10 QUICK Life Hacks To Save Money ASAP

What's up, you guys? It's Graham here! So, as some of you might already know, I am slightly obsessed with saving money. Okay, fine, that was a lie. I'm very much infatuated with saving money and trying to find the most creative ways to cut back without ever actually feeling like I'm cutting back.

Like I'm sure you've seen some of these people on extreme cheapskates who go and dumpster dive for food or go and collect rainwater just so they could save an extra 28 cents. And sure, that's cool to watch on YouTube, but uh, yeah, I'm not about that life. However, I am all about getting the same experience and the same quality all for a fraction of the cost it would normally be. That, in turn, allows me to save way more money without having to have my own TLC reality show.

So over the last decade, I've applied this thinking towards just about everything, from going and buying a house for nothing, a Tesla for $78, and totally free vacations pretty much anywhere in the world. From all of those weird little life hacks, these are the ones that I have found that make the biggest difference and allow you to save the most amount of money possible in the least amount of time as possible.

So let's not waste any time, we'll get right into it. As the title suggests, this is not going to cost you a single thing except one like on the video. Doing that really helps me out a lot, and the more likes a video gets, the more likely the algorithm is to push the video to a new audience who can also save more money. So make sure to do your part and smash the like button so more people can save more money.

With that said, we'll begin right here over at my desk. Now, the first frugal life hack is to travel for free using credit card points. Here's how that works: credit cards are basically just money printing machines. So, in order to incentivize people to sign up and then hopefully be irresponsible with their money, so as to pay hordes of interest to evil credit card companies, credit cards will often offer a sign-up bonus or points anytime you meet a minimum requirement.

Well, guess what? Oftentimes those points can be used towards free travel, free hotel, or sometimes a straight-up profit back in your bank account. Therefore, if you know how to use this properly, you might never have to pay for another plane ticket, hotel, or vacation ever again in your entire life. No joke, it's been years since I paid for a plane ticket, and you could do the exact same thing and essentially just get free vacations wherever you want to go, as long as you do this properly and know how to use credit card resources like NerdWallet, The Points Guy, Ask Sebi, and The Credit Shifu. They go over the latest credit card rewards as soon as they come up, and they teach you how to maximize the value of every point.

Now, if you want to do this correctly, you must be diligent in monitoring your credit report and score. You must only apply to credit cards with enough reward to actually be worth it. You must always only spend money you're going to be spending anyway, and finally, you must always pay off your credit card in full by the time it's due. No exceptions. Just because some of these cards have a $4,000 minimum spend, so you could get $750 back in free travel, is not an excuse for you to go and buy a whole bunch of stuff you don't need or go and buy a brand new TV and five pairs of shoes because, hey, you gotta meet the minimum spend.

But if you were gonna spend $4,000 anyway, then you may as well put it on a brand new credit card, get the points, and then use those points towards free travel, whereas otherwise you would be getting nothing.

The second life hack I use all the time is to reverse image search everything you buy online. Here's the thing: most online retailers get their products from the exact same spot, but some will charge you way more money than others just because they have a big name or a fancy website behind them. So, I've taken a two-step approach. Every time I buy something online, I would say about nine times out of ten this is going to save me at least 10 to 50 percent on anything I purchase. Here's how easy it is: when you find something you want to buy, just right-click and search Google for this image. All of a sudden, every website containing that same image will pop up, and that will allow you to click through and find the same item listed for cheaper somewhere else.

Now, sometimes this doesn't work because retailers will end up taking their own pictures, so it's different and doesn't come up for people like us trying to do this. So, if you could find it and there's a manufacturer or SKU number listed on the website, just go and search for that instead. Just go to Google and place that SKU number in quotations to give you the exact search. Then you will be directed to other websites that have that same SKU number listed.

Try this with anything you buy, and I think you're going to be really impressed with the amount of money you'll be able to save. The third life hack is just a common thing to remember, and that is, don't buy something just because it's on sale. This is where impulse purchases are born, and it's probably where most people fall into the trap of spending money unnecessarily. Usually, you'll be walking through a store or browsing something online, and then it hits you in big red font: sale! Limited time only! 50% off! Buy it now! Three left remaining! Gotta act fast!

And even though you've never needed something like this in the past, it's just too good of a deal to pass up, right? So, of course, you buy it, and you think you've made the best purchase of your entire life because you've saved all of this money. Except after a few weeks, you realize you never really use it that often, and it's just sitting in the corner collecting dust, doing nothing. All for something at the end of the day that you still paid for. Don't let that be you!

