20 Realistic Ways to Save Money (Even on a Low Income)

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Finding realistic ways to save money can feel impossible sometimes, especially when you’re on a low income and feel like you’re stretching to pay the bills each month. But regardless of your income level, setting money aside regularly and building up your savings account is vital if you want to have more financial freedom, be prepared for emergencies, and be able to take care of your household with a lot less stress.

When we were first married, we were on a super low income. And looking back, we’re actually so glad that we started out that way. Although we’d probably advise our kids to be better prepared than we were, starting out with a very tight budget taught us how to be frugal, live below our means, and prepare for the unexpected. 8 years later, we’ve been able to see the fruits of those decisions that we started making early on that have freed us up to meet a lot of our goals (many of them a lot sooner than we expected), live with a lot less stress, and have more to share with others.

Regardless of your income level, don’t be discouraged or feel like you can’t start saving right away. Even on a limited income, you can take so many small steps now that will add up to make a HUGE difference in your financial stability in the long run. Small changes matter! Here are 20 realistic ways you can save more money each month.

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20 Realistic Ways to Save Money

Saving up a little bit each month has allowed us to buy our homestead (amidst a pretty awful housing market!), start a business, and has given me the opportunity to stay home with our kids. While each month may not feel like a lot of progress, with good decision-making, it doesn’t take much time to start seeing your hard work pay off.

Here are 20 ways that we did (and do) save money each month in order to meet our financial goals.

1. Make a budget – and stick to it

Having a monthly household budget is probably the most important first step to saving each month and meeting your financial goals. No matter what your monthly income is, YOU have the power to keep track of your spending and allocate where that money is going to go. And a monthly budget allows you to know where every dollar ends up. If you’ve never written down all of your monthly expenses before, you may be surprised!

You can make a budget on a spreadsheet or use a budgeting app. Either way, write down every monthly expense that you have and how much each one costs. (Housing costs, car insurance, retirement savings, utility bills, groceries, gas, etc.) Then, write down what you (and your spouse – if applicable) make in a month. After that, you can figure out how much money goes into each column.

Making a budget is one of the best ways to really see where your money is ending up. Don’t stress if it takes a month or two to really figure out your system. Once you have everything written down and you know how much money is going where, you can have a solid goal to ensure that you’re not spending more than you’ve allocated to each category.

2. Get rid of your credit cards (or cut down on their usage)

Credit cards make it so easy to spend money anytime. They’re just so convenient! And a lot of times, you just have no idea what your spending habits are doing to the bank account until the credit card statements come in. Ouch.

Leaving your credit card at home – or perhaps better yet, cutting it up – takes away the temptation to grab unnecessary items. Spending cash hurts a lot more, so using it is a great way to make sure you’re not overspending on impulse purchases!

Not only does getting rid of your credit card cut down on actually buying, but it also limits the possibility of missing a payment and having to pay even more in interest.

(In our world, it’s not always possible to completely get rid of credit cards. But if you do have one, set up boundaries to make sure you don’t make unnecessary purchases, and always make sure your payment is in on time to avoid late fees.)

3. Cancel subscription services

What monthly payments do you have that could go? When you really want to make financial headway, there are so many ways to get creative with adjusting your lifestyle.

Gym membership? Take a run outside, or find some weights on Facebook Marketplace for a home gym.

Streaming services? Well, if you get a side hustle (see #17), you might not have time for streaming services anyway. 😉

4. Start meal planning

Groceries can be one of the biggest expenses for a household (it is for ours!), but when you plan ahead and eat meals at home, you can save hundreds.

When you meal plan on a regular basis (weekly works best for us), you know exactly what to buy at the grocery store, so you’re not wasting money buying food you don’t need.

It also takes a lot of stress off since you don’t have to start from scratch making a plan for dinner every single night!

And no last-minute trips to the grocery store to grab what you need for tonight’s dinner – which always leads to grabbing a few extra things too.

It all adds up.

If you’re not sure how to get started, check out our step-by-step guide to meal planning.

5. Shop for discount groceries

So you’re committed to grocery shopping rather than eating meals out. Great!

