Let’s face it, we’re all trying tighten our belts these days. Even if you’ve got a bit of a disposable income or a good amount saved up, you are still on high alert for good deals, because who knows what tomorrow will bring? Sure it’s great to always be positive when starting the new day, but with a job market that isn’t secure at all, that new day can bring bad news as well as good. Fortunately there are some great ways to save money that the internet has made possible.
Be On the Lookout for Free Fun
Entertainment on the internet is a lot more affordable than it is in real life, to the point where paying for things seems a bit odd. Sure, you wouldn’t sneak into a movie theatre without buying a ticket, but now you can sign up for a streaming service that offers ‘one month free’, and you can watch everything on there to your heart’s content. And in some cases all you need is an email address to start watching.
Same with music, since now all you have to do to listen to practically every song you can imagine for free is listen to the odd advertisement when you’re using Spotify. It’s a great deal that you probably couldn’t even have imagined existing only ten years ago. There are also plenty of video games that you can play online that don’t cost anything, and they range from massive multiplayer battles to free sex games. Now you aren’t just sitting their passively watching or listening, but getting in there and taking part in the action. With no damage to your budget.
Don’t Spend YOUR Money
Of course when it comes to your savings, it is definitely a sacred cow that should not be touched. But if you can legally spend someone else’s money…go to it! There are plenty of websites out there where you can create donation funds for yourself, and you can be as open and honest about what you want the money for (since lying about a charitable cause is not at all recommended). And if you want to brush your game in actually meeting up with one person to help you with your finances, you can always learn how to sweet talk a sugar daddy.
Sometimes the best way to make this work is giving some personable in exchange for the money you’re receiving. If you create a gofundme page for a new couch, you might not get people randomly giving you money all by itself, but if you add something like the promise to send hand-written thank you notes to everyone who donates, that might sweeten the pot. Now this might come off as novelty for the other person – since it is kind of silly to get a thank you card for helping someone else buy a couch – but hey, if it gets money into your account, it’s a success!
The Boring World of Browser Extensions
Remember how we mentioned watching ads up above? Well some of the ads you might have seen recently are for ‘honey’, which is an online service that allows you to save big money (maybe thousands of dollars per year) on online purchases. Plenty of people are asking if it’s worth it, and when you do a bit of research you find that it is a browser extension that will direct you to the best deals for whatever product you’re looking for. It is a free extension, so really, the trade off is that the company is learning all about your shopping habits and is almost certainly sharing this with other advertisers and corporations. If you are okay with this trade – saving money by ‘selling’ your internet browsing habits – then you can save up to thousands of dollars per year.
There are also some websites like Groupon that work a bit like Honey in the sense that they are giving you the best deals across the web, but that these deals don’t kick in until a set group of customers sign up for the offer. If you are looking to buy something that you think might be very popular – and thereby triggering the deal – then this form of money-saving can be very good.
Sell Your Stuff
One of the things you do with money is buying things to make you feel better, but sometimes it becomes less fun when you keep tripping over this stuff as you’re walking through your house or apartment. So what you really have to do is get rid of this stuff, so you’ll have more room for new things that will still give you that rush of excitement and joy when it arrives on your doorstep. And don’t just give it away by putting it on the curb on garbage day. You will be amazed at what people are willing to pay for online, so you should definitely check out website that make it easy to do just that.
One of the best tips is to always make sure your photos are decent, since putting an extra five minutes of effort to get it in good light can make the difference between a sale and someone scrolling right by. Also update your listing if you aren’t getting any bites, and don’t be afraid to lower the price, since you really don’t want to hold onto this thing any longer than you have to. And make it clear that shipping and handling is extra depending on where the person buying it lives. Don’t promise a flat delivery fee, since it might cost you a ton sending it across the world.