11 Easy Ways to Save $50 per month

Budgeting and saving money isn’t a race; it is a marathon. We are in a lifetime marathon to budget and use our money wisely.

Sometimes, we realize we need just a bit extra in our budget. Whether you just want another $50 per month to put into savings or need a bigger grocery budget, there are plenty of ways to save $50 each month.

Most of these methods I have personally tried with positive results. While not all of save $50 by themselves, you should pick one or two to try. Together, most of them will save you $50 over a span of time. Mind you, some of them mean you have to wait for the following month to see the results. That’s ok; it is a marathon!

Let’s start with one of the most obvious choices:

• Cut Out Cable: If you have yet to try this, cutting cable can save you a boatload of money each year. Netflix, Amazon Prime, and Hulu are three of the most popular streaming choices. I bet you won’t even miss it! Cutting cable can save you between $50 and $100 per month, equaling a yearly savings of $600 to $1,200. Is cable really worth it?

One of the places people can easily find money is their grocery budget. Each week, we tend to buy a bit more than we logistically need, but that helps on the weeks when the budget is thinner.

Ways to Save $50 per Month

• Go Meatless Once a Week: I’m a total meat and potatoes type girl, but I understand that meat costs money. Ground beef can cost up to $6 per pound, depending on your location and source. Ground turkey typically is close to $4 per pound. I’m not saying go crazy with some vegan meal, requiring you to buy different ingredients. Instead of having meat sauce with your spaghetti, eliminate the meat. Replace the ground beef in sloppy joes with lentils (the texture is the same). Depending on the cost in your area, going meatless once a week can save you between $16 and $24.
• Make Your Own Yogurt: This task can seem daunting. Is it truly possible to make your own yogurt? Absolutely! While you can use an Instant Pot, all you really need is a crockpot. The cost for your first batch will be the cost of a gallon of milk and a small tub of plain yogurt, for the starter. Now, you are ready to make yogurt! Flavor it with fruit, honey, maple syrup or jam. We eat a lot of yogurt, so this equals a savings of $40 per month!
• Buy in Bulk: I am a believer in buying bulk. We love Costco. Take a good look at what your family eats on a regular basis. Make sure you know the price per unit (ounces or pounds, for example) of the item you typically buy at your store. Then, go to Costco or Sam’s Club. Remember, you have to be able to use all of the food or it is a waste of money. However, there are plenty of deals for everyone. We purchase 3 pounds of lunchmeat for $10. The same price at the store would equal $18 to $20. It is a small savings on ONE ITEM. Shopping in bulk easily saves us $30 to $50 per month.
• Start a Small Garden: If you’ve never gardened, it can seem intimidating, but it really isn’t! Pick three or four of your favorite veggies, and set out to grow them. Learn how to preserve! For the last five years, our family preserved all of our tomato based products (sauces, diced tomatoes, soups) from the tomatoes we grew. It is an estimated savings of $200, and it can be even higher the more you grow.

The way we live our life costs money. While you don’t need to make HUGE changes to save $50, pairing a few of these together will increase your budget in a big way! Of course, you may live a frugal life already and these may not apply to you.

• Buy a Reusable Coffee Cup: There is no reason to purchase coffee while you are out if you know you will buy it anyway. A spur of the moment cup is one thing; a planned purchase is just silly. A reusable cup costs around $5 and lasts a lifetime. If you purchase 3 cups of coffee at $2 each per week, that is $6 a week, $24 a month and $288 a year. I know you can find other ways to spend that money.
• Hang Clothes to Dry: I once did an experiment. I line dried every single thing in the summer to see if it would reduce my extremely high electric budget. Can you imagine my shock when my bill was $50 lower than the previous year and month? I nearly fell out of my seat. Not only does hanging clothes help to preserve your clothes for years to come reducing your clothing budget, it also decreases your electric bill. For most people, one load of drying costs $.75. That doesn’t seem expensive until you are drying 15 to 20 loads a week!
• Eat Out Only Once Per Month: I would tell you not to eat out at all, but I know that doesn’t work for our family. We love to treat ourselves and eat out, or even order in. We set a budget when we go out and make sure we don’t go over. Going out only once will save you between $50 to $150 a month, depending on how often you eat out!
• Adopt a Use It Up Attitude: Attitude is half of the battle, and one of the best ways you can save money is to change your attitude. Don’t plan to go buy things unless absolutely necessary. What do you have around you that you can use to solve your issue? It takes ingenuity and creativity, but it is worth the savings. Estimating the savings for a use it up attitude is hard, but I can say we easily save $20 to $40 a month just by being creative and smart. The first choice should NOT be to run to the store.
• Buy Memberships: Fun is important, but you want to save as much money as possible. I am a huge believer in buying memberships. For example, find out if a local lake has a membership. Ours is $130 per year. We would pay $15 to enter and swim each time, but we can go more than once a week. It pays for itself after 8 visits. Do you love the zoo? Buy a membership and pack a lunch! You can save over $100 a year by using memberships. Our lake membership saves us $45 a month after the first 8 visits.
• Reusable Products: We mentioned using a reusable cup, but all reusable products save money after a few uses. Paper towels cost around $5 each payday, so $10 a month. That leads to $120 a year in paper towels. Two packs of kitchen towels costs $8. No comparison! Cloth diapers saved us over $700. That is a serious savings. Do you love k-cups? You can spend $16 a month on k-cups or buy a reusable one for $5. Do you see the trend? Reusable products can save you over $30 a month.

Saving money is about changing a habit or lifestyle. You need to think about your personal family and spending. One or two of these things could easily save you more than $50.

What is your favorite way to save money? Let me know in the comments!

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