10 small ways through which anyone can reduce their expenses and save for bigger goals

It's the little expenses that count.

Saving money has become an essential skill to have in the modern world. However, everybody who has saved significant amounts of money will easily attest to the fact that it is everyday choices that add up over time and create a significant financial impact. It can start from cutting down on unnecessary everyday expenses such as expensive coffee and eating out. Alternatively, people could cook more from home as one of many examples. Reddit user u/Maximum-Gas-3491 asked the community, "What 'little things' do you do that really add up?" Here are 10 of the most insightful answers that individuals had to share.

1. Using more warm clothing 

Put warm socks and a sweater on before turning up the heat. u/nogalisanisland. My old dryer had an air filter with a valve that would let the hot air into the house in the winter. Not only did it bring in the heat, but also much-needed humidity - I never had winter static electricity problems in that place. The new one comes out at the bottom of the dryer and goes straight into the wall, so there is no chance to put a similar valve on this one. While I'm enjoying using dryer sheets again, I still hate watching all that heat vent into the backyard. Obviously, you can only do this with electric dryers. Please do not vent gas dryers into your breathing space. u/TruCelt

2. Utilizing a wishlist

When you see something you want on Amazon (or Sephora or any other online shopping), put it on a wish list and don't look at it for 48 hours. 98% of the time you won’t go back to buy it. u/Joygernaut. I do it for a year. A month isn't long enough for that thing to come up for a seasonal sale at 50% off. Sometimes I'll do it for 2 or 3 years if the thing it's replacing keeps working. u/dekusyrup. Similarly, if I get an email telling me about a sale, I immediately delete it, and I almost always forget about it completely. u/MozzarellaFitzgerald. And sometimes you get a reduction offer on the item because they know you’re hesitating. u/GoatOfSteel

3. Using leftover food intelligently 

Every few days, I take stock of the odds and ends in my freezer and fridge, and I come up with ways to incorporate them into meals. A favorite way to deal with random veggies is to make a stir fry. A favorite way to deal with random bits of bread is to freeze them and make bread pudding when I’ve accumulated enough. u/saveswhatx. My husband got visibly giddy when it started cooling down here in Ohio. It means soup season which means "I throw random odds and ins into a pot and somehow magically make the most delicious soup you've ever had" season. u/derprah

4. Selling unused things 

Selling things we don't use. Selling a $10 item here and there really does add up. It takes pretty low effort and we save the money for vacation. The benefit of less stuff is even better than the money, to be honest. u/spenceandcarrie. Same I sell on Poshmark and only allow myself to buy from there once I’ve sold enough! That way I don’t use my “own” money. So far I think I’ve sold around $800 worth of clothes in two years and a half years, so not bad and honestly, it’s a good way to curb my spending. u/forgivemefashion

5. Bringing tea bags to school 

Carry tea bags with me to school. It's $1 for a cup of tea, but $0 for a cup of hot water. If I get tea on campus 3x a week for a 14-week semester that's $42 (minus the cost of the tea bags I bring) I can save each semester. Off-campus food is a whole other thing, though. u/TheMonkeyDidntDoIt. Ha, I was thinking of this in the opposite way. There was a breakfast item that I wanted to treat myself to once a week. And I figured it was worth the $1.50 per week to make myself a bit more happy on the way to classes. Of course, it was an item I couldn't easily make at home, so it was definitely more worth it than just bringing tea bags. u/cyanidelemonade

6. Only order water as a drink when eating out

Never order anything but water to drink when dining out. I don’t have any idea how much I didn’t spend, but I’m 64 so I imagine it’s got to be in the thousands by now. I also carry my water bottle or ask for free tap water if I’m going somewhere that sells bottled water. I once was at the cafe at an aquarium. I got free tap water with my sandwich. I saw a family with 3 kids eating lunch at a nearby table. They had 5 bottles of water that they paid for $3 each. And nobody finished drinking theirs, they threw away most of it and all that plastic. $15 just for water! They could have had free water, or one bottle and 5 free cups. u/SmileFirstThenSpeak

7. Making mug cake to satiate one's sweet tooth

When I feel like having something sweet, which is often, I make a mug cake (~$0.36 each) instead of going out and spending $7 on ice cream. u/magiccxzg. I made no baked oatmeal cookies!! Takes me 5 min and I use whatever I have on hand. Usually mix peanut butter, Nutella, milk & oatmeal and eat with a spoon. u/catconverterthief. My husband and I make oatmeal bars using just bananas, oats, raisins, a little real vanilla (always bought on sale), and some peanut butter. After mashing bananas and stirring in the other ingredients, we bake it in our toaster oven. All natural, cheaper than store-bought bars, and healthy, too! u/CelticDaisy

8. Using silica packets to prevent food from spoiling

I work in retail. Often, I find silica packets from toys and purses on the floor and I grab them and bring them home. I use them all over, mainly in my pantry and root cellar. Preventing food I grow from spoiling due to moisture damage isn't necessarily saving me a ton of money, but it's saving hundreds of hours a year of my sweat equity. u/Free_Thinker4ever. For $27 you can get 5 pounds of silica for flower drying from Michaels or several other retailers. It has beads in it that start out blue but change to all white when it has absorbed moisture and is no longer active. Baking it at a low temp dries it out and recharges it. u/beachteen

9. Air drying clothes 

I hang most of my clothes to air dry so that the heat from the dryer won’t damage the fabric. Pricey coffeehouse coffee is too strong for me, so I get much cheaper iced coffee at Wendy’s.

Nine times out of ten the store brand is better than the name brand. The dollar stores have the best store brands. u/Potential_Story7840. To add to hang drying, the UV light from the sun disinfecting clothes helps rid bacteria smells. Store brand is good but some of the meds at the dollar store are not FDA regulated so only get standard stuff like Aspirin and Excedrin, don't recommend trying anything new like supplements from the dollar store. u/Poundcake9698

10. Stock up when items are on sale 

When something you use regularly is on sale, stock up. My family likes to make Starbucks espresso at home and a small bag is now $10. When it’s back on sale to its precovid I buy 2 or more extra and start to build up a stockpile. Eventually a lot of the foods you use you will have so your weekly bills will be fresh foods. u/Southern-Yam-1811. This is how I ended up with ~500 rolls of toilet paper a couple of years before the pandemic. Staples was actual-clearancing crates of it (so like $12 for a box of 48), so I got as many as would fit in the garage I had at the time. Still have at least 50 rolls. u/Not_FinancialAdvice