One Step Money Tricks | brokeGIRLrich
I’ve found there are actually a few things that make saving money a little easier that are incredibly easy to implement.
I call these one step money tricks because there’s like one moment of effort you have to exert and then the effort is done and you just get the payoff.
Cash Back
There are a few browser extensions I’ve added that make cash back hunting a breeze. The main one is Rakuten, though I also have CapitalOne Shopping installed.
Installation took less than 5 minutes to sign up and install.
If you’re just going with one, I highly recommend Rakuten. When you’re shopping online, you’ll get a little popup if the site offers cash back.
Click on the popup and you’re good to go. Every couple of months, I get a cas hback check. I’ve had it installed since 2014 and I’ve made $553.59 with no effort.
I realize that’s not a ton, but it does add up – and who would turn down a “free” $500+?
Also, I worked one job several years ago where I did a lot of purchasing. I explained to the accounting department that we should open a Rakuten account and they told me it would be too difficult to do the accounting for that, so I used my own when making purchases and it was a noticeable bonus.
Honestly, if you don’t have it installed and you shop regularly online, you’re pretty much just throwing away free money.
You can check it out for yourself here.
Coupon Codes
Very similar to Rakuten and CapitalOne Shopping, Honey saves me a lot of time and effort when shopping.
It scours the web and finds coupon codes for you to use.
It does also have a similar cash back function to Rakuten, but the vast majority of the time, I find I use it for coupon codes.
You can install Honey here.
Loyalty Apps
If you know you’re a regular somewhere, sign up for the loyalty card. All of my touring has created quite the Starbucks habit, and I’ve gotten more free lattes than I can count just by signing up for the app (and you get a free one on your birthday).
As a lifelong Jersey girl, I also have the Dunkin Donuts app. My best friend swears by the Target app.
Just signing up for a ton of loyalty cards usually isn’t worth it, but if you know you hit up a particular spot a lot and they have an app that gives you loyalty rewards, extra discounts or coupons, that can be worth the few minutes in the long run to do.
Large Scale Automate Your Savings
One quick trip to your HR department could have you on track to improve your savings and retirement plans.
If you’re not set up to automatically contribute to them, set it and forget it is the easiest way to build up a nest egg fairly painlessly over time.
Even if things are tight, setting up .5% of your paycheck to go into a savings account is better than nothing. If you’re trusting that you’ll transfer the money over yourself but find you never do, this can really help your achieve that goal.
Small Scale Automate Your Savings This Way
Dobot is an amazing app that squirrels away small amounts of money from your bank account based on your spending and income algorithms it builds.
An app just like this one was a game changer for me when I first started saving money for an emergency fund. I was amazed at how well it handled my super variable freelance income.
You can download it here.
BONUS: A Slightly More Than One Step Money Trick
If I know I have a large purchase coming up (like furniture, appliances, travel, etc.), I’ll go to a discount gift card website and buy a gift card for the amount I was going to be spending anyway and start out the project with an instant 2-10% savings.
While this isn’t exactly one step because you have to buy the gift card and wait for the email with the confirmation code and then apply it to the purchase, it is a pretty easy way with minimal effort to save a few dollars.
The one I do this with the most often is AirBnB and so far I’ve had no issues.
