After Christmas and the Holidays in general we are all looking for a ‘reset’ and a way to save money after all the spending during December. I have five main tips but refer to the list I made at the bottom for more ideas. I am very proud of us this year as we decided to not do presents or really very limited presents this year. We did get a mini projector during black Friday on Amazon and I would have to say that it is the best gift to ourselves. We have been watching the Harry Potter movies on it daily and it really tightens your festive season. Click the link “mini projector” above to bring you to Amazon if you are interested in getting one. On to the money saving and not money spending, below are my five tips to save/make some extra cash to pay for all the gifts and food we indulged in.
Top 5 Tips to save/make money in 2025:
- Facebook Marketplace – January is the time to declutter your home for the new year and everyone else is doing the same. Sell the items you don’t want on facebook marketplace as this is the time people are trying to save money, wink, and looking for used items to redecorate and they want your stuff. You can make the money back you spent and maybe more if you have quality items. The return depends on time and if things sell quickly because some times you have to wait a bit but I feel as though there are a lot of people interested on facebook marketplace more than other sites.
- Diet – I know we don’t like dieting and it is a touchy subject but if you are looking to go on a diet in the new year like everyone else than you can save money by eating healthy. By meal prepping and cooking healthy at home meals you will save money on not eating takeout or morning coffees that are so expensive. Making coffee at home will save you so much money because of course coffee is so pricy. We all already do make coffee at home I think because coffee has always been so expensive in the US. But if you do still get a premium coffee daily you could definitely save on coffee. Oatmeal is so good for you and is a great healthy, affordable option for saving money and dieting in the winter that is so versatile. By not eating or buying at all junk food you will save money as junk food is very over priced and extremely bad for you, why would you poison yourself. The main healthy foods are: nuts, fish, berries, olive oil, spinach, veggies, oats, quinoa, and many more of course.
- Subscriptions – cancelling or limiting your subscriptions are a good way to immediately save money monthly by making sure you only have the ones that you need. We have gotten rid of almost all of our subscriptions and streaming services and save so much money. We got an antenna and use our DVDs mainly and we are not feeling as though we are missing out because we would spend two hours picking something out to watch and just fall asleep any ways. If you analyze your spending you will also discover other subscriptions you probably didn’t even know you had. If you have a gym membership or subscription you can do free youtube classes at home and do at home workouts if you don’t fully take advantage of your membership. You can also do free(ish) activities like tennis, pickle ball, rollerskating, golfing if you can get on the course for free, hiking, swimming, etc.
- Money Binder – one of the best ways to save money/cash is a money binder. You can make your own money binder with envelopes, or other items you forgot you had like plastic card holder sleeves for those pokemon cards you got rid of. You can also get a cheap one online like Amazon just click “money binder” above. The money binder is a way to keep cash determinations daily or weekly or monthly. I only feel as though it is kinda hard because we don’t use much cash so do what suits you.
- Your Phone – we all want the newest and best phone. But if you are wanting to save a large amount of money you can switch carriers to save money. If you are not fussy about using wifi only and not having the best service or it doesn’t really matter to have the fastest 5G then switching to a smaller carrier for a fraction of the price will save big time. I switched from the major phone carrier to Mint Mobile after I fully paid off my phone and I now save over $1000 a year, instant savings.
List of Ideas:
- Money Binder
- Eat Oatmeal
- Cancel Subscriptions
- Get TV antenna and Roku
- Eat Less Junk Food
- Eat Pasta
- Home cooked meals
- Cancel Gym or classes and workout at home
- Press on Nails
- Make Coffee at Home or Work
- Sell Stuff
- Switch Phone Carriers
- At home birthdays, parties or free parks
- Take advantage of discounts
- Free Community Events
- Picnic & Hiking
- Shop at Dollartree
- Build your 401k or stop investing to make money now
- Thrift on facebook marketplace
- Do a Beach Day
- Tennis or Pickleball
- Rollerskating
- Golf
- Switch car insurance to cheaper company
- Cut your own hair
- Internet bundle & save
- Grow your own veggies
- Use less electricity
- Meal plan
- Bulk shopping
- Only drink water and cut out soda
- Don’t use your garage door
- Turn lights off at night
- Shop your house for decor to switch up
Extra Tip: Walmart has %50 off all Christmas items after Dec 25th. Take advantage and get what you want for the next year if you have been thinking of the items you wanted but didn’t buy them because they were too expensive. I bought a new pre-lit tree and got it for only $39.
