Creative ways to save money

Saving money is not easy. However, just putting a little bit away consistently will pay off in the long term. To that end, here are a few interesting ways to save a bit here and there:

Banking

Look for banks that have no atm fees, higher interest rates on savings and reduced overdraft costs. Larger banks tend to have higher charges so check with smaller banks.

Paycheck

Most companies will divide your paycheck for you. You can ask them to take a percentage and separate it out for savings and checking. The money is even deposited and you will only have to deal with spending what arrives in your checking account.

Charges

Always go through your bank statements. This applies even to your savings and checking accounts. Look for any unusual charges and find out what they are. Some banks will even waive those charges if you request.

Cable

A cable subscription can cost as much as $500 year. Replace this with one of the online alternatives like Netflix or Hulu which will only set you back about $9 a month.

ATMs

Most of the time we need to withdraw money from an ATM, it ends up being a place where you have to use one from another bank. This usually ends up with additional fees which are higher than a lot of people assume. Plan the day you pull out money and always have cash on hand to avoid using other ATM’s.