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Welcome to Money Talk for Real, podcast where I talk about making money, spending money, and everything in between. I'm Nick. In this episode, I want to talk about some easy but realistic, kind of no BS ways to save money. We all need to save money right now. It feels tough to do. I've talked about that in other episodes. And it is hard to do, but certainly not impossible. And there are some easy ways to save money. And the things that I'm talking about aren't going to save you, you know, thousands of dollars in one shot. And that's not the goal anyway. That's not what saving money is. If you were able to save a thousand dollars in one shot, then you're probably uh, you know, a lot wealthier than the common folk. Let's just save that. Um, what I am going to talk about, though, are small wins, small ways to save money that can add up to you know substantial savings if you combine them all together. Um, the first thing I would say is buy generic products. A lot of times, this is the same product as a name brand product, just different packaging. It's different branding. They're putting their brand on it, they've built their brand, and that does not come free. That comes at a cost. And so, for example, if you're buying generic brand, meaning store branded, let's say toothpaste, well, if you look at the ingredients on the tube of toothpaste, it's probably the exact same on the store brand as on Crest or Colgate or one of the name brands. This is also true with uh a lot of water. Not all water, um, but a lot of water store branded comes from the same springs and the same water source as the name brands. Again, not all. The bigger, higher-end brands of water, of course, come from different luxury places, if you will. And those are just two examples, probably bad examples to be honest, but two examples. Other things could include, you know, again, hygiene items, um, whether that's deodorant, shampoo, makeup, uh, feminine products, uh, tooth, you know, mouthwash, dental floss, whatever that that's just hygiene. That's one category. But think about all the household products. Think about paper towels and toilet paper and cleaners and detergents and uh dishwasher, you know, liquid soap. Um, you know, that that's two categories, hygiene and household products. But think about everything else in your life. Everything from candy to food to even the stuff that is not consumables, does not get disposed of. Sometimes it's better to buy generic store brand products for the amount of money savings that comes with that and not having to buy the name brand products. The next thing is cut back your dang streaming services. Maybe cut back to just one or two. Um, you do not need, or or even rotate them out. If you like seven different streaming services, don't stack them together. Maybe just cut back to one or two. You might say, well, I if I do that, you know, I like shows on multiple streaming services. Well, then there might need to be a compromise. There might need to be, you know, if the purpose here is to save money, then the purpose is not to have bountiful, plentiful amounts of shows that you can watch. Um it uh cutting back to one or two, again, you know, you might not have as many shows to watch, but it's about the money that you're saving. You can always find something to watch. It might not be what you're used to watching, but maybe just change it up and watch something new in for the for the sake of saving money. Number one, uh the number three, I guess, the next thing to talk about is stop adding stuff to your cart just for the sake of hitting the minimum spend for free shipping. You all know what I'm talking about. Amazon Prime. If you spend, let's say, $35, you get free same-day shipping. And you're adding stuff to your cart that you probably don't need. I know I do, my wife does. Like it's it's a thing. And if it's something you legitimately need, that's fine. But don't just add it just for the sake of not paying the shipping. Because let's say you're at $27, you need to be at $35, you have $8 to go. Are you what's the likelihood you're gonna find something that's exactly $8? Probably not. It's probably gonna be $10 or $15. So now you're spending even more than what the minimum requirement is to get free shipping. And it's probably some quote unquote cute thing that you saw. Well, I got this pair of pants because it was cute. I got these shoes because it was cute. I saw this thing that I can sit on my desk or my mantle, some little trinket, some deal of the day, even something on Amazon that their marketing team is doing designed to get you to spend money. And you're spending money just to hit the minimum spending for the free shipping. So let's talk about that. The free shipping, free same day shipping. Do you really need it same day? Like, is it an emergency or are you just getting impatient? If it is an emergency, something you need the same day, you might not be buying it on Amazon. You might just go to the grocery store, go to the big box store, go to a clothing store, whatever it is you're buying, and buy it there. You're probably just impatient. So just wait for next day shipping or two-day shipping. The last resort here is to just pay the $2.99 shipping fee. If you legitimately need it same day and it's a $20 item, paying $23 is better than paying $35 to buy junk. The last thing I'll talk about this before I move on is if you want, and again, this is even more of a last resort, if you want to add something just to hit the minimum spin, make it something that you will actually use or actually need, not something you want. If you say you quote, need this cute new pair of socks, that's probably false. You probably did