22 EASY ways to save money at home in 2022.

1. Declutter your home and take a look at what you already have. Its good to have a fresh mental note at the beginning of the year do reference while out so you’re not tempted in a purchase you probably already own.
2. Take an hour a day and turn off all major electronics like your air and appliances, or better yet, unplug them. You can easily use this time to meditate, do yoga or an exercise or even write out your daily budget, journal or meal plans.
3. Install a timer on your water heater. If you have a schedule or a routine it should be easy enough to find down time where heating is not required.
4. Another option for the water heater is to turn down the overall temperature. 130 degrees is my personal recommendation based off my research but I am NO expert! It seems that people either keep it at 120 or 140 degrees but anything less than 122 can harbor harmful bacteria such as legionella which causes legionnaires disease but 120 is recommended for homes with kids to prevent burns and 140 is recommended for the immunocompromised or larger family homes to have hot water longer. It seems to me that smack dab in the middle is a sweet spot to reduce my energy bill from my water heater from 3-5% and also prevent bacteria from getting my family sick.
5. Learn basic repairs around the home so you don’t have to call out a technician for something that can most likely be done on your own and in less time than waiting for service. The basic repairs I would start with are how to locate and shut off all of the water supplies in and out of your home. At each toilet and sink you have individual valves to shut off the water supply if you have say, a leaking toilet or faucet. You also have separate shut off valves for the main water to your home and the landscaping so you can turn off the drip system if you have a leak there instead of your whole home. I also think its worth while to learn to repair your toilet guts and if you’re a homeowner, purchase a plumbing snake in case you have a hard clog in either a toilet or a sink. I could go on and on here as there are son many simple repairs that people tend to over complicate but you get the idea. Perhaps Ill make a separate post for this section of its own to really go into more detail on how to actually do these repairs. Stay Tuned!
6. Learn basic car maintenance such as how to check the pressure in your tires and the correct types of fluids your car takes so you can be prepared, if need be, to grab some transmission fluid. Do you know there are 2 types of transmission fluid and mixing them could cause some real damage? Also, power steering fluid is not all equal, some cars take ATF or Automatic Transmission Fluid instead of power steering fluid? Knowing how to fill your tires to the proper pressure saves on gas mileage as well as alignments and the overall wear of your tires. Replacing headlights is also pretty simple once you know how but can be a costly shop item. I would say changing your own oil but after experience, the time for money value of taking it in with a Groupon is normally worth it.
7. One of MY favorite ways to save a little bit of rainy-day money is to start paying for things with cash and put the change in a jar at the end of the day/week. This is twofold, one you really second guess your purchase when paying with cash, it holds more mental value than a card swipe. Second, you get a little walking around change you could either use to get a weekend treat of ice cream or save it over time and pay off a debt or make a big purchase.
8. When doing your budget or using money envelopes, put away your savings FIRST. This makes it a priority mentally and gives you a better idea of how to actually budget the rest of your categories. It makes more sense to budget what’s left after you’ve put the savings aside.
9. Coupons = Money…. Often people overlook the use of coupons as a waste of time or that its not worth it but there was a period of my life that I lived off coupons and clearance sales. If you’re an avid couponer there’s some things you just will not ever pay for again like toothpaste, deodorant, or any toiletry product for that matter. I will admit that the ways of couponing have changed over the years and it is a much more time-consuming task than it used to be but if you really need to put a dent in your budget, there’s literally no better way. This deserves a whole other post because there is so much information so stay tuned for that. Another great way to “coupon” is to actively use Groupon. I will never get a massage without a Groupon, I can get a 90-minute massage for less than $40, consistently, and with a large tip, I am still under what just a massage would have been and both myself and the masseuse are happy. I also check before taking the kids out and to dinners because more often than not I can find savings.
10. Did you know that you can call and ask your creditors to lower your APR? Every now and again I call my credit cards and ask them to reduce my rate for so long since I’ve been a good customer and always pay on time and more often than not, I get a slight reduction for either 6 months or a year. This also goes for if you miss a payment, you can call and ask to remove your fee if you’ve been in good standing and while this has only happened a couple of times they have agreed every time. There was a month a couple years ago where I completely forgot to pay ALL my bills…. Why you ask??? I have NO idea! HAHAHA
11. If you are going to budget or just simply want to find ways to save money or where to save money, write down your purchases every night before bed. You will begin to see patterns that you can eliminate or reduce or you will start to reduce a few things here and there such as eating out every lunch or start to evaluate whether or not you really NEEDED that Llama mug to match your Llama rug while wearing your Llama jammies…. If that’s the scenario, then chances are that specific purchase MAY have been worth it! We still need to be happy, after all.
12. If you’re deciding on a larger purchase and go out shopping for it, after finding what you are looking for go home and sleep on it with the fresh image in mind. Imagine what life would be like with or without said purchase and if there’s a cheaper way to still get what you want. Can you purchase the item used? Can you refurbish an old item to make it work for your new idea?
