Smart financial strategies to dial down holidays stress
The holiday period can bring good vibes, but also major money stress. We break down strategies to help you enjoy the holidays, without sending you into a financial black hole.
IN THIS ARTICLE:
#1 How to Make Money Online for Beginners
If you're new to making money online, here are a couple of survey sites you can try out to make some extra cash.
So we know completing a couple of surveys isn’t exactly going to pay for your entire summer vacation or push you into financial freedom overnight, but think of it more as a side hustle – something that will help with the weekly food shop or a night out.
We checked customer service review site Trustpilot, and survey sites we’ve listed below are rated at least 4/5 stars – we’ve also ordered them in terms of popularity. You’re welcome. 💫
- Branded Surveys – Participate in surveys and get reward payouts via points. This is more of a slow drip, but they will pay directly to your PayPal. You can get the Branded Surveys app on iOS.
Pay per survey: 50-500 points (100 points is equivalent to $1).
Minimum reward threshold: $5.
- Swagbucks surveys – Do stuff you do anyway like search the web and watch videos, but get some cash for doing it. Also pays through PayPal.
Pay per survey: 30-150 SB points (100 SB points is equivalent to $1).
Minimum reward threshold: 1SB.
#2 Plan Your Meals
Each year, nearly 40% of all food in the U.S. is wasted and one of the main reasons is due to cooking more than needed and throwing away what’s left.
So yeah, it’s pretty messed up.
If you start planning your meals, you’re going to be saving yourself a decent amount of money each month and you’ll stop throwing so much food away. It’s a win-win 🚀
Try it for a month and see how much you can save.
If you read our newsletter a couple of weeks ago (if you didn’t, you should definitely sign up 💅), you would’ve seen us link to our new TikTok on how to get the best bits of a meal subscription service without paying a single dime for it. 🪙
So if you're looking for meal planning ideas, here are the steps👇
🥦 Go to Hello Fresh and select ‘Our Menus’.
🍗 Check out the recipes on that page and find some you like. When you click on them you’ll see all the ingredients you need listed. You’ll even see a lot of the same recipes have similar ingredients.
🥟 Grab a pen and paper (or screenshot if you’re techy) to nab the ingredients you need. Then write down each day of the week and the meals you’re going to make on those days.
🍕That’s literally it – now you’ve got a FREE meal plan for the week.
#3 Kids Eat Free
Want to take your kids out for a meal but looking to keep the costs down as much as possible and stay within your budget? We’ve rounded up a list of restaurants which offer free meals for kids.
Restaurants include:
🍗 Fricker's: Kids eat free all day, every day with the purchase of an adult meal.
🏨 Holiday Inn: Kids always eat free at on-site restaurants.
🧀 I heart mac and cheese – Kids get a free mac and cheese or grilled cheese with every adult meal purchased on Mondays.
🍔 Smashburger – From 4 to 9pm, kids eat free with the purchase of an adult meal.
#4 $180+ Worth of Free Food
If your birthday’s coming up, you can get over $180 worth of FREE food. Including a Starbucks birthday freebie. 👀
Whip out those elastic pants and leave your guilt at the door because it’s time to indulge in some FREE treats. You can get coffee, dinner and all your fave desserts including Baskin-Robbins, Cinnabon and Cheesecake Factory (picks jaw up off the floor).
Check out our Birthday Freebies blogto find out how you can get:
🥞 5 Birthday breakfasts
🥤 7 Coffee, hot and cold drinks
🍝 11 Lunch or Dinners
🍰 5 Desserts
Maybe don’t see it as a Man v. Food challenge, but go have your cake and eat it. 🧁
#5 How to Save Money on Food
As you can probably tell by now, we just LOVE chatting about food.
On average, households spend around $412 per month on food, so if there’s a way to cut the costs then we’re here for it. ✨
Apps like Olio (iOS/Android) and Too Good to Go (iOS/Android) let you pick up food for less. Basically, restaurants and grocery stores sell their stuff for cheap at the end of the day, to avoid it being thrown out.
And it’s not just your usual bread, fruit and veg either. You can get some super yummy treats. Check out this TikTok to see what you could get your hands on. 🥡
To find out more, check out our blog on 6 Hacks for Getting Free Food.
#6 Cash Envelope System
These days, the majority of us are spending money by tapping those little rectangular pieces of hard plastic at the checkout. And if you’re like me, sometimes you won’t really be thinking about how much you’re actually spending because you’re not using cash.
In fact, in 2021, only 19% of all transactions in the U.S were made by using cash. And studies suggest that Sweden will be the first to become a completely cashless society by 2024, which means other countries will probably start following suit.
Sure, using a debit or credit card is easier but it can be easy to lose track of what you’re spending (unless you use our money app, of course).
So you could try going old school for a bit and withdraw your cash at the beginning of the week to use for your grocery shopping or spending money. Shove it in an envelope and keep it somewhere safe.
You’re probably gonna think twice about spending money on unnecessary items. 💵
#7 30 Day “Sleep on It” Rule
If you’ve seen something you really want but it’s a bit expensive and you’re thinking about whether you should really buy it (and obviously super scared about Cleo roasting you for it), you NEED to try the 30 day rule.
Basically, it’s just giving yourself time to “sleep on it” and think about whether you need or want whatever it is you’re about to impulsively buy.
We make so many impulsive purchases which can lead to us being unable to control our spending habits. And then we end up living paycheck to paycheck finding it harder and harder to save, and we just really don’t want that for you.
So next time when you see something you want, keep it in your ‘30 days’ list and check back after a month to see how you feel.