not need a new pair of socks. You probably wanted them because they looked cute. Um, you might need, let's say, dishwasher detergent or deodorant or paper plates or napkins, or you know, make it something that is legitimate that you're gonna use, and something that has a long shelf life, meaning it's not gonna go bad before you actually use it. Also, this kind of goes hand in hand. Don't buy stuff because it's a deal. That also causes people to not be able to save money. Just because it's a deal doesn't mean you need it, and it's also still just money spent. I've used this example before. If you saw something that was listed at $800 and it was quote, on sale or it was a deal for $500 and you buy it, you did not save $300, you spent $500. And this is big with online shopping, especially on Amazon, the deal of the day. Um, you know, it's like, oh well, I I should buy that because that's a deal. Yeah, but it's still stuff you don't need. That's an easy way to save money is to stop buying stuff that you don't need just because it's a deal. Next thing, and this might become be a little controversial. An easy way to save money is to legitimately think about insurance elections. If you're at an employer as a W-2 employee, many jobs will offer you some sort of insurance election, meaning that they can pay for your insurance and you have an election, meaning you can choose what insurance level you would like. A lot of times there's at least two options, sometimes three options. So for all of your insurances. So think about dental, vision, health insurance, life insurance. Some people offer pet insurance, car insurance, house insurance, the list goes on and on. But legitimately think about it because insurance, in my opinion, is needed, but it's also kind of a scam. It's the biggest scam. Let's be honest about it. It's not kind of, it is a scam. Sorry if you're in the insurance business and you're listening to this, but insurance, objectively speaking, is a scam. So think about your elections, meaning the whole point in having insurance is for the what if. But don't what-if it to death. Don't think, oh my God, like what if I lose my arm? I need the most expensive insurance possible because I can't pay out of pocket. That is the biggest what-if, meaning that is the freak accident that probably will never happen to you. But if it does, you cross that bridge when you get there. That is better than having a tremendous amount of your paycheck coming out for the most expensive insurance that in reality, if you're healthy and especially if you're young, you're never gonna use your insurance and you're paying for it every single paycheck. Again, I'm not saying don't have insurance. I'm saying legitimately think about it. Talk to people at your workplace, talk to your parents, somebody that you consider a mentor and look up to, see what their opinion is. I'm not gonna give insurance advice here, but just legitimately plan that and think about that because a big part of your paycheck is probably eat up and goes away very quickly just paying into your insurance, especially if you have the highest level of insurance. The next easy way to save money is to not get caught up and buy into the idea of the Amazon subscribe and save. Now, again, like other things on this list, I'm not saying totally disregard it. It's not terrible, but it's not always cheaper. I experienced this personally. I had Amazon subscribe and save, well, my wife did for our house, for things like paper towels, dish detergent, um, laundry detergent pods, uh, napkins, paper plates, deodorant, toothpaste, things that we use constantly, right? Um, it was on Amazon subscribe and save because it was quote unquote cheaper, or at least we thought. It's not always cheaper. We did the math on how much we're using it. And another thing, subscribe and save is coming whatever frequency you set it to. So if you set it to two months, what we found is that we were not using it fully in two months. It was about a month and a half. So we didn't want to do one month and we didn't want to do two months, right? Two months wasn't enough, one month was too much, and you end up with shelves and shelves and storage and cabinets full of extra junk. And it's not totally junk. Again, you're gonna use it eventually. But the point I'm making is it's not always cheaper. We actually found that we can just buy paper towels and all that stuff at Walmart or at Food Lion or at the grocery store, and it was cheaper than doing Amazon subscribe and save. Now, Amazon's very good with their marketing, they're a very big company, they didn't get that big for no reason. They are going to make it look like you're dumb if you don't buy it on subscribe and save. They're gonna make you feel like, what am I doing? I have to do this because look at the original price versus if I do subscribe and save, I can save so much money. Yes, you can save much money, a lot of money in comparison to the original listing price, but it's not always cheaper than just buying it when you do your regular grocery pickup or your shopping for the week or whatever it is. So, an easy way to save money is just really dive into the Amazon subscribe and save and potentially stay away from it. The next way to easily save money, and a lot of people will probably argue with me on this, is to shop at your lower end grocery stores. Swallow your pride. Okay, I'm not saying buy lower end food, that it's junk food and not nutritious, not filling, that kind of thing. But just lower end grocery stores. Think of Aldi or Foodline or Walmart. They are fine, okay? Swallow your pride. I've heard people tell me I won't be caught dead inside of a Walmart. Why? It's the same stuff as Target and Whole Foods and all