There has never been a better time for you to start saving money, especially if you haven’t started yet. Don’t panic! We’ll go through easy ways that you can save money to start building up financial stability and security. These methods are some of the easiest ways you can save money starting today.

I’m Holly, a stay at home mom to 2 kiddos in Canada. I’m passionate about helping moms (or anyone!) achieve financial security and stability. Just because you’re down to one income does not mean you have to live paycheque to paycheque. We are down to depending on just one income in our home (and no, it is not 6 figures – we wish!). We are a regular family who are able to save money and still live well each month without huge money stress.

I am on a journey of discovering the best side hustles which is what sparked this whole blog. As a very important note: my side hustles are not yet generating money but I hope that the work I am investing now will pay off down the road. So, we are able to put some money away on just my husband’s income and here are some things that work for us that could work for you too!

What is the secret to saving money?!

There are tons of ways you can save money: generating passive income, side hustles, etc. etc. I think the biggest thing that has worked for us is this: SACRIFICE. We live super frugally, and that’s the way it has always been. We don’t drive the newest cars or wear the latest fashions. At times we do invest some money into our hobbies, but we do not live beyond our means.

What does that mean? We don’t take lavish vacations (or any vacations!) right now because we can’t afford them. We don’t eat out. I don’t get my hair, lashes, or nails done – ever (I even cut my own hair right now). I’ve never been big into that and the money that would have gone into those things can be put into bills or savings. In a few years we will hopefully be able to loosen the purse strings a bit, but for now this is working for us and we are not suffering under crippling credit card debt to pay off things we can’t afford.

Some ways you can start saving today

1. Create a Budget
2. Automate Savings
3. Cut Unnecessary Expenses
4. Shop Smart
5. Limit Credit Card Use
6. Cook at Home
7. Negotiate Bills
8. Buy Used or Refurbished
9. Avoid Impulse Buying
10. Energy Efficiency
11. Invest Wisely
12. Limit Unnecessary Debt
13. Side Hustle
14. Educate Yourself

01. Create a budget

• Track your income and expenses to understand your financial situation.
• Allocate specific amounts for necessities, savings, and discretionary spending.
• Use budgeting apps or spreadsheets to help you stay organized.

The very first step in recognizing where you can cut back is to actually take a mindful approach to spending. Track your finances for a month to find out where your money is going. Small purchases everyday can add up to large amounts by the end of the month.

Etsy has tons of beautifully designed spreadsheets to help you get started with your budgeting. Even just creating a simple sheet on Google Docs is fine – whatever it takes to have you track and actually think about what you’re spending every month will help. From there, you can decide which areas need a little work.

02. Automate Savings

• Set up automatic transfers to your savings account. Treating savings as a non-negotiable expense can help you consistently save.

This is one of the easiest things you can do to save money. It’s something you don’t have to think about once it is set up and the best part? If the money is not in your account, you’re not tempted to overspend. Are you thinking things are already tight for you? Even starting with $10 every pay will have an impact. No amount is too small.

03. Cut unnecessary expenses

• Identify and eliminate non-essential expenses. Review subscriptions, dining out, or impulse purchases.

Do you spend $10 at Starbucks or McDonalds or Tim Hortons every day? That could add up to $310 by the end of the month. If it’s not a necessity to you – trim it! This is about spending mindfully so that you can create a comfortable savings account. It might take a little getting used to, but it’ll have a huge impact on your savings!

Are you using all of your subscription services or can you cut those back? Could you switch to a less expensive account? We subscribed to DisneyPlus at Christmas time so we could watch our favourite movies, but we opted for the version with ads ($7.99/month as opposed to $11.99/month or $14.99/month), every little bit counts right?

04. Shop smart

• Look for discounts, use coupons, and compare prices before making purchases.
• Consider buying generic or store-brand products to save money.

Anytime I can buy generic, I usually do it. I draw the line at coffee, but for the most part, the generic brand will ALWAYS win. Our grocery bill for a family of 4 in Canada ends up being between $120-$180 depending on whether or not we buy diapers.

I usually shop at Walmart and put all of our purchases on our cashback Mastercard. Just this year, we’ve earned $138.50 in cashback rewards. This can be put towards the balance on your card, or save it and put it towards Christmas gifts.

I also shop at No Frills whenever possible. There, I can earn PC points. Last year I was able to get our Christmas grocery order by using PC points alone. I buy most things in bulk so it is cheaper in the long haul.

I’ve also started using the Pampers Rewards program and I’m kicking myself that I missed out on 3 years of cashback for diapers! Every time I scan the code on my sleeve of diapers I earn money that I can use towards future diapers. I’ve scanned 3 boxes and I’m almost already past the $10 redemption category thanks to some special welcome perks. Usually you earn about .80 cents for a big box of diapers (in my experience), but it adds up quickly and it takes 5 seconds to scan the code. Every little bit counts!