We all know what it’s like to buy something and then a few weeks later think to ourselves “why the hell did I buy that.” Stop doing that. Money is precious. 🗝️
#8 Always Compare Prices
Never buy anything without comparing the prices online first, you could be missing out on an opportunity to save a decent amount of money. This applies to when you’re shopping in a store too.
Let me give you an example.
I was looking for a pair of Under Armour leggings for the gym (I have a love/hate relationship with spin 🚴♀️) and I found them for $60 on ASOS. Just before I bought them I had a quick scan on Google Shopping to compare prices online and ended up saving $30 by buying them from Under Armour directly as they were on sale AND in my size. 💫
All you need to do is enter the name of the item into the search bar and once you’ve found the item you’re searching for, select ‘compare prices from over 5 stores’ and it’ll pull up a list of prices from different retailers.
If you haven’t done this before, you’re probably going to be kicking yourself right now. But at least you know now 💡
Other popular comparison sites:
💸 Yahoo shopping (because we’re unbiased)
#9 Use Online Marketplaces
Saving for the next spring break? This could be your new side hustle. 🔥
If you have any charity shops nearby or know of any car boot sales that take place on the regular, check em’ out. There's always a possibility of finding some hidden gems.
We interviewed Lili Conreen back in 2020, and she told us about how she once made about $15,000 in just 3 months, all by selling on modern fashion marketplace app, Depop.
Other popular sites you can use:
eBay – If it’s your first time on eBay, have a look at our blog on The Top 10 Selling Tips for eBay Beginners.
Facebook Marketplace – You’ll need a login, but it’s super easy to sell locally this way. Always confirm that you have received the buyer's payment before you dispatch the item.
Poshmark – Very similar to Depop, posting is as easy as on Instagram.
#10 Second Hand Shopping
This goes hand-in-hand with the above. And when you start selling your stuff online, you'll start becoming a pro at knowing what’s a good buy or not.
Why spend all our hard-earned money on brand new clothes we may not even get much wear out of when you can find some real gems online.
2022 is all about reuse. reduce. recycle. ♻️
And even one of the most well-known TV shows, Love Island, is hopping on the second hand trend.
#11 Budget and Track Your Spending
Budgeting is KEY to staying on track with your finances. That’s why our money app is free and super simple:
💙 It’s ridiculously easy to set up (in fact, signing up only takes 2 minutes)
💙 Your spending is broken down into categories
💙 You’ll get monthly targets based on your spending
💙 The app makes it easier to manage your bills
💙 There’s an AI assistant to help you stay on track
You’ll just need to enter your bills and monthly income and she'll keep you on track with regular updates and reminders.
And if you spend outside of your budget, she’ll roast the hell out of you for it… because sometimes you need tough love. 😘
She once had the audacity to tell me “you’re basically losing in a race where you’re the only person competing” and I gotta be honest with you, that really hit me hard in the feels. 💔
Check out the top 5 budget apps for 2022 (but clearly ours is the best – totally an unbiased comment).
#12 Have a Night Out but Do It Cheap
Before you head out for a night of fun and questionable decisions, check the places you’re going to and see if you can get a free drink by signing up to its newsletter beforehand.
There’s a bar where me and my friends used to do trivia every Thursday (refuse to name it in case they come for me) and I kid you not, every-single-week I signed up to its newsletter with a different email address just so I could get a free drink. And now I'm left with around 1 billion email addresses with pointless updates on a bar I no longer visit BUT more money in my pocket. 💰
It literally saved me at least $5 each time though, and the bar staff didn’t even realize (lol).
I can’t believe I’ve confessed my sins to you all (confessions of a 26 year old girl) but there you go. Enjoy your broke and boujee night out. 💃
#13 Stick to a Grocery List
Ok top tip from me: don’t go shopping when you’re hungry… you'll just set yourself up for complete failure. Have a quick bite and line your stomach before. ”Have a piece of fruit” as your Mom would say.
Once you’ve worked on your meal plan for the week (using our tips which are up there somewhere ⬆️), you’ll know what groceries you’ll need to buy for the week. You’re probably gonna get a few treats on the side but try to stick to your list as much as possible and save those dollars.
If you’re only going into the store for a few things, pick up a basket rather than a cart so you’re not adding unnecessary items. Stay in your shopping lane. 🛒
#14 Free Workout Plans
There are SO many apps out there which offer free trials, and there are plenty of exercise videos on YouTube which include yoga and HIIT classes meaning you don’t need to spend money unnecessarily.
The only downside to YouTube is the ads, but you could use them as a quick chance to catch your breath. 🥵
A few of the most popular workout apps:
SWEAT (iOS/Android) – 10/10 would recommend. You can get a free 7-day trial if you’re new to the app. And at the end of your trial, the subscription will automatically roll over to a monthly subscription so remember to cancel within the trial period.
Nike Training Club (iOS/Android) – This one’s great. It’s completely free and it has lots of classes to choose from including HIIT, yoga, and strength training.
Daily Yoga (iOS/Android) – A completely free app you can use to practice yoga, meditation, and work on your fitness 🌸 You can also sign up for weight loss challenges if that’s something you’re interested in.
Remember, everything’s always about balance. It’s important to budget and keep track of your finances but you also need to treat yourself and feel good. And hopefully now you can... in a money-saving kind of way. 💎
If you’re a student and looking for other ways to save money, you’re in luck. Check out our 40+ Student Freebies and Discounts blog. 🚀
Enjoy this post? Give it a share or send it along to a friend. You never know, it could make a big difference.
Big love. Cleo.💙
FAQs
Still have questions? Find answers below.
What are some legit survey sites where I can earn extra money?
How can I plan my meals to save money and reduce food waste?
Where can I find restaurants that offer free meals for kids?
How can I get free food on my birthday?