Harris Teeter and Publix, just a lot cheaper with different branding. It's okay. You can still get healthy food, you can still get healthy groceries, nutritional food at those lower end places, and it is much, much cheaper than Target, Whole Foods, Publix, et cetera. Those companies, kind of like I mentioned earlier, got to where the reason you like shopping there is because of the experience and the branding behind it. So it is working. You're their ideal customer. You're coming in to overpay for the same items that everyone else can buy cheaper at somewhere else. So an easy way to save money is to go to a lower end grocery store. But again, this might require you swallowing your pride a little bit. The next thing, wake up one hour before you leave the house. This is a great exercise that will automatically save you money if you get into the mindset. Because if you wake up one hour before leaving your house for the day, I mean, this forces you to actually prepare for the day mentally and physically, meaning physically, like with your items. So this prep this forces you to prepare by making coffee at home. This forces you to make food at home, make breakfast at home, and make lunch food that you take with you to lunch. And by doing this, so the one hour is just the action. And as a result of that, it forces you to prepare because you mentally are not into a rush. You're not stressed about getting to work on time because you woke up one hour minimum before you leave the house. If you already wake up one hour before you leave your house and you're constantly stressed and rushed, then maybe it needs to be two hours. And I know you're gonna say, Well, I can't wake up any earlier than you know, 6 a.m., whatever it is. Yes, you can. Okay, we're talking about saving money here. We're not talking about the amount of sleep. That's a different conversation. But being prepared prevents the impulse spending. Meaning, when you're at work, you got done with your first meeting of the day, 10 o'clock rolls around, you ate breakfast at 5 o'clock, you haven't had coffee, and 10 o'clock rolls around, you got done with a stressful meeting. What happens? You're all of a sudden hungry, you're stressed out, boom, impulse by. You go to the coffee shop, get a bagel and a coffee. Whereas if you wake up and have enough time to prepare before you leave your house for the day, you could take a bagel with you, make coffee at home. And again, I mention this all the time with the coffee example. We're talking a couple dollars. It's not going to make or break most people, but if you add it up over time, my favorite saying is that pennies turn into dollars over time. Small amounts compound. That's with interest gained money as well as spending money. Okay, the next thing, simply say no. It's very simple. Say no. When you get invited at work to go out to lunch with your friends, say no. When your friends want to go party after work or go out for some drinks, just say no. You don't have to go. You don't have to self-shame with reasons. Just decline it. It's okay to say that you're trying to save money. Accept the judgment. It's a little bit uncomfortable, okay, but we're trying to save money here. And it's not rude. You don't you don't even have to give them a reason that you're trying to save money. You could just say, no, thank you. I brought food, or no, thank you, I have plans after work. Or just say, no, thank you. You're gonna have a little bit of FOMO because I understand that it's not just about the food, it's not just about the drinks, it's also about the camaraderie and the companionship between hanging out with people that you work with. It's a gossip time. I completely get it. But saying no in situations like that can absolutely save you money. Maybe you have to do that to your family sometimes. And I know that's gonna be painful, but again, you don't have to do it in a rude way. If you don't have the money, then you don't have the money. And maybe you have the money, but quote, you don't have it to go spend on that, right? That's what saving money is. It's okay to say no. Last thing, be grateful for what you have. That's a very cliche saying, but accept what you have. New things are nice, but they're not needed. What you have just worked works just fine. It's just quote unquote boring to you right now. Here's an example be grateful for what you have, accept what you have. So if you have an older iPhone, let's say you have the iPhone 15, that's considered old right now. You want the iPhone 17, but accept what you have. Your iPhone 15's working just fine. It might be a little bit slow, but it works, right? Do you need an iPhone 17 or can you just accept what you have? Work with what you have. You have a new car, you have a car, but it's not new. Is that okay? Does it work? Does it get you around where you need it to be? Can you maybe just clean it and then basically have a brand new car by having it cleaned? Accept what you have. Don't get the shiny object syndrome. Some of these things are easier said than done. I'm guilty of a lot of these too. I'm not passing judgment. I'm just recommending 10 ways to save money. And those are the ways. So I hope this helped. Please let me know what kind of podcast you want me to make next. Also, please, if you want to talk about money, whether it's your personal situation or not, we can keep it anonymous. Please reach out to me, whether it's on the website, email, whatever it is. I'm thinking about setting up a voicemail where people can leave their stuff because I would like to help you with your money legitimately. No BS. Just actually talk through it and help. Anyways, thanks for listening. I'll catch you on the next episode. This is Money Talk for Real.