Even with a commitment to buy your groceries and eat at home, there are so many ways you can save money.

Being wary of where you shop is a great first step! Stores like Aldi, Walmart, and other discount options have also saved us hundreds per month in comparison to more expensive options like Meijer or Kroger.

Shopping in bulk (hello, Costco) can also be a good way to save money, but make sure that you’re comparing prices. Sometimes you just end up buying more than you need, or it’s not actually less expensive.

Lastly, find out what day your grocery store marks items down. Most stores do this for a variety of fresh fruits and meats. We’re often able to grab 50% off of certain foods at our local Aldi by going at the right time. Don’t be afraid to ask when you can find the best deals!

6. Buy off-brand products

No matter where you shop, buying off-brand products is a great way to save big. Most of the store-brand products cost significantly less than the fancy brands and often offer the same level of quality.

(Diapers is one product that we buy off-brand and save ridiculous amounts! I’m always amazed that the Aldi and Walmart brand diapers cost about half the price of almost any other brand.)

7. Be wary of coupons

Coupons CAN save you money, and we know people who use them well! But without careful planning, they can also cause you to spend more. Coupons often target higher-priced groceries or household items that you might never buy otherwise. Spending less on something you weren’t originally planning to buy does not save money!

Only use coupons on items you were already going to buy.

8. Make your coffee at home

$5 per day at the coffee shop adds up real quick. If you’re a coffee lover, one very quick way to start saving a lot of money is to make coffee runs a special treat – not a regular occurrence.

And making coffee at home doesn’t mean that it has to be boring or bland.

Whether you trade your $2-3 cup of brewed coffee at Starbucks for a freshly-ground, $0.13 cup of brewed coffee at home (a savings of $865 per year!), consider investing in an espresso machine to make your own lattes, or just learn to simplify your coffee routine, cutting down on the coffee shop can make a big impact.

(Did you know that $5 per day is $1825 per year?!)

9. Pack your lunch

Can you tell that we’re all for saving money on food? Probably because this can be SUCH a big expense! Our lunch-packing routine saves us about $65 per week. $260 per month. and $3250 per year!

Here are some work lunch ideas to get you started.

10. Learn some new skills

Hiring someone to fix things that break around the house (or car) can be an enormous expense that’s often not necessary. Instead of hiring it out, see if you can figure out how to fix more things around the house yourself. YouTube “University” is a great place to start!

11. Save first

Regardless of your savings goals or income, it’s a good idea to pay yourself first.

What does this mean?

Remember, with a monthly budget, you know exactly how much money is going where. And whether or not you know where your money is going, there’s a temptation to spend anything extra on “fun” things – like going out to eat or unnecessary items.

Pay yourself first!

When you get each paycheck or make your budget for the month, put aside a set amount that you want to save (or can realistically save). Everything else goes to your monthly bills, and then lastly to your “fun” expenses.

This is a great way to make saving your true priority and make sure that it doesn’t get pushed aside.

12. Ride your bike

If you live in an area where it’s possible NOT to drive your own car, opt to ride your bike or use public transportation! Not only can you get some exercise, but you may be able to save a good chunk of money on gas, too.

If you have a living situation where you can go down a vehicle (for example, if you and your spouse can share a car), you can also save hundreds per month on car insurance and a second car.

13. Don’t spend more than $20 without talking to your spouse

This is a big one, and it might sound weird, but it’s saved us so much over the years. Very rarely do we make purchases that are more than around $20 without running it by each other. (Obviously, this doesn’t include things like the weekly grocery trip or regular bills.)

The point of not making big purchases (or even medium purchases) without checking with each other is not because of a lack of trust. Actually, it’s the opposite. It’s because we DO trust each other to help vet decisions and be a safeguard for making unnecessary purchases. A lot of times, making a decision in the moment can either feel like a lot of pressure or it can feel like no big deal at all. Neither is great! Running it by someone else or waiting until another day (after running it by them) has helped us to avoid spending money on a lot of unnecessary things.

Overall, the top two reasons why we run nearly all of our financial decisions by each other are:

1) We’re on the same page and have the same goals! So it only makes sense that we agree on how to achieve those goals.

