During my post about how we paid off $24,000 of debt on a $54,000 salary in 2015, and then the one I wrote about our budget for 2016, I promised you an awesome post with tons of ways to save and make money that you haven’t heard of yet.

I always get tons of reader questions about how exactly we did it: cutting our spending, finding the time to make more money, and even how to balance family and budgeting, so I came up with this list in hopes that it will help you save your budget, or answer your questions about our particular way of going about paying off that much debt.

I hope that you’re working towards a big financial goal: not necessarily crazy early retirement, but maybe saving for a home, a car paid for with cash, or paying down exiting debt, and that this list will help you.

When the hubs and I did this, we started with a completely blank budget, and a mindset that we needed to challenge every single budget line.  No “stone” was to be left upturned, and we were not to take any expensive for granted.

{We budget with the Marriage & Money Book + Planner.  Read about it here}

Anything and everything could be reduced, we just had to get creative.

Start With Easy

Insurance

We started by challenging our insurance payment amount, and by doing so – with a single phone call! – we saved more than $500 per year!

A single phone call saved us $500 a year. Here’s how:

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That single phone call was to our local credit union, the one that we bank with, to ask if we could speak with the insurance broker they worked with.  They very eagerly agreed and transferred us to a woman named Nicole, the insurance broker, who took down our information and input into more than 20 different home and auto insurance providers.

We gave her our preferred coverage, as well as what we were paying already, and asked her to beat it.

A few hours later, we got a call back, where Nicole laid out all of our choices, pricing, and coverage.

We were able to move from our previous insurance provider to our current one, because we actually signed up for better coverage, a smaller deductible, and of course a smaller payment on both our home and auto insurance.

The result: a $30 monthly savings, for a total of $360 a year

These Will Save You Thousands {Easily}

Everything is negotiable, even mortgage, auto, and debt payments: you just have to know where to look.

Everything is negotiable, even your mortgage, auto, and other debt payments

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We got creative lowering our interest rates and payments, and hopefully our experience will help you too!

Property Taxes

I didn’t realize this, but a quick google search told me that property taxes are not set in stone.

Nope, you can “protest” them, based on a lower appraisal, local home values, or any number of other things, which sounds awesome, but you do have appear in front of some sort of committee, which no one really has time.

But, there are companies who will do it for you!  Do a quick google search of “your city” + “protest property taxes” and see what google comes up with.

In exchange for half of however much they lower your taxes, they will take whatever information you have and protest your taxes for you.  They don’t get paid if you do.

The result: $440 per year

A Balance Transfer

We had a credit card we were struggling to get paid off because we felt like we were losing a battle with the interest each month.

Luckily, because of our great credit, we were able to complete a balance transfer with our credit card, which got us 0% interest for 15 months.

The result: $180

Debt Refinance

We had an ATV loan through a small, very uncooperative credit union at an unheard-of rate of 7.8%.

We also had an auto loan for 150% of our car’s value at an interest rate of 7.8% as well.

Finally, we were paying PMI of $40 a month on our mortgage that was 45% of our home’s value, at an interest rate of 2.75%.

When you look at each of those debts separately, they seem impossible to reduce the payments and interest rates.  But, with a little creativity from our new, amazing credit union, and looking at them as a whole, we were able to “mix and match our debt” in the following way:

We refinanced our home with a home equity loan at 3.25%, dropped our PMI, and added in the remaining balance on our ATV loan, as well as enough of our auto loan to reduce it to 125% of the value.

From there, we were able to refinance our auto loan debt at 2.9%

{Read about our refinance experience in more detail}

The result: $37,500 over the lives of the loans, and $7,296 a year

“Smaller” Budget Lines

Wasn’t it Benjamin Franklin who said “A penny saved is a penny earned” ?

Don’t ignore smaller budget lines just because of the lesser dollar amounts.  When you take care of them, your whole budget will work smoother.

