Savings Made Easy: 3 Ways To Save $1,000

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How small purchases could add up to big savings

I read and hear about too many cost-saving methods that are impractical and simply do not produce quite the return they promise.

First, figure out why you want to save money. 

Are you saving for a house? Saving for college education? Saving for an investment? Saving for anticipated expenses such as repairs or maintenance? 

Second, please realize that saving money does not have to be difficult. It also does not need to lead to massive deprivation where you use candles instead of lights (plus candles are a fire hazard).

To prove my point, here are 3 stupid items that I save real money on every single year. Results may vary.

3 Simple Ways to Save Money Every Year

1. Eat Almonds

Almonds, my number one snack food item.

I buy a ton of them. Not literally a ton, but damn close. I buy a 40 oz. bag of whole raw almonds online for less than $13.

​A typical 16 oz. bag of almonds at the store is $8. The bag I buy online is 2.5x larger but costs less than twice as much. 40 ounces of almonds would cost me over $20 at the store therefore I save about $7 per 40 ounces. I go through a full 40 ounce bag every week which means I save $7 every single week. This adds up to over $350 of savings every single year.

2. Single-Ply Toilet Paper

Actually there are two paper products to be aware of here: single-ply toilet paper and half-sheet paper towels are two game changers.

I can buy a 1000 sheet single ply toilet paper that lasts for 6 months for less than $7 at the store. Supposedly the average American uses $10 worth of toilet paper per month. By switching to single-ply TP I have been able to spend only $14 per year, per person in our household. This comes out to a little over $1 per month of TP usage. This equates to a savings of over $100 per year compared to the average American 2-ply user!

• Normally I buy this toilet paper (keep in mind I buy mine in-store so the price may differ)

Half-sheet paper towels allows me to be significantly more mindful of how much paper towel I was using. Full sheets are bullshit. Rarely do you ever need a full sheet. I cut my paper towel usage in half my first year using half-sheets. How much could this switch realistically save? I use two less rolls per week at which saves me over $150 per year. 

3. Filtered instead of bottled water

Using a water filter could potentially save you big money every year. If the typical household purchases a case of water every week, and bottled water is approximately $5 per case of 24 (depending on where you live), you could save $250 in bottled water every year. If you buy two cases per week, you might be able to ​save over $500 per year.

Some of these companies even claim you can save up to $1000/yr, but that's a pipe-dream in my opinion. 

There are two popular options depending on how often you want to change the filter and how easy you want your experience to be:

• Pur water filter - simplest method; fits right on your faucet; the downside is the filter needs to be changed more often
• Gravity-fed Berkey Water Filtration System - longest lasting option; stand alone water system; you put water in the top and it filters into a basin with a spigot on the bottom, it's pretty cool
  
  • I actually own an Alexapure but they are nowhere to be found right now and Berkey is one of the best brands on the market

Saving Money is Easier Than You Think

Here is proof that even these 3 ridiculous ideas can save you serious money every year without effecting your quality of life via deprivation. 

These don't involve turning the thermostat to 45 in the winter or 90 in the summer. They don't involve biking 30 miles to work. They sure as hell don't include eating noodles everyday (just almonds).

What are 3 things that save you real money every year that might surprise fellow readers? Comment below with your answer.