling furniture, you can try to sell your textbooks and clothing online. Students who will be taking the same course as you might want to buy second-hand textbooks if they are not too old.

With clothing, you can sell them on the different apps available in your country. I am not too familiar with what is available in Canada, but there are some people selling through different apps like Poshmark and also Instagram.

Can you tell I don’t have the experience of selling my clothing? Haha!

Do potlucks instead of dining at restaurants

When eating and hanging out with your friends, try potlucks instead of going to restaurants. Everyone can bring one dish and you can stay at late as your host will allow.

You can save a lot of money, even if you buy one dish to bring to the potluck.

With a potluck, you can choose what you would like to eat from the buffet and also not stress about the cost of all the food.

Use your local library services

Visiting your local library is not just for borrowing books. I recently found out that you can also borrow online books and comics that you can read at home on your phone or computer.

They also have programs that you can take your kids to, computers with internet access for you to use, and even movies and magazines to borrow.

I cannot wait to check out the programs and books for Baby K.

Homemade gifts

One way to save money is to make your own gifts.

Caution: If you are not the type to create things, you might want to consider semi-DIY or buying the gift. It might be more expensive if you need to buy the materials and are not familiar with creating extravagant homemade gifts.

Start small or semi-DIY, then slowly work on the fancier gifts. Homemade gifts are usually personalized so the person who receives your gifts will be touched by your creativity and effort put into making the gift for them.

Visit the Dollar Store

If you have read my other posts, you’ll know that I like the Dollar Store.

Why am I asking you to visit the dollar store? It is because you’ll be surprised by what you can find there.

I’ve bought gifts, wedding related items, and so much more at the dollar store.

Hope you’ve enjoyed reading this super long post of how to save money this new year.

Please let me know below how you plan to save money this year.

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