Don’t ignore smaller budget lines just because they’re small. Pennies add up to dollars

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Cell Phones

We had already switched to Republic Wireless, enjoying our top of the line Moto X phones, and our $2,100/year savings over our Verizon bill.  But, we’d been using 4G data plans, because we were convinced that we wouldn’t actually use the data, and be refunded for it (because Republic Wireless refunds you for data you don’t use.  They’re game-changers like that)

{Read about how Republic Wireless refunds you for data you don’t use}

But we use crazy amounts of data, so we were still paying $90+ for two lines with unlimited talk, text, and data.

We decided together to give up the data plans for the $10/month unlimited talk & text plan (knowing full well that Republic Wireless will allow us to change our plans back to data at any time during the month, right from our phones, should we get ourselves into a situation where we needed it)

Find out more about Republic Wireless here.

The result: a $65 savings monthly, or $780/year

Home Phone

Because our home phone and internet were bundled, we thought we were saving money.

Boy, were we wrong.

By switching to non-bundled internet, and moving our home phone to Republic Wireless for $5/month, our total phone+internet bill went form $70/month to $45/month.

The result: a $25 savings per month, or $300/year

Clothing

For a while, we stopped buying clothing, but once yard sale season rolled around, it was one!

We hit yard sales nearly every weekend, picking up clothes for summer, winter, and beyond for pennies on the dollar.  In my estimation, the clothes we bought for $100 at yard sales during the summer would have cost us nearly $750 in a store (based on Kohl’s prices)

The result: $650 yearly savings

Food

For the month of December, we at from the freezer.  We didn’t do a no-spend month, because those feel very restrictive, and we didn’t make a rule that we couldn’t buy food from the grocery store.

Rather, it was a concentrated effort to use up food in the pantry and freeze by any and all means, to free up space, waste less, and declutter.

{Read the Empty The Freezer Challenge}

We’re actually going to do this a couple more times this year!

The result: $200 savings

I cannot stress enough the value of keeping things simple when trying to save money on food.

Sticking to staples and making things from home, rather than buying pre-processed foods, buying quality, not quantity, and eating produce in season, are all great, but for someone like me who tends to overthink everything, the choices can still be overwhelming.

So, by choosing to focus on one protein, or one vegetable per meal, I was able to slow down the process in my brain and focus on the task at hand: eating inexpensively.

The result: I estimate a $60 monthly savings, for $720 a year

By far, my absolute best tip for saving on food is that if you have an Aldi, use it!

Aldi prices are typically 40% lower than other chain stores.

The result: $200 a month, or $2,400 a year

Discounted Gift Cards

One way that we discovered (rather late in the game) was the power of buying “used” gift cards to cut the cost of groceries, eating out, and even specialty foods and gifts.

No, they’re not actually used, but rather they’re gift cards that people received as gifts, but didn’t want.  So, sites like Gift Card Granny, and Plastic Jungle swoop in and buy them at a discount – and then sell them to people who actually want them (at a discount, of course)

Now, I’ve never actually found an Aldi gift card on one of these sites, but you can find Amazon, Walmart, Target, Sam’s Costco, Kohl’s, and about a thousand other stores with discounts ranging from 2% – 30%

The result: $100 over a year

Plan Your Meals

I hate meal planning.  It’s time consuming and drives me crazy.  Plus, I’ll schedule a meal and then run out of time to make it, which frustrates me to no end!

That’s why we use eMeals.  For $5 a month, you can choose from more than 30 types of meals plans (budget friendly, gourmet, slow cooker, paleo + many, many more), choose your favorite store, and then have a complete meal plan & shopping list emailed to you ever week.

It’s a no-brainer for us.  Check out eMeals at their website.

The result: $100/month in non-wasted food

All Of The Other Ways You’ve Already Heard About

We pack our lunches for work, rarely eat out, never buy soda, brew our own coffee, schedule “cheap eats” weeks, and limit juice and alcohol content.  These are all rather small things that we didn’t use to do, but now do on autopilot, not even questioning them.

