20 Simple Financial Habits Anyone Can Adopt

The millionaire John Rockefeller started his path to wealth by digging up potatoes for his neighbors. He didn’t spend the money he earned, instead, he put it into a jar. Every time he got paid, the boy wrote it down in his book.

We at Bright Side became really interested in the secrets that help wealthy people stay wealthy. And at the end of the article, there is a bonus for you that proves you have to be creative no matter what you do.

• “I include my friends in online shopping as well. If we order for a huge amount then we do not have to pay for delivery charges.”

• Mark Zuckerberg is one of the richest people in the world — but the Facebook founder and CEO apparently shops at bulk, discount mecca Costco.

• I read The Two Income Trap for the first time 12 years ago when I got married. It said that 2 sources of income increase the risk of bankruptcy because, this way, families get used to buying a lot of stuff. Since then, my wife and I limit our expenses to the smaller of our incomes and the other salary, we just put aside. © servetus / Reddit

• Nearly every day I’d spend about $8.50 for a mediocre burrito, a sandwich, or some other culinary money trap. I’m able to get 4 meals out of a crockpot that also costs around a total of $8.50. Previously, 4 lunches would have cost me $34, so this saves me $25.50 each time. © Chi_FIRE / Reddit

• Write down literally everything you spend money on. I’ve found that just being able to look at what my money goes to over the course of a month has made me spend less without even trying, because when I buy anything I have that spreadsheet in the back of my mind. © Ewolra / Reddit

• Taking good care of your teeth will help you avoid big expenses in the future. Buy an electric toothbrush that is soft and brush your teeth twice a day. Make sure the toothbrush is soft, otherwise you might damage the enamel. © NomadBotanist / Reddit

• I stopped buying daily coffee at coffee shops. It really adds up quick. If you’re buying a coffee maker, I would suggest trying a French press. No need to buy paper filters. For best results, use coarsely ground coffee. © Lunar343 / Reddit

• Library = Office Space. As someone who works from home and who should really leave the house more often, libraries have been my saving grace. Who can afford to go to a coffee shop daily? It’s like $3 per visit, and that’s when you’re trying to be cheap. The books and newspapers are free. They have AC and free Wi-Fi that is very fast. And it is very quiet. All I’ve got to say is I love my libraries and they’ve saved me a small fortune in cash and stir-crazy mental health. © KarbsAngelHands / Reddit

• I keep a list on my phone of 30 different items that I buy a lot of (TP, paper towels, deodorant, meat, chicken, etc.). I track the benchmark price of each of those items which I have determined based on shopping at the cheapest places, like Aldi and Costco. This has saved me a lot of money by finding great deals on clearance/sale, but also saved me money by avoiding a purchase that appeared to be a good deal until I compared the price to my benchmark. © thenewyorkgod / Reddit

• When new monthly expenses come up, try to pull funding from something else. Do you have a monthly payment plan for a medical bill? It may be time to shop for new car insurance plans, look at phone plans, a lower internet speed plan, cancel your cable, try a cheaper gym, or maybe cancel Netflix, Hulu, or Spotify. It may not always be possible to balance out new expenses, but it can help. © Lil-Mingo / Reddit

• Nothing’s going to go bad with this kind of reminder at home. © jonzibar / Reddit

• You can regrow a lot of veggies at home. For instance, lettuce is fairly easy. If you still have the stalk, put it in a glass of water until it roots, then toss it in some dirt and it will grow. Same thing with some herbs or celery! © GreatWhiteBuffalo41 / Reddit

• Learn to properly freeze produce (for most things, you can chop them up and freeze them spread out on a cookie sheet. Once frozen all the way through, put them in a freezer bag or airtight container) to save time, money, and food waste. Since I often cook for one, I keep containers of chopped onions, bell peppers, poblanos, parboiled potatoes, and other prepped produce frozen so I can take only what I need. It keeps my food flavorful and healthier, even if I only have rice and eggs, there are a million things you can do with a little garlic, different peppers, and minimal spices. © LittleWhiteGirl / Reddit

• I’ve got 3 kids under 8. I use the food bank a lot. Here are some of my ways of making my food budget stretch. I keep 3 containers in my freezer for leftovers — a meat container: all edible meat leftovers get frozen to make a soup, a sauce, or a casserole; a vegetable container: all clean veggie scraps or veggies that are about to spoil get frozen to make vegetable stock. I can use that for soups, or use it instead of water to make rice taste better. If it’s all edible stuff I will chop it up and throw it into a pasta sauce. And I also have a fruit container: the leftover fruit from the kids’ lunches gets saved. Sometimes it gets made into a smoothie. If it is mostly apples, I make apple butter or applesauce with it. © Alexeipajitnov / Reddit

• I set up savings accounts for everything and have automatic transfers that coincide with payday. That way the money is put in the right place before any spending takes place. © BlasphemousButler / Reddit

• Never use fabric softener — it’s a marketing gimmick and it makes your clothing wear out faster! Air dry your clothes if you can — machines cost extra at the laundromat and use a ton of electricity at home. They also wear out your clothes faster (especially anything with elastic). © IWannaSlapDaBooty / Reddit

• I decluttered my apartment and sold everything I never used or used very rarely on Craigslist and Facebook marketplace. I kept all the cash in a mason jar until I had over $400. Really excited to finally have this. © michiruwater / Reddit

• Just a reminder to always look at the unit price. Supermarkets often sell their brand pasta in 3 sizes. 1 lb, 2 lbs, and 3 lbs. The 1 lb is actually the cheapest per oz. © GoGoJesusRangers / Reddit

• A simple elastic band around the pump of the soap dispenser will double its lifetime while still providing enough soap. (Especially in a household with kids). © JojoBaKi / Reddit

• We had an issue where we had basically no strategy. It drove me insane. We’d go to the store and spend $200-$250 and get home and go “uhhhhh, what do you want to eat?” It drove me insane because out of that $200, we might have food for dinners 2-3 times in there and a lot of eating out. This lead to moving to daily shopping. I would literally sit at work and around 2 PM and decide what I wanted to make for dinner. Then I’d stop on my way home and pick it up. This helped, because it gave me a line of sight to the cost for each meal. © UsidoreTheLightBlue / Reddit

• Last year I got very frustrated with my ex going to a bar every night while we were essentially living in poverty. His excuse was that it was “only $5” and it was on his way home. Then, I decided to do an experiment. I took a jar, made a slit in the lid. Every time I had a chance, I put $5 into it. This method helped me save $150 even though I thought it was impossible to save anything. © PM_ME_BrusselSprouts / Reddit

• Switching to cheaper cleaning products like vinegar or bleach. I probably saved $50 just by doing that. © GoodGollyThisIsHard / Reddit

Bonus: There is more than one way to use this press.

What tricks do you use to help you save money?