13. A HUGE money saver for me is what I call… Shopping After Season, S.A.S. Its like an S.O.S, but for your wallet and mind. After every season or Holiday there WILL be clearances in almost every store. I buy all of my decorations that don’t come from the dollar store after the Holiday when I can get it for a minimum of 50% off. I will buy my sons clothing for the next size up after the season, so I will buy next years winter clothing after this winter just in his next size he will need. Almost all of my Christmas and Birthday gifts are clearance items I’ve shopped for throughout the year and keep in a closet. Target and Walmart both have huge toy clearances after New Years and after the 4^th of July and when the kids in my family were younger, I bought cart loads during these sales and I gave the BEST presents! I also get a lot of bath products after Christmas, especially razors. There are always leftover gift sets that you can find and I buy razors for the year if I haven’t already gotten enough from couponing. You’ll quickly learn that everything has its own season of clearance once you start looking.
14. Learn how to DIY some skincare favorites of yours like facials, dermaplaning etc. I may be a bit more adventurous in this department but you can purchase your own acid peels in a variety of strengths, the same as the salons, online. It seems scary at first but with a little bit of research and some free time, you will be obsessed. I’ve done my own acid peels, lip filler, dermaplaning, masks, nails, pedicures, hair and the list goes on. I save so much money but I’m also not a beauty queen and I still like to go to the spa for some me time too. More on this later!
15. If you tend to throw parties or are the house that everyone gathers at, host parties at snack times. If I plan my party for noon to 3 people will expect a full meal, and they should. However, if I plan my party from 2-4 then I can get away with snacks and people won’t be upset or come hungry. They will never know the difference but my wallet will.
16. Learn how to make your own household cleaners. Not only would this reduce your chemical load in the home but it would save you money. You can be as simple as making just a few sprays like floor and dusting cleaner or you can go all in and make your own laundry soap, dish tabs and even toiletries like deodorant or shampoo. This would be a post all in its own so I will soon make one with both household recipes as well as topicals.
17. Ditch your paper towels and get cloth rags. I have paper towels on hand just in case there’s a horrible accident and I just want to throw it away like throw up etc. I have a drawer full of dish towels that are used for drying hands and at the end of the day I will use to wipe down the kitchen.
18. Ordering groceries online saves me so much time and money. Way before the pandemic I would order grocery delivery from Safeway because my anxiety often times prevented me from even leaving the house. However now that it’s a common service I could not be happier! When I go to the grocery store, I tend to get what my stomach wants and not what I have on my nonexistent list. I usually find myself in random sections while I’m there as well like a housewares or candles. I also feel like when I go to order online, I have to make a list of what I need in order to do a search for it because I’m not walking up and down aisles. I tend to not even think about what I’m getting when I physically go. Now, I normally only go to look at the clearance section or sales.
19. If you’re an avid Starbucks or Dutch visitor it might make sense to learn how to make what your favorites are. I never drank coffee; in fact, I hate it. But, several years ago a coworker brought me a java chip frappe and I fell in love. With the drink, not him. It wasn’t until the quarantine that I desired daily coffee as that was quite literally one of the few things I could do, was go get coffee. So, for all of 2020 I got a daily Frappe and my son and I played Pokémon Go for a couple hours and this was our morning routine. I have still never ordered a different drink from Starbucks. But at $5.89 a day I was regretful in my decision as I was now set in my bougie ways. I tried numerous copycat recipes but nothing hit the mark. I now order Starbucks coffee base from eBay and make it at home.
20. If you eat out a lot, chances are you have some favorites that you get weekly. I decided to learn some of my favorites to make at home. The first thing I learned was the Zuppa Toscana soup from Olive Garden as that was my go-to feel better soup when I needed to clear sinuses. As I write this, I realize I am a fan of soup as my next mention is the potato cream cheese soup from Wildflower Bread Company. There are so many copycat recipes out there and you may need to try a couple before you get the one that works best for your palette.
21. I tend to make large quantities of food when I cook because I am always worried that I won’t make enough. After some failed attempts of trying to “cook for two” I realized that it wasn’t so bad and I could just eat the leftovers for lunch the next day. So, this is what I have been doing and it works out well for us. As much as I try my husband refuses to eat leftovers but he values his lunch time at work so for him, that money is well spent. Or you could repurpose the meal for the next night and add a side dish. If you’re not into any of those things then consider dinner with friends. Every Tuesday we have Taco Tuesday at my sister in laws house and I was actually thinking that I should return the favor and do a weekly dinner at my house but you could also do dinner co op with neighbors or friends if they live close by. Take turns a couple nights a week making meals and dropping it off.
22. And lastly, drink more water. I do not drink ANY water and I’m sure my body is hating me for it. But I am trying this one out for myself and will start by having water with all my meals. I think this will reduce my spending on other beverages and be healthier.

I hope that you found at least one thing useful from this list or that I brought something back to the front of your mind. I noticed while making this list I wanted to keep writing about certain topics so I will be posting some articles surrounding those mentioned above very soon. Consider subscribing to my newsletter to keep up to date when I make a new post so you don’t miss anything! I wish you well in the New Year and thank you for visiting me!