05. Limit credit card use

• Use credit cards responsibly and pay off the full balance each month to avoid interest charges.
• Consider using cash or a debit card for discretionary spending to stay within your budget.

As explained above, we use our credit card for everything to get the maximum amount of cash back, but it is paid off right away to avoid interest charges. If we cannot afford it right now, we don’t buy it. We live within our means which sometimes means sacrifice. I might reallyyyyy want to take a vacation right now, but is it worth the stress of trying to juggle bills to pay it off for the next few months? No. Our time will come and it will be worth it to know we were financially responsible with our money and worked hard to get there.

06. Cook at home

Eating out can be expensive. Cooking at home not only saves money but also allows you to control ingredients and portion sizes.

We save tons of money every month just by eating at home. Sure, some days we cheat and get pizza for supper, but it is not only cheaper, but healthier to make our food at home.

I involve our 3 year old when making supper. He loves making pizza dough and assembling homemade pizzas with me. It can get really exhausting to choose what to make every night (even with the help of Pinterest), so when I’m super organized, I create a meal plan either for the week or the month. That way I know Tuesday we are having spaghetti, Wednesday is veggie lasagna, etc. It helps me when buying my groceries as well because I know what I’ll need for meals every day.

07. Negotiate bills

• Negotiate with service providers for better rates on utilities, cable, internet, and insurance.
• Regularly review your bills to identify any unnecessary charges.

We have switched our insurance and grouped our car and home insurance together with a new company and instantly started saving $100/month – that’s $1,200 a year just because we shopped around! We do not have cable, instead we use a Chromecast and a Roku TV. Shopping around and making these little changes can put cash back in your pocket.

Don’t just assume you already found the best deal!

08. Buy used or refurbished

• Consider buying used or refurbished items instead of new ones, especially for items like electronics or furniture.

I pride myself on this one. We have replaced every single appliance in our home and saved thousands by buying everything (except our stove) from Facebook marketplace and Kijiji. For example, we got our dishwasher (it was brand new & never installed) on Facebook Marketplace 50% off what they wanted in the store (not even accounting for taxes and delivery). The couple bought it and decided they wanted something smaller and sold it at a loss. If you can keep an eye out for bargains, this is the way to go! Our fridge, and washer and dryer were only a year old before they got sold and look and work like they are brand new for a fraction of the price.

Which brings me to my next point: if you can buy it second hand, DO IT! All of our clothing comes from thrift stores. Thrift shopping has become sort of an obsession, but it is such a rush to find an awesome deal. I have bought furniture and refinished it. I have purchased lamps, spray painted them and replaced the lamp shade and VOILA! Brand new again. I love thrifting for a variety of reasons: saving money, the thrill of the find, unique items, AND it’s saving something from a landfill and giving it a new life.

We did purchase a new couch a few years ago (it hurt my soul, but we found a good deal). We kept our old beat up love seat until I could find a unique or funky second hand piece to replace it with. One night as I searched marketplace, imagine my joy when I found the matching love seat to our couch and it saved us over $1,500!

09. Avoid impulse buying

• Give yourself time to think before making significant purchases. This reduces impulse buying and helps you make more thoughtful decisions.

You know that feeling you get when you see something you HAVE to have? Put it down, do a loop, or take the evening to think about it. In most cases, I would bet that the item you felt you NEEDED did not seem so necessary once you thought about it a bit.

This will also help with buyers remorse and guilt after overspending. To help me with this, I stopped going to the mall. Completely. It was too difficult to walk by all the pretty new things without giving in to at least one thing. Maybe in the future I’ll be able to go to a store and spend like I’m Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, but today is not that day.

Take a deep breath, walk away, and think about it a bit before diving into an impulse buy.

10. Energy efficiency

• Save on utility bills by being conscious of energy use. Turn off lights and appliances when not in use, and consider energy-efficient appliances.

We live in Canada and in our province, they will come in and do a paid energy assessment on your home or a free energy upgrades. The free upgrades include giving you smart plugs, energy efficient lightbulbs, and low waste shower heads. They also wrapped our hot water pipes for free to conserve energy! You save money and do something for the environment – win/win! Highly recommend. For all my Canadian friends out there, you can check in here to get started.

For the paid assessment they did a complete home walkthrough and sent us a detailed assessment. In this, they suggested things we could do to save money on heating costs. We insulated our basement, our attic, upgraded our old basement door, and installed a heat pump and the savings were enormous. Putting money back into your home to make it more efficient is a huge way you can save money! It does take some cash up front to get things done, but if you’re in Canada, there are lots of grants available to help you with upgrades.

