Looking for ways to save money is arguably harder than ever. Things cost more and wages aren’t increasing to match. However, it’s still worth taking a look at your finances to see if there are any ways to save money.

In this article, we’ll share some save money tips that are a good starting point. Consider this some kind of beginner’s save money challenge. Read on for our top tips.

6 Simple Ways to Save Money

1. Manage Your Subscriptions

A good starting point is to take a look at the subscriptions you pay. Although $10 a month might not sound like much, once you’re paying for 5 or 6 it ends up being about the same price as cable TV.

Go through your bank statements and look for all the subscriptions you pay. You might be surprised how much money goes out each month on these. But how can you use this to save money?

Well, the simple answer is to cancel them. But then what’ll you do for entertainment? There are 2 ways to use this tip.

First, do some kind of audit of how much you use each service. If it’s weekly or less, get rid of it. Keep the ones you use daily.

Second, share the load with others. For example, one of you could pay for Netflix and another one for Hulu. Alternatively, when you try to cancel, some services will give you discounted rates. Take these and then cancel anyway.

Another money-saving tip (if you use audiobook services) is to see what your local library offers. Some have access to a massive library of audio content, and it’s free.

2. Record Your Expenses

One of the best money saving tips is to keep track of what you spend. This might seem obvious, but it’s surprising how many people don’t do it.

Plus, keeping track of your expenses alerts you to any financial black holes you might have. For example, you might be paying for a service you weren’t aware of or that you don’t need. It can also help you identify bills that are too high.

Keeping track of everything helps you to save money by identifying what you can cut when needed. While this isn’t a tip for how to save money fast, it’ll definitely help in the long run.

3. Shop Smarter

Shopping smarter can mean different things depending on what you need. Regardless, its use as a save money tip should be obvious. By making smarter financial decisions, you should reduce the amount you pay out.

There are a few ways to do this. If you shop online, consider downloading a coupon browser extension. These give you push notifications if discounts are available for products you want.

Next, avoid fast fashion. If you can, shop at thrift stores for clothes. You can find some great pieces there, and not only does it help your pocket but it also helps the environment.

To shop smarter with groceries, meal plans are a good starting point. They can help you use what you have without overspending. Also, keep your eyes out for coupons and discounts, and consider buying in bulk for non-perishables like rice and pasta.

4. Set Up a Personal Budget

Like tracking your expenses, setting a personal budget is a page 1 save money tip. You need to track your spending in order to set up a personal budget, but it’s worth the effort.

Generally, your personal budget refers to what’s left over after necessary expenses. Of course, some of this will be spent on semi-necessary things, like new clothes, subscriptions, etc.

This can help you to save money by identifying how much money you have for each month. Doing so means you (theoretically) shouldn’t overspend or need to use a credit card to meet your necessary expenses.

5. Save Regularly

A simple tip of ‘save regularly’ isn’t of much use on its own. After all, this whole article is about saving money tips, and the ability to just save money isn’t possible for everyone.

That said, there are clever ways that you can save money to live better in the long term. Of course, these might not be possible if you’re already on a tight budget, but used properly, they should produce results even then.

A good place to start is by downloading a specialist money-saving app. These work by rounding purchases up to the nearest dollar and putting the difference into savings. Generally, the odd few cents here and there shouldn’t be too noticeable.

Do the same with cash (if you still use it). Put any spare change in a pot like in the good old days and keep this as an emergency fund. Sure, it might only be a few dollars, but it might make a difference in the future.

6. Lower Your Cellphone Bill

One area where a lot of us overspend is on our cellphone plans. The actual network connection is incredibly cheap – we’re mostly paying for the fancy handset that the network provider has loaned us. But if that contract is nearly up, this is one of the best ways to save money.

Try using Textr Go as a replacement for your cellphone contract. It’s an option for how to save money fast because it offers affordable rates that are drastically cheaper than standard plans. What’s more, they come with unlimited voice calls and SMS and MMS services, giving you plenty of connectivity.

A Textr Go plan provides users with a US or CA phone number for adding contacts, complete with an area code. Also, eligible users can have a second phone number for private calling or texting.

The Textr Go app syncs all your contacts and chats across different devices, giving you great access and flexibility. Finally, it allows conference calling and greeting voicemail transcription, which is perfect for business users.

Textr Go is launching soon, so keep an eye for it as a way to save money! In the meantime, explore Textr’s range of other great products for both business and personal use.