How I saved $1239.65 in a week (and you can too!)

How would an extra $1239.65 help you right now?

If you are looking at your budget and thinking you really need to squeeze a bit more out of it, then this is the perfect chance to set aside a bit of extra cash without much effort. Perhaps you’d like a buffer for Christmas or maybe you’re planning a holiday. Whatever it is, here is how I managed to save $1239.65 in just a week!

So, let’s get started…

How to save money FAST with little or no effort

Over the course of a week I managed to save $1239.60. It did take a little time but it wasn’t difficult and I didn’t have to sacrifice anything, track money or otherwise budget specifically for it. It was basically “free” money.

Here is what I did (and below, a step by step guide for you to do it too).

Declutter

I’m a pretty big fan of decluttering, it makes keeping your home tidy easier and prevents overwhelm. The benefit of decluttering for your bank balance is that you’ll find stuff you can sell. My rule here is that if it hasn’t sold in a week then it goes to charity (unless it is a big ticket item like a car obviously).

I decluttered the kids toys, baby items and some homewares. The results were:

Car toy: $25
Octonauts stuff: $30
Sewing machine: $30
Baby toys: $40
Dining chairs: $100
Outdoor toys: $25
Outgrown kids clothes: $30
Puzzles and games: $20
Baby carrier: $45

Total: $345

Next up I moved to insurances. You’d be surprised by how much you can save on insurance simply by comparing prices and changing provider. For some of these the savings were actually much higher over a year but I’ve only included the first month worth of savings in my calculation.

Remember that even if you’ve prepaid an insurance you can still change and get a refund for the remaining months in most cases.  The insurances all refunded me the money I had paid which I then paid the new insurance with, so there was an actual cash excess each time. The monthly ones obviously only save that amount when the month comes along so that is why I’ve only included one month.

These are the total savings I made on each item. If the item was paid monthly, I only included the first months saving.

Comprehensive car insurance for two cars: $489.70 saved
Health insurance: $26.30 saved (each month)
Home insurance: $186 saved

Total: $702

Once I’d bargained my insurances and sold excess clutter I decided to tackle the grocery bill. I used up everything in the fridge, freezer and pantry and only spent on absolute necessities.

I actually managed to keep it to $38.60 so a saving of $111.40 off our regular bill.

Total $111.40

Next up I started setting aside all coins remaining in my wallet (and hubby’s) at the end of each day. I put them in a jar at the end of the day and added them up at the end of the week. I’d really not noticed them missing so I was pretty surprised to find I had accumulated $81.25 at the end of the week!

Total $81.25

The results

So there you have it. Without much effort at all and in just a week I managed to put over $1239 back into our bank account.

Total saved: $1239.65

A step by step guide to saving money

Set aside three or so hours to work through your expenses. These will probably be the best paid hours of your life, so make sure you make it a priority.

Declutter and sell

1. Work through each room of your home and declutter items that are of value but not used any more.
2. List them on your local buy, sell, swap page on Facebook.
3. Collect your cash!

Get a better deal on insurances

1. Collect all your insurances and bills together in one place.
2. Sort them by most recently reviewed to least recently reviewed.
3. Start with the largest expenses that haven’t been reviewed for a while.
4. Go online and get four new quotes for each insurance.
5. Compare policies and check they cover what you need.
6. Get the best deal!

Save on groceries

Have a read of the $50 grocery challenge and also my post on reducing your grocery budget and get saving.

Small amounts add up

Grab a jar and start clearing your wallet of coins at the end of every day. Set aside the money you’ve saved. You might even decide to include $5 notes if your budget is a bit more flexible.

So how much do you think YOU could set aside in a week? I’d love to know how you go!

This post is part of my entry into the Heritage Bank Blog Awards for 2015.
If you found it helpful and you like the blog I’d really love your vote. You just click here and vote for Keep Calm Get Organised. You’ll get a confirmation email that you MUST click on for your vote to be counted and to go in the draw to win $100 for yourself 🙂
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