Nearly everyone could use a little extra money in their pockets, but it’s not easy to know where to start. What do you do when your bank account is looking leaner than you’d like, but your living habits are hardly extravagant? The answer lies in the little things.
Small spending on a daily or monthly basis can add up to a shocking sum. The average American household pays $6,658 each year in interest alone, simply by carrying an ongoing balance on their credit cards [1]. If paying down a large chunk of credit card debt seems a bit intimidating, consider starting smaller.
Changing your coffee habits could help you free up hundreds of dollars a year. In 2015 there were nearly 5,000 licensed Starbucks stores and over 7,500 company-owned locations in the United States [2]. Visitors to this prolific coffee chain drop $7.67 per visit on average [3], which would add up to $1,196.52 a year if you visited just three times a week. Something as simple as brewing your morning cup of joe at home can pad your wallet in a big way if you’re replacing this fairly common habit.
When you turn an eye to the smaller things, you can find several ways to start saving. Take a closer look at everything you spend money on throughout the day, from the water you use to shower in the morning to the meal you enjoy at lunch. Begin by swapping a restaurant meal for a brown bag lunch and watch your bank account grow.
As you become a savvy saver, you’ll find other ways to trim down your bills. Consumer Reports found they could save 30 percent on groceries by switching to store brands instead of name brand products. Best of all, their study concluded that store brands were comparable to name brands in 11 out of 21 comparisons, and the store brand was superior in three cases [4].
Step back and reexamine your daily spending and you could pour hundreds of dollars into your wallet this year. Check out this infographic for a quick walk through some of the money-saving habits you can incorporate throughout your day.
1 – http://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-card-data/average-credit-card-debt-household/
2 – http://www.statista.com/statistics/218360/number-of-starbucks-stores-in-the-us/
3 – http://www.eater.com/2015/1/15/7551497/starbucks-dunkin-donuts-peets-coffee-spending-percent
4 – http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/magazine-archive/2010/october/shopping/store-brands-vs-name-brands/overview/index.htm
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