11. Invest wisely

• Consider investing for the long term to grow your wealth. Consult with a financial advisor to make informed investment decisions.

I talked about investing in my blog about creating passive income and how easy and accessible it is now. You can start today, even from your phone!

I used to be under the impression that to invest you needed a ton of cash and a financial advisor to make it happen. That is NOT the case these days! Investing is easier than ever. With a little bit of time and effort you could be making passive income from money that would normally just be sitting in the bank anyway.

To get started with investing, one of your options could be with a robo-advisor. MoneySense writes about the best robo-advisors in Canada for 2024 here. Here’s what the process might look like:

1. Choose a Robo-Advisor: Select a robo-advisor based on your preferences, goals, and risk tolerance. Examples include Wealthsimple, Betterment, and Wealthfront.
2. Sign Up and Complete a Questionnaire: Create an account on the robo-advisor platform and answer a questionnaire about your financial goals, risk tolerance, and investment preferences.
3. Receive Investment Recommendations: Based on your questionnaire responses, the robo-advisor suggests a diversified portfolio tailored to your profile.
4. Deposit Funds: Transfer money from your bank account to your robo-advisor account.
5. Automated Portfolio Management: The robo-advisor uses algorithms to automatically invest your funds according to the recommended portfolio. It also monitors and rebalances your portfolio as needed.
6. Monitor Performance: Track your portfolio’s performance through the robo-advisor’s platform or app.
7. Regular Contributions: Set up recurring contributions to systematically invest additional funds over time.
8. Optional Features: Some robo-advisors offer tax optimization features, such as tax-loss harvesting, to minimize tax liabilities.
9. Review and Adjust: Periodically review your investment strategy, considering changes in personal circumstances or market conditions. Adjust your portfolio as needed.

Investing with a robo-advisor provides a hands-off approach to portfolio management, making it accessible for individuals seeking a convenient and cost-effective way to invest.

12. Limit unnecessary debt

• Avoid taking on unnecessary debt. If you have debts, prioritize paying them off, starting with high-interest debts.

By paying off bills that accrue high interest, you could be saving hundreds or thousands every year. If you are currently paying off a few sources of debt, pick the amount with the highest interest and start there. Pay as much as you can as fast as you can. It will be much easier to save once you’re not throwing away money on interest every month.

Once these are paid off, use the above strategies to avoid taking on new debt. Let’s get you heading towards a financially responsible and stress free future!

13. Side hustle

• Explore opportunities for a side hustle or part-time job to supplement your income and accelerate your savings.

As I mentioned, side hustles are kind of my jam these days. While I haven’t been making anything from them, I’ve actually spent much less because they have replaced more expensive hobbies I used to have.

Let me explain, as a stay at home mom, before I found side hustles, I was filling my time with things that brought me joy or got me out of the house. I would head off to thrift stores at least once a week in the evening just for something to do because as mentioned, I love thrifting. Every time I was out, I would easily spend $20+ on items that I felt were a great bargain.

Now that I’m knee deep in side hustles, I am obsessed with those and do not have time to thrift right now. Specifically, blogging and Etsy are my main priorities right now. And for the time being, I LOVE this. I am feeling creatively fulfilled and enjoy doing these things even though they are not currently padding my bank account.

I’ve also been busy checking out other side hustles like Remotasks, Poshmark, affiliate marketing, and data annotation to name a few. I’ve been working my butt off, but have learned SO much. If you’re wondering about why a side hustle could benefit you, read that here or find out the best ways to make good, sustainable money online.

14. Educate yourself

• Continuously educate yourself on personal finance. Understanding financial principles can empower you to make better decisions.

In the past, money intimidated me and stressed me out. Now that I’ve realized it doesn’t always have to be this way, I feel like I have a whole new lease on life. You can start making changes today and investing in yourself and your future today, just by educating yourself. You’re doing it already by looking for ways to save money! You can do this.

Being a stay at home mom always seemed so unattainable to me. How would it work financially? I felt really limited in my financial options. Once we committed to making it happen just a few months before I was due back at work, I now see that I’m way more financially responsible because of it. This has been a blessing to our families in many ways.

If you’re feeling like there’s no way out and you’re overwhelmed and drowning, I hear you. I had times like that too. Now I know that there are an infinite number of options out there, you just have to know what to look for.

If any of this resonated with you, I’d love for you to continue on this journey with me! Drop me a line and let me know what has and hasn’t worked for you or what you’re trying now. Join the Stay At Home Hustles community to get updates and follow along with a like minded group of awesome people who are committed to finding financial stability for their families!