The result: $400 per month, or $4,800 per year

Don’t Forget About The Kiddos

Toys

We firmly believe that children do not need lots of toys, but that doesn’t mean they don’t enjoy them.

That is why we rarely so no to free toys.

So far, this habit has racked up: a Little Tikes cozy Couple, a Power Wheels Convertible (worked perfectly) 2 kids table and chair sets, a tricycle, 2 strollers, and numerous other smaller toys.

However, we only leave out 3 toys at at time, which we believe helps our 2 year old focus, play better, use her imagination more, and increases her attention span.

The result: $350 a year

Car Seats

Quick confession: our daughter has always had “used’ car seats.

Our daughter has always had perfectly safe, “used’ car seats – for free. Here’s how:

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Now, before you start writing me a hate email about how unsafe this is, read this: all of our car seats were perfectly safe.  They came from friends and family, so we knew that they had never been in an accident, were not expire, and also that they were 400+ car seats.

The Rolls-Royce of car seats, really.

I don’t advise buying car seats from strangers, since you don’t know how safe they are, but accepting friends and family’s car seats is perfect ok!  So far, we’ve been given 2 infant car seats, and 3 “transitional” seats, that work from the time the child is able to sit up to the booster seat stage.

The result: $1,000 a year (I’m not kidding!)

Baby’s Room

Our baby was a surprise, to save the least.  It doesn’t mean we love her any less, but it does mean that we weren’t exactly financially prepared for a baby.

Luckily, our financial state allowed us to accept help from friends and family (again)

We were given a used crib, changing table, 2 dressers, toys, rugs, and even decorations for her room – and that was even before all 3 of our baby showers!

Total savings: close to $1,000, had we bought everything

Diapers

Nope, we didn’t cloth diaper – thank goodness!

Instead, I couponed for diapers before she was even born, stockpiling them in our basement.  This way, we were able to build a “buffer” of diapers and spread out the cost over many, many month.

It worked so well that we didn’t buy a single diaper after she was born – for a year and half.  No late night trips to the drugstore, no buying diapers at the warehouse clubs, no diapers with our weekly grocery run.  When it was all said and done, I added up our spending + savings from my receipts and ended up saving 46% on our diapers.

The result: $690 savings, over a year and a half.

Around The House

Natural Cleaners

Yes, we jumped on the natural, homemade cleaners bandwagon.  Partially because we now had a kiddo and wanted the chemicals we used to be safe for her, but also because they are so darn cheap!  Five ingredients: baking soda, vinegar, borax, liquid soap, and oxi clean will literally clean everything in your house.

We compromised and started making our own laundry detergent.

{Read about our laundry room battle here}

The result: I estimate a $100 savings over a year

Check Amazon First

My best tip, when buying anything from organizing, to specialty foods, to home decor, and even some clothing and electronics is to always check Amazon first. Even if you don’t like shopping online, if you’re committed to saving money, definitely check Amazon.

They consistently have lower prices than any brick and mortar store on many household goods, and they’re handy app allows you to take a picture of almost any item and Amazon will find it, along with a price for comparison.

The result: $150 savings over a year.

Skip Black Friday

Sure, if you’re committed to waiting until the last minute to shop, Black Friday will have some good deals in store for you.  But, if you’ve been shopping all year for Christmas, or are willing to wait until AFTER Christmas, you can score even better deals!

We typically compile a list of things that want and need during the Christmas season – our consumerism comes out – and then hold onto that list until after Christmas, when literally everything goes on clearance!

The result: $300 savings as year.

Of course, you can rescue your budget by finding creative ways to make extra money, too!

Swagbucks

Swagbucks rewards you for doing things you already do, like searching the internet, printing coupons, and watching videos.  In the last year alone, I earned more than $250 of Amazon gift cards through Swagbucks.

When you sign up through my link, you’ll be given 100 a 100 Swagbuck bonus!

The result: $250 a year

Bing Rewards

If you can’t use/don’t like Swagbucks, Bing Rewards is another way to get rewarded for searching the internet.  Their rewards model is simple: you earn one point for every two searches, and a $5 Amazon gift card is 475 points.

