7 Small Habits that Save You Money in the Long-Run

So you may be on your debt-free journey, paying down debt, or you might already be debt-free and you're just looking for more ways to save money towards your financial goals. So I am covering seven small habits that can save you money in the long run. And all of these habits were mentioned inside of the Debt-Free Millennials Facebook group, so I know they work. And we're gonna be sharing them here today. Hey, what's up, guys? It's Justine with Debt-Free Millennials. The channel to help you crush your debt and live payment-free. So if you're into that debt-free living or you wanna be, then scroll to the bottom and hit that red Subscribe button because we are going over seven small habits that you can instill right now and save you money in the long run. So let's go ahead and get into the first tip. Okay, so this first tip for you, or the first small habit, is to look for items that can be reused versus single-use items. What I mean by that is using towels or washcloths, microfiber towels instead of paper towels, or using plastic or glass food storage containers versus the plastic baggies. Now, I have to be honest with you. I use both, but I try to stick with my microfiber towels when I'm wiping down the kitchen counters or I'll use the glass storage food containers to put my leftovers in as much as possible. Now, I know in some instances it can be hard to get away from using paper towels or plastic baggies, but as long as you are mindful and being aware of like, okay, I'm using a plastic bag today, think about how you could use something that you can reuse in the future. The second habit is coupons. Now, I know what you're thinking. You're like, god, I don't wanna be clipping out coupons every single time. You can do that, and I've seen people work this system in their favor because then they can use these coupons and stock up on things like toilet paper, toothpaste, or non-perishable food items. For me personally, I used to do paper coupons all the time, but then I found the Fetch Rewards app. You can take your grocery receipt, scan it, upload it into the app, and then it gives you points for your grocery receipt and what you bought, and then you can take those points and turn them into gift cards to places like Target, Amazon, Marshalls, Starbucks, you name it. They have a ton of retailers listed within the app, and that has saved me so much money because instead of clipping those coupons, they're giving you points for specific items that you bought. You can sign up using my affiliate link below and then use my code to get your first few points for free and scan your grocery receipt, done. This is a very easy way to save money, and it's a small habit. The third habit for you is to use water filters or water pitchers instead of bottled water. So I know during the pandemic, everybody was stocking up on these bottled waters. However, you can use a water pitcher and start filling up your reusable water bottles and sticking them in the fridge as well. So we have a Zero Water Pitcher. We've had it for several years. We just buy filters online. I know a lot of people are fans of the Brita water filter. Whatever works best for you, use it. This has saved us so much money and really saving the planet too. I think that's more important. So maybe bottled water isn't that expensive, but you are reducing the amount of plastic that you are putting into this world, and we need to be mindful of that. So use water filters or pitchers instead of the bottled water. Fourth small habit is to shop your pantry instead of going to the grocery store. So what you're gonna do before you go to the grocery store, before you put in your Amazon Fresh orders, you're gonna go through your pantry and see exactly what you have in stock, and you are going to play your own version of cutthroat kitchen, okay? Now I did this. I still do this, but I can remember doing this very specifically in my very first apartment after I moved out of my parents' house. And I was like, what can I do with mustard and chicken breast and salad dressing? And my cousin was like, you mix that ---- up and you make yourself a little marinade for that chicken breast and you roast that in the oven. I was like, incredible. The things that I can do. So now I've been doing this the past couple of weeks of just going through and seeing, okay, I have this plain chicken breast, which I do like chicken, but I'm like, what do I do with it? And so I take that and I'm like, okay, how can I pair this with a vegetable quinoa rice or make my own honey mustard with yellow mustard and honey? Yes, got the perfect dinner. So shop your pantry first, shop your freezer first before you put in that grocery store order or head out to your local Kroger's. My fifth small habit for you, eating leftovers instead of buying lunch during the week. Now I know some people are not fans of leftovers and my answer to that is to make meals in which you wanna eat the leftovers. Like make something really good that you are going to look forward to the next day. When I was paying off $35,000 in student loan debt, I would take hot lunches with me to work because I knew hot lunches would get me more excited to eat versus a salad or something like a cold cut sandwich. I was much more into things like, ooh, I can't wait to heat up my noodle casserole that I made last night and thinking about those types of things. So eating the leftovers before you do the lunch on the go is going to save you money in the long run. In fact, if you like eating out, if that's your jam, that's totally okay. Designate a day where you have lunch where you order out. Maybe Fridays are the days that you say, actually, you know what? I am gonna go order Chipotle or whatever. Do that on a Friday and then Monday through Thursday, you are bringing leftovers to work or you are eating leftovers at home. It's a great way to save money in the long run. Habit number six is to do your own home repairs instead of hiring somebody. Now, I realize that with some home repairs, you just can't mess with on your own, but there are smaller things that you could do around the house that could save you a lot of money. So for example, my best friend and her husband had their dryer, I think it was their dryer, had gone out and there was a specific part that they needed. And so they ended up looking up how to repair. They figured out what was wrong with the dryer. And then they basically YouTubed how to do this repair, ordered their part themselves, and then did the repair themselves, saving them so much money and time by getting a technician or repairman out to their home and charging them extra for their labor and parts. This is a really great way to save a lot of money. Now, we've actually done this for our car. So we had a quote from the mechanic that said, we need to replace our cabin and air filter intakes. And it was going to be something like, I don't know, 70 bucks, 80 bucks for them to do it and to put in these new air filters. Well, Kyle just ended up finding these filters online for like 20 bucks and did the replacement himself. You literally can just look up a YouTube video of somebody doing it to their own car and follow the steps. It's really easy and saves you a lot of money if you can just learn to do these little things around your home. I think my sister actually did this for a repair she needed to do to her kitchen sink. And it's such a learning experience. And I think even if you're renting, this really gets you in the habit of figuring out how to do repairs yourself when you're in your own home. The last habit for you, the seventh habit, is to pay your bills the day you get paid. That way you don't have money left over to overspend on other things and forget about your bills. So you wanna make sure that you have money set up to pay for your rent or your mortgage, your utilities, your basic needs. And you wanna make sure that you have enough money to cover those bills. That includes things like credit cards, your student loan debt, your personal loans, any type of debt that's out there. You wanna make sure that you are paying those bills upfront on time, getting your ---- together and getting it done. And I think this is a really easy way to prioritize your income. And that way you are not tempted to use what's left in your checking account on spending for things like fund money or going out or restaurants. And then you're like, oh crap, I didn't make any progress this month on my debt. That's why you reprioritize. Okay, so those are the seven small habits that you can take with you to help you save money in the long run. What was your favorite tip? Or if there was a habit that I'm missing in this list, please comment below and let me know. Don't forget, if you want to skip the coupon clipping, you can sign up for the Fetch Rewards app using those digital coupons, just scanning your receipt. You don't have to clip anything in the app, just scan your receipt and get to earning those points, which earned you money. All right, guys, thanks so much for watching and I'll catch you in another video.