16 DIY WAYS TO SAVE MORE MONEY IN 2016
Trading your gym membership for the great outdoors or sharing lunch duties with colleagues could add up to big savings
We all technically know how to save more money, right?
We’ve heard it before. Set up automatic paycheque transfers into your savings account, maximize your RRSP contributions, choose investments with higher returns, etc., etc. Still, with 15 per cent of us saying that saving more money is our top New Year’s goal, we should face it: All of those methods require math and at least one visit to your bank branch. And that can be overwhelming.
Looking for another way to save? This is the era that inspired life hacks and Pinterest devotees, so we compiled a list of DIY ways to save in 2016.
Food/Drink
1. Make your own beer and wine. If you want to save some money but aren’t the teetotalling type, brewing your own can cut costs. A 19-litre beer kit plus input costs runs about $40; that’s 53 bottles of beer for about 75 cents each, compared to $1.40 a bottle for the cheapest brands at the Beer Store.
2. Brew your own morning java. Slash the price of your daily caffeine hit by more than half by bringing ground coffee ($15 or less for 340 grams or 30-plus cups) and a French press (about $20) to work. Add hot water. Voila!
3. Start a lunch bunch. Divvy up the weekdays between four colleagues. Make a batch big enough to bring five lunches one day and enjoy a free prepared lunch for the rest of the week.
4. Cut and dye your own hair. Because do you really need to spend $200 or more on those treatments at a salon? Boxed dye costs around $10, while good trimming scissors range from $15 to $50 and clippers cost about $50.
5. Save on dinners with friends. One rotating member hosts a dinner each month (for about $100) and the rest bring wine ($10 to $20). That’ll cost as little as $150 for half a year of dinners with six friends, half of the cost of dinners out. Leisure 6. Make the outdoors your gym. Go for a run outside or use railings as your own personal barre class. It’s free and always open to fit your schedule.
7. Check out free entertainment. There’s a ton of free quality programming you can find in Toronto — from movies in the park to gallery openings.
8. Barter — it’s all the rage. Torontonians are jumping on Facebook groups such as Bunz trading zone to swap unwanted goods for something more useful.
9. Try home swapping. For getaway with free accommodations, consider trading with someone in another city through sites such as Love Home Swap.
10. Trade babysitting. If you’re dying for date night but don’t want to shell out for child care, why not trade babysitting time with friends? Around the home 11. Get your tools to go. Check out the Kitchen Library or Toronto Tool Library for specialized gadgets rather than shelling out for one-time use. Rent a KitchenAid stand mixer for $15 per week and save the $300 purchase.
12. Ditch your cable. Your bills can range from $30 to $120 a month. Between Netflix, YouTube and online streaming sites, do you really need to be paying for that box?
13. Couponing 2.0. Coupon apps such as RetailMeNot and Shopwise help save without the effort of clipping. Check out cash-back apps like Checkout 51.
14. Unplug the home phone. For between $30 and $60 a month, how often do you really use your landline? If you can’t part with it, in case of emergency, at least cut the extras such as caller ID.
15. Off-peak upkeep. Hang your hydro company’s guideline on the fridge. Wait to do laundry or run the dishwasher until later in the evening or the weekends to cut prices by as much as half.
And finally . . .
16. Monitor your results. Use free apps and online budgeting tools such as Mint.com to set a budget and track where you’ve spent and saved.