Due to the turbulent economic situation, many Americans are struggling to save for their emergencies. A recent survey by Bankrate reports that 49% of U.S. adults have meager savings, while 39% have no savings.

While saving money is essential for your financial stability, it can be challenging to figure out how and where to start. Luckily, whatever your financial goal is, there are different creative ways that can help you save money.

This post explores nine creative money-saving strategies and how Accrue Savings can help you improve your financial health.