The moral of the story here is that just because something is on sale is not a reason for you to buy it. It doesn't mean you're saving money just because it's discounted. Like if you buy a $500 TV for $300, that is you still spending $300. Most people end up focusing more on how much money they saved versus how much money they spent, when in reality, how much they spent really is the one that matters the most.

The only exception to this is when you buy something that you actually need and were gonna buy anyway, but you waited for it to go on sale so you could save a little bit of money. Most people don't do this, though. So, once you realize the fallacy that buying something at a discount is not money saved—it's money spent—you'll be able to better recognize when you buy something you actually need versus buying something you don't need, but it's on sale and it's discounted. So it just seems like a good deal in your mind.

The fourth life hack everyone should begin doing immediately is to postpone all of your purchases by 72 hours. Here's the thing: sometimes the excitement of shopping or buying something can be really, really addicting, and it's easy to be tricked in the moment to buy it now because of how exciting it is to get. But what's typically found is that after three days, the excitement and allure of buying something is worn off, and you begin to realize that, eh, you didn't really need it that much or really wanted that much to begin with after you've thought about it or slept on it for a night.

This one is all about just cutting down on impulse purchases that you make without even realizing it. This one begins to get really interesting once you start digging deeper. Many studies have shown that shopping actually releases dopamine in the brain and brings about a sensation of happiness and well-being. Further research has shown that you don't actually get this dopamine hit from the act of purchasing something; instead, it's from the anticipation of being able to buy something.

From this, we conclude that buying something is not necessarily going to give you that fun excitement that you're looking for. Instead, if you want that same level of enjoyment and excitement, you could do that just by window shopping and then not actually even buying anything. It's the same experience, same enjoyment, same dopamine hit, except now it costs you zero dollars.

So, here's all you need to do: if there's something you want to buy, just wait 72 hours to buy it. That's it. After that, if you still want it and you found the cheapest place to buy it, then go for it, go and get it. But I would venture to say that maybe 80% of the things that you think you want in the moment you will not even want the next day, or even less the day after that, and even less the day after that.

Now, the fifth life hack is not really a life hack. I mean, this is nothing revolutionary; people have been doing this since the beginning of time. It's nothing crazy, but it's just this: only drink water. I know this one sounds silly to mention, but seriously, it's true. I go to the restaurant, and they charge you four dollars for a glass of soda, or six dollars for a cup of coffee, or even worse, like ten to twenty dollars for an alcoholic drink. And also, let's be real, most of the stuff you drink other than water is not really that good for you.

That means one of the best ways to cut back and save money is to only drink water. That's it! I've made the choice to cut out everything besides water and coffee, and I'd save more money than I know what to do with. Not only is doing this cheaper for you, but it's also healthier for you. There have been so many studies conducted on the health risks of drinking sugary drinks and sodas and how they affect the body. Not to mention how detrimental alcohol could be to your system. So just drink water!

And I'm not talking about the fancy waters like Fiji and especially not the sauna— that stuff is disgusting. Just regular filtered tap water is good enough. Once you get used to drinking just water, you're gonna start to notice your bank account slowly getting bigger and bigger and bigger.

And number six: speaking of coffee, always make your own coffee. Now, here's what I find ridiculous: the average American spends $1,100 a year on coffee, and more than 45% of 18 to 23-year-olds have spent more money on coffee than they have on their retirement. And 35% of 24 to 35-year-olds have done the same. That is stupid, and that needs to stop today.

I know it's no surprise that I've always been a proponent of making your own coffee at home. I even made a tutorial about how to make coffee for 20 cents yourself and how you could turn that iced coffee into a million-dollar nest egg just by investing those savings. I'm being for real! If you save six dollars a day by making coffee at home, if you invest those savings in the S&P 500, that could turn into a $1.3 million amount in 55 years at an 8% return.

But seriously, making coffee at home is incredibly easy, and if you want to make it look even more luxurious, just go and put it in one of these fancy cups instead. If you're interested in learning how to do this, I have a tutorial down below in the description that teaches you how to make the best iced coffee for only 20 cents.

Next, number seven: anytime I go shopping, I always buy generic brand items. See, typically, anytime you go to the store and you see a generic brand item, not only is it half the cost, but usually it's the exact same thing. See, here's what most people don't know: the big brands like Walmart, Costco, and Kroger don't all each own their own manufacturing facilities. Most of them source their products from the exact same places that produce the more expensive name brand items.

