Saving Money in Everyday Life: How Families Save Their Wallets

Save money when shopping

In principle, every family has different priorities for their life planning. Nevertheless, according to a study published on Deutschland.de, there are expenses that are almost identical in almost every household. This includes all costs related to your own diet. On average, households spend 13.8 percent of their monthly income on this. A value that families can optimize thanks to some savings tips. The following tips will help families save money every month when shopping and cooking:

1. A detailed cooking plan helps to keep track of the expected expenses for the entire week.
2. For families in particular, it is essential to always go to the supermarket with a shopping list, but never with a hungry stomach. On the one hand, saturated people are less inclined to make spontaneous purchases. On the other hand, a shopping list also helps to consume more consciously and ultimately to throw away less food.
3. Special offers can be bought in advance, frozen or otherwise stored and used later.
4. Regional and seasonal fruit and vegetable products are much cheaper in the department store than imported products that have traveled a long way. The same principle applies to groceries from the previous day, on which the supermarkets often give a discount.
5. In order to buy cheaper, it can be helpful to (temporarily) switch from expensive branded products to own brands or no-name products.
6. Shortly before the shop closes, some shopping can be worthwhile. For example, bakers often offer their bread at half price just before the end of the day.
7. When cooking, the lid should always be on the pot, as this saves up to 20 percent energy. Leftover leftovers can either be used in another recipe or, when filled in small food storage containers, frozen.

Spend less money on clothing and entertainment

There are special savings offers for newborns and babies such as the “diaper truck”, which sells new diaper packs with minor blemishes as an outlet. Well-known manufacturers such as "Pampers" also often offer advantageous bonus programs in which parents receive coupons or product samples straight to their own four walls at regular intervals.

If you have small children, you can still build up financial reserves thanks to a few tips. The most important tip is to buy used instead of new. Children grew out of their clothes in no time at all, so that a new acquisition is often not worthwhile. Instead, the children's items can be purchased at children's flea markets, classified ads platforms or in second-hand shops.

Thanks to coupon portals such as Wadav.com, there are noticeable savings on new items of clothing. Here it can make perfect sense to look out for well-known brand shops. In principle, branded goods are in high demand nationwide, so that used clothing can be passed on with little loss of value. Those who act skillfully can ultimately pass on the branded clothing for 80 to 90 percent of the original price.

But there is also potential for savings when it comes to entertainment. To avoid having to buy expensive CDs and books on a regular basis, it pays to register with the local city library. This gives children the opportunity to regularly borrow relatively new books, DVDs and CDs at no additional cost.

Saving money on vacation? This works out!

Those who travel with the family do not automatically have to plunge into financial expenses. Instead, there are enough options to spare some money on the return journey. The first important step is to pay attention to the costs when booking. A great way to save is to have some flexibility. For example, experts recommend looking out for alternative departure and arrival airports when choosing an airport. If you don't necessarily have a school-age child at home, you should refrain from traveling during the high season on vacation or on the weekend. Instead, early bird or last minute offers can be used. Those who are mobile can also set off spontaneously by car for a summer holiday with a correspondingly cheap offer.

Savings-loving families can find real bargains on relevant travel platforms or search engines. Sometimes there are even Internet exchanges that make it possible to swap one's house with another family for a certain period of time. If this is not a reasonable option, hostels or holiday apartments are an inexpensive alternative to hotels.

Of course, it also depends on the holiday destination itself. Traveling to a metropolis of millions understandably costs more money than staying in a small town. To illustrate it with an example: Anyone traveling to Portugal should consider paying a visit to the smaller city of Porto instead of overcrowded Lisbon.

When planning excursions, it is important to always pay attention to discounts - for example in the form of family days. Amusement parks, zoos or museums often offer discounted family rates on certain days.

