Follow These 15 Useful Tips And Avoid Wasting Your Hard Earned Money

Earning money is not an easy job to accomplish for most people. Even then, more than a third of Americans carry a credit card debt, which is way more than what they have in their savings account, according to a 2019 Bankrate report. And if we take WalletHub’s recent credit card debt research into account, we as a society have reached a milestone we shouldn’t be proud of – for the very first time in the history of the world, the United States combined owe more than a trillion dollars – yes, a trillion dollars – in debt accumulated through credit cards.

The above mentioned facts just lay it out bare open how good we really are when it comes to financing. But if you are looking for a silver lining, you can take lessons from that and become a more financially responsible citizen starting today. Read on to find how you can avoid wasting your hard-earned money and spend your money in a wise manner.

Buy an older model phone

Buying the latest model phones is a big waste of money. For example, you can get a Samsung Galaxy S10 for a price of somewhere around $900, while Galaxy S9 – which is basically the same phone – costs around $600! Similarly, if you go for iPhone 11, you will end up spending around $700. However, if you go for a slightly older, but equally functionable iPhone XR, you can buy it for a hundred dollars less at $600! Now, ask yourself – is having that latest model of your favorite brand worth all that extra cash?

You never have to pay the full price of any product or service

Food, clothing, plane tickets, movie rentals, hotel rooms – pretty much everything that you buy is offered at a marked-down price at some point. So, by paying the full price for a product or service, you are basically hurting your own wallet. To get the most value for money, you should always take advantage of the special discounts that are offered on Cyber Friday and Black Friday.

Go for a health savings account

If you are not aware of a Health Savings Account (HSA), it is basically a kind of savings account where you can deposit your money that is completely tax-free, for the purpose of handling all of your medical expenses. However, the interesting thing to note is that you can use this HSA card to pay for even over-the-counter products such as condoms, contact lens, laxatives, sunscreen, bandages, and even lip balm! Now, while you can get the products at the same exact price, you are paying for them from your pre-taxed money.

Always go for a family plan when it comes to Netflix

If you are going solo with your Netflix plans, you are losing out on a lot of money. Always go for family plans, and share it with a friend or a cousin. You can trade your Netflix password for their Amazon Prime or Hulu password and you both win! While you might think of that $10 as just pocket change, over time you are actually saving a lot of money by simply sharing your password!

Set up a 529 for your kids

For those unaware, 529 is a “qualified tuition plan” that helps you to save money for your kids’ college education. With this type of savings account, you can easily set aside tax-free money right from your paycheck into your kid’s college tuition and other related charges. While the laws might differ state wise on how much you can actually save through this process, it can be anywhere between $240,00 to $529,000 per kid – which is huge!