2) The time it takes to ask someone else is anywhere from a few minutes (with a phone call or text) to a few days or more (if you can’t ask right away and won’t be back to the store for awhile). Even just a few minutes puts a little bit of a safeguard in place to protect from overly quick buying decisions that we haven’t already thought through beforehand.

14. Sell stuff online

Selling your excess stuff online is a great way to make a few extra bucks from home. Clothing, furniture, outdoor items, tools, kitchen gadgets, and almost anything else you can think of can make you a few extra bucks on Facebook Marketplace or sites like ThredUp. And you can clean out your house at the same time!

We’ve both made (from selling) and saved (from buying) thousands of dollars using Facebook Marketplace. Check out our tips for How to Sell on Facebook Marketplace and Not Waste Time.

15. Shop at thrift stores

I honestly don’t even know how people keep up with clothes without shopping at thrift stores. Especially when you have a whole family of people to shop for (and the majority of them need a new size at least once a year!).

A ton of our closets come from either thrift stores or other used clothing stores.

Aside from clothing, we also love to search thrift stores for items like kitchen tools and dishes, home decor, furniture (although most of our furniture has come from Facebook Marketplace), children’s books, and so much more.

16. Create an emergency fund

This might not feel like a way to SAVE money at first, but in the long run, it can actually save you a LOT. We (somewhat loosely) follow Dave Ramsey’s baby steps. The very first step, which is to save $1000 for a starter emergency fund, was something we knew we wanted to do right away.

Having an emergency guard is one of the best safeguards you can put in place when it comes to personal finance and financial health. An emergency fund is what keeps you from getting into trouble when unexpected expenses arise – when the car breaks down, you have to take some time of work for unexpected health problems, or the roof starts leaking.

In Dave’s baby step #3, he recommends saving 3-6 months of expenses for a fully funded emergency fund.

Hopefully you’ll never have to use it. But your emergency fund ensures that when hard times come, you won’t find yourself desperate or having to get into a loan and create even more expenses and fees later.

17. Find a side hustle

More and more people are jumping into side hustles after work hours to make a few extra bucks. Some side hustles we’ve had have included selling on Facebook Marketplace (including fixing and flipping items like lawn mowers), farm sitting, music lessons, freelance writing, sewing projects, and handyman jobs, among others.

Some of the top side hustles in 2024 include:

Food delivery
Bookkeeping
Proofreading
Running social media ads
Freelance writing
And many others

Diversifying with multiple sources of income is a great way to earn some extra money as well as protect yourself if one job unexpectedly falls through.

18. Be a producer more than a consumer

Ooh, this is a big one! Definitely more of a lifestyle and focus shift than a penny-pinching technique. But having a mindset of producing rather than consumerism will change a lot more than just your monthly savings.

From a Biblical perspective, work is a natural, necessary, and GOOD part of the creation order. We were designed to create value and be productive (hence this blog’s name!).

A few ways that we’ve worked to transform our home and lifestyle from consumerism to a producer mindset have been:

Creating a home and property where we love to be (this takes away the need to constantly go out and buy/do!)
Pursuing wholesome interests (we are never bored)
Setting goals
Working hard six days to rest one (Sunday – the Lord’s Day)

If you’re interested, you can find out more about our philosophy of having a productive household on our About Us page.

19. Consider the debt snowball

This should probably be prefaced by saying that we avoid debt as much as possible (we do have a mortgage).

But if you do find yourself with debt of any kind, whether it’s student loans, credit card debt, or an auto loan, Dave Ramsey’s debt snowball idea is a super motivational and effective way to slash your debt and cut down on your payments as quickly as possible.

20. Know your goals

Lastly, knowing your goals is essential to saving money. If you don’t have a goal that you care about, the desire for a new pair of shoes, a meal out, or a nicer vehicle are going to outweigh your desire to save money.

Really think about your goals – then make sure they are SMART. SMART goals are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.

Knowing your goals, and having an accountability partner – whether it’s a friend, family member, or spouse – are what will keep you on track to achieve them.