Fun Ways to Save Money Easily

Easy and Fun Ways to Save

These easy ways to save a little here and there are also fun ways to save. Savings is rarely considered fun and sure, saving a large amount will not be all fun and games. BUT each little amount can add up.

Also, when saving money it is good to mix up strategies. Why? 1) you do not have to constantly think about saving; and 2) you are less likely to give up. But why not add some fun to it with some fun ways to save your money. So here are a few suggestions to get you started.

5 Fun Ways to Save Money – My Suggestions

1.   Use a Piggy Bank, Shadow Box, or Fun Toy to Save Spare Change

I found a few cool shadow box type savings banks that are a more grown up style of the piggy bank on Amazon. Here they are:

Date Night Saving Box (available on Amazon)

It’s a Rainy Day Bank (available on Amazon):

Adventure Fund Box (Travel Box) – Savings Box – CAN be personalized for other goals (also available on Amazon here):

I like them because you can choose one with a goal on the front that reminds for say the fun vacation you are saving up for. Throw some spare change in there (instead of the cracks in your sofa or car seats) and think of the goal you are saving for.

Bonus: you will not be missing this spare change anyways so it likely won’t feel like you are saving at all. It can just be fun!

Another fun idea with a product is a nostalgic gum ball machine:

It can double as a decoration and help you save some quarters which can add up. Not into the old gum ball machine? Try searching for another nostalgic toy coin bank over on Amazon with this nostalgic toy and coin Amazon search results link or a piggybank on eBay through this link.

Things to Consider

• Does it sound like I am suggesting spending money instead of saving it?
  • Buying a shadow box, piggy bank, gum ball machine or other nostalgic toy to store your spare change requires an initial purchase. So yes, this is spending money. My tip: Do not do this only to save money, or it will not be effective for you and will be a waste.
• Rather, consider these points to decide if this will work for you:
  • Can you use this item as a decoration? Perhaps instead of buying another item that would only serve as a decoration and not a fun way to store change?
  • Do you have spare change laying that is just sitting there or, worse, cluttering your home, workspace, or car? Why not store it somewhere so you can actually use the combined value of all those scattered coins?
    • Spare change seems to always get lost by most people. Or simply ignored. Yet all those coins here and there can add up. They also add to unnecessary clutter and annoyance when cleaning (try vacuuming a coin or picking them up next time you do vacuum).
      • If you never have spare change, tell me your secrets!
      • Otherwise, if you have some in between your cushions, in your car, under some object, otherwise laying around, etc., why not store it somewhere?
      • Now instead of a penny or 10 cents here or there, you have combined them together into a larger value. It may be more than you think and storing this spare change in one place makes it MUCH easier to use them.
        • Don’t waste money you have by letting it get lost!
      • Tip: one option is to take it over to Coinstar and get a lump sum amount (minus a small commission) in return for all those coins.
• To avoid a purchase, you can also borrow from this idea and make your own piggy bank. Head over to Pinterest for some fun do it yourself ideas.

2.   Secret Shopping Jobs with Reimbursements to Pay for Things You Want

Find a secret shopping job or gig that reimburses you for something fun in addition to paying you. You can find some that reimburse you for entertainment, meals, hotel stays, drinks, and small purchases. They take a bit of digging around different platforms.

Check out my post on secret shopping platforms to try out and my post on gig apps to help get you started.

Bonus: you can get some things you want without the guilt plus make a little bit of extra money (usually in exchange for a picture or a short survey).

3.    Invest Your Spare Change in an Investment App

Using a save or invest your change app or program can be both easy and is another way to use your spare change. Instead of spare coins hanging around, these apps usually grab up the spare change from purchases you make using a debit or credit card by rounding to the nearest dollar and investing the difference (e.g., a purchase of $1.87 will be $2.00 and the 13 cent difference will go towards an investing or savings account).

This is a fun to see the spare change grow. A few popular apps that do this are Stash and Acorn. Based on reviews available, some people have used these tools to earn some pretty nice gains from a bit of extra change here and there.

Check on my post on investment apps – investing made simple for more information on both of these apps.

4.     Make it Fun with Bets or Tip Yourself

Turn saving into a game.

Create a competition with a friend or family member. See who can save the most maybe by doing some specific activity. Hey a game is a game right? You will forget you are saving and focus on the competing fun part.

Or if you want to do this without the competition, what about tipping yourself? I came across an app that lets you do that easily.

Tip Yourself – this app is available on the App Store and Google Play.

• What does it do? It lets you tip your self to reward yourself for small goals/achievements.
• It is a fun and smart way to save while also a great motivator!
• This app makes it very easy too.

5.    Mix it Up

Try not to stick to just one way of saving. I admit I loved scanning receipts when I first started and yes that can save money. Check out my scan receipt apps post here. But that is not for everyone. No method is. Also, any method can begin to feel like a chore and make savings less fun than it already is… so mix it up.

Mix different savings methods. For example:

• Use a Groupon or another coupon to do a fun activity.
• Try walking further to a cheaper store to buy something so you get both exercise and a little bit of savings.

Final Thoughts

Keep these tips in mind when trying out fun ways to save and saving money in general:

• Mix different savings methods out there and implement some fun into it!
  • Try some of my fun ways to save suggestions from this post and check out my master list of savings posts for some other ways to save money.
  • Mixing up methods of saving helps prevent boredom and frustration, which makes it more likely you will stick with saving (in some form) for the long run.
  • Keep it fun and mix it up and you are good to go.
• Also, if it feels too burdensome, take little breaks (within reason). This can be a break from thinking about it or a break from saving in general, provided you can afford it, for a splurge vacation.
  • If you start getting too stressed about the idea of saving, it is better to ease up than to keep going if that will make you end up quitting saving entirely.
  • And if you quit? Nobody says you can’t start back up later. Leading to the last point…
• Finally, every bit counts!

Try out one of these fun ways to save money. And let me know your thoughts or contact me. Do you know other fun ways to save?

Mood

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