The most important money-saving tips for the household

• Electricity providers often charge very different prices. A change to a cheaper provider can literally pay off with annual savings of up to 300 dollars.
• Turning devices off instead of leaving them in standby mode saves several hundred dollars a year.
• New types of LED lamps only consume two to ten percent of the electricity of an ordinary light bulb. The higher acquisition costs are offset by the durability and the savings potential of the LED lamps.
• Heating water in a kettle uses 40 percent less energy than heating it in a saucepan.
• You can even save your wallet when washing clothes - with a reduced speed and low temperature, you save electricity costs.

Build Extra Income - The Best Ways to Make Money from Home Work

Many employees have been working from home since the Corona crisis. Some workers who are working from home for the first time need to get used to the changeover. Many of them in turn get to know and love the advantages of working from home: For example, the better work-life balance. But also the fact that employees. The study presented here was less stressed at home and worked more productively. In addition, many employees want to continue to work partly within their own four walls in the future. If not for your own employer, then ideally to build up a second mainstay. There are now almost endless possibilities to earn money from home. This article puts together recommended options on how to improve your household budget by working from home on the Internet.

Become a game or product tester

There are many good reasons for building an additional income online as a part-time job. Anyone who earns money on the Internet can usually do so anywhere. All you need is an internet connection to be able to work in your own study, in a co-working space or in your favorite cafe. Another advantage is the flexibility that internet work brings: with the right skills, nothing speaks against trying out different activities and combining them with one another. In contrast to a permanent employment relationship, the time and extent of employment are often not directly prescribed.

In order to earn money on the Internet without in-depth knowledge, you can work as a tester. In this case, the agents test either websites, games or products. For example, a website tester tries out different functions before a website goes online. Based on the tests, the operators and developers found out which weaknesses the website shows and consequently improvements are necessary. Computer games are also tested and rated in this way. The aim here is to find so-called bugs, i.e. errors, and to fix them before publication.

Product testers, in turn, try out new online products on relevant platforms such as Tester held and evaluate them using various criteria. Large corporations are often also looking for product testers to whom they often make new releases available free of charge.

Social networks as sources of income

Talented and creative people can use social networks to build up an extra income. With the appropriate knowledge and skills, for example, you can set up your own YouTube channel that reaches many people. The advertisements that can be seen before or after the videos bring additional income. In addition, talented home workers can be successful on Instagram, for example. However, mass instead of class is not a recipe for success here. If you want to build up an additional income in the long term, you should have a correspondingly large follower community. Depending on the respective industry, a niche existence is also sufficient to receive profitable cooperation requests from companies via Instagram. 

Additional earnings through stock photos and photo competitions

Hobby photographers who are appropriately talented can use renowned stock photo platforms such as "Shutterstock" or "Adobe Stock". The databases offer many different types of images - from illustrated graphics to high quality photographs. Payment is made, depending on the platform, either based on the number of downloads or a flat rate per image. Those who work more semi-professionally can also take part in photo competitions online. In addition to the chance of cash or material prizes, such advertised competitions offer the advantage of drawing potential customers' attention to your own work.

Sell ​​your own products

Creativity and manual dexterity bring with them the potential to sell used items for money on the Internet. The well-known platform "EBay", for example, offers private sellers the option of converting used goods into capital through a sale without major hurdles. It should be noted, however, that EBay charges a commission of currently around 10 percent for the use of its sales platform.

For private sellers who sell through the mail order company Amazon, there is a fee of 39 dollars per month. In order to offer furniture and other bulky items for money, sellers should rather switch to regional platforms such as EBay classifieds. Special platforms such as “dawanda” or “etsy” are suitable for hand-made products.

Accept freelance jobs

Whether coaching, graphic design, translation, copywriting or social media management: There are countless professional fields that are suitable for a location-independent part-time job. For each of these professions there are special databases or general platforms such as "Freelancer" or "Twago" on the Internet. Such portals often retain a commission, but allow the uncomplicated award and acceptance of orders.

For employees who work as a salaried employee, it is important to inform the employer about the part-time job. Depending on the type and scope of the activity, registration with the finance and trade office is also essential if the income exceeds the annual tax exemption for part-time activities (currently around 2400 dollars).