For example, Kirkland's signature coffee is roasted at the Starbucks coffee company. Kirkland's batteries are actually made by Duracell, and even something like Grey Goose is pretty much the same thing as Kirkland. That's just one example, and I'm sure if we did a deep analysis on generic brands versus the name brand items, we would see that most of them are produced in the exact same places, and the only difference is in the packaging and the allure of being a brand name.

Now, number eight: one of the biggest money savers every single month is to negotiate your car insurance rates. I know this is one of the worst unfun things imaginable to go shopping for car insurance, get blasted with spam emails and a whole bunch of phone calls just following up to see how your experience went. But if you could put up with just a few hours of that, it's going to potentially save you a lot of money.

I've personally saved over a hundred dollars a month by smashing the like button for the YouTube algorithm—if you have not done that already. No, but seriously, I've saved a lot of money moving from AAA to Geico to then Mercury to now Tesla auto insurance. I even took it a step further and audited how many miles I actually drive, and I realized I was insured for way more miles than I would actually need.

So, of course, I made the adjustment within the system to save even more money. I know it's a hassle to go around calling different companies, but guaranteed you should be able to save a decent amount of money just by going online, reading some reviews, spending about an hour going through their automated systems, and then calling one of the representatives to negotiate something out. Even if you're able to save twenty dollars a month for an hour of your time, that is worth $240 over the rest of the year, and I would say that would be time well spent.

And now, number nine: this is a fun one! If you're going to be going out to a restaurant and you have to spend money, go to a place during their happy hour. Here's what I realized: food at restaurants is all the same. You're getting the same food at 8 PM as you are at 4 PM as you are at 6 PM, except there's a catch. The earlier it is, the less busy restaurants are. So, most restaurants will want to fill this empty space by offering a happy hour with discounted food.

This gets people in; it makes it look busier, it makes it look more popular, and it sets the stage for later on in the night when more people show up, and they charge regular prices. Now, this is a great way for you to capitalize on this just by finding places with good happy hours and showing up to eat just a little bit earlier to save the money.

My trick has always been to show up about 30 minutes before the happy hour ends. I'll order all of my food ahead of time, and then by the time the food actually comes, it's regular hours anyway. Except now, I saved a whole bunch of money! Now, another way you could do this is that if all of your friends are going out for a big meal but you don't feel like dropping $40 on a whole dinner, just order an appetizer instead.

Usually, these are just as filling, they're about half the price of everything else, and you still get to enjoy a meal with all of your friends, except now you can do that for a fraction of the cost as everybody else.

Number ten: before you spend any money on anything, just think to yourself, what is this money's future value? For example, instead of spending $100 on a pair of shoes today, that could be worth $1,478 in 35 years if it's invested at an 8% return, or spending $300 a month on a lease payment every single year could actually be worth $723,000 in future money if you just invested it during that exact same timeframe.

Another way to look at it is like this: imagine if I told you 100% you would have three million dollars 35 years in the future, but there would be a bit of a catch. Every one dollar you spent a day is going to reduce that amount by 15. That's pretty much what you're doing to your nest egg every single time you spend money unnecessarily.

I guarantee if we begin phrasing things in this way, people would be way more careful about where they spend their money. This is my biggest money-saving tip from everything, and if you could just get this one concept down, I guarantee it's going to spill over to every other aspect of your life as well, and it's going to end up saving you a lot of money.

Finally, I just want to give two quick honorable mentions because I didn't want to make this video that long. One, look into doing your laundry or electrical use during off-peak electrical hours. See, typically utility companies will charge you significantly less for using electricity during off-peak times. This is usually either really late at night or really early in the morning. So if you can hold off from charging your car, doing laundry, running the air conditioner, or anything else like this until after 9:00 PM or before 5 AM, that way you save the extra money.

And second, this concept will take me way too long to explain, but if you want to live for free, look into a term called house hacking. I have several videos on this if you just search for Graham Stephan house hacking. If you have the income and the credit to purchase a property and you don't mind having tenants and being a landlord, you could find a property that will not only cash flow but also allow you to live in it for free, thereby totally obliterating your overhead housing expenses to zero dollars.

So those are my top 10 life hacks to save money. As you can tell, I do all of these myself, and for me, it's always fun to strategize about new ways to save money and try to get the most value for everything that I do buy. But now, here's where you come in. If you have your own life hacks for saving money that I have not mentioned yet in this video, just comment them down below.

Also, to all the people who just immediately scroll to the comments as soon as they click on a video, just go ahead and like the comments you enjoy the most. That way those comments get boosted up to the top. With that said, you guys, thank you so much for watching! I really appreciate it. As always, make sure to destroy the like button, subscribe button, and notification bell.

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