The result: $75.00/year

Qmee

You can actually use Qmee in conjunction with Bing Rewards, Swagbucks, and Screenwise Trends Panel – double dipping in rewards!  Qmee is a browser extension that works with whatever search engine you choose and when you enter your search terms, Qmee adds in a few suggestions for results.  If you click on them, you are rewarded with money in your Qmee Bank.

The result: $50/year

Screenwise Trends Panel

Also a browser extension, Screenwise Trends Panel pays up to $2.00 for doing absolute nothing but installing the extension and using your computer like normal. The extension monitors your browsing history for advertising companies (nothing private is monitored or stored, don’t worry) and it can be installed on your phones, tablet, and computer to earn money.

The result: $104/year

AdMe

AdMe is an app that installs on your smartphone and displays ads on the lock screen.  You simply swipe like normal to open your phone, and each time and ad is displayed, you earn money.  You can cash out via PayPal when you total reaches $10, and AdMe covers the fees.

The result: $96/year

eBates

You’ve probably seen the commercials for eBates, and yes, earning cash back from online shopping through eBates is very easy with eBates.  Simply start your shopping at eBates and watch the cash-back add up!

You can cash out your balance in any amount, either by check or by Amazon credit.

Plus, when you sign up for eBates through my link, eBates will give you a $10 bonus when you make your first purchase!

The result: $100/year

Amazon Mechanical Turk

Have a few minutes while watching your favorite show and want to make some extra cash (0r breathing room in your budget)?

Amazon Mechanical Turk allows you to perform “micro-tasks” and receive a paycheck for them!  You won’t get rich working on Amazon Mechanical Turk, but this year alone I made $600!

The result: $600/year

Opinion Outpost

There are tons of survey sites on the internet that will “pay you to give your opinion” – in pennies.

I like Opinion Outpost because they pay more than pennies, and in my experience are one of the highest-paying survey sites out there.  You can learn more about Opinion Outpost at their site.

The result: $300/year

Harris Poll

Harris Poll is a close second as far as pay vs. time spent on survey sites, which is why I’m recommending it as a secondary option for you.

The result: $200/year

Pinecone

Pinecone doesn’t pay as much as some other sites, but they still do pay well, at $3 per survey, which they pay by check every single time.  $3 doesn’t seem like much, but it really adds up!

You can join Pinecone here.

The result: $160/year

iBotta

iBotta is a rebate app that frequently offers high-dollar rebates for commonly bought grocery items at specific stores.  Simply install it on your smartphone, shop as you normally would, and then when you purchase an items that has a rebate, scan your receipt in to receive the rebate.

You can sign up for iBotta here.

The result: $78/year 

Checkout 51

Another rebate app, Checkout 51 works at any store, and frequently posts offers for “any brand” produce, milk, and eggs.   Offers change weekly, and you can use Checkout 51 in conjunction with iBotta, and SNAP!

Sign up for Checkout 51 here.

The result: $78/year

SNAP! by Groupon

Snap! by Groupon is the new kid on the block, as far as rebate apps go, but it functions very similarly to Checkout 51 and iBotta.  This app allows you to save on name brand products as well as daily rotating offers on produce, eggs and milk!  Simply snap a picture of your receipt, upload it to the app, and your rebate will be processed within a few hours.

Sign up for Snap! by Groupon here.

The result: $156 per year

Just because your budget is in the red, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be saved.

By challenging every single budget line, leaving no stone unturned, and of course, making extra money in just a few minutes a day, your budget can be completely saved.

Or, if you’re saving for a financial milestone like paying off a loan or buying a house, making these changes to your budget can help you get there faster!

What are your favorite ways to save and make money?

P.S. Have you entered January’s giveaway yet? Share this post on Facebook, Twitter, or Pinterest for a chance to win a printed & bound copy of Marriage & Money, the book + workbook that we use to budget, manage our bills, and reach out financial goals!
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This post may contain affiliate links.  See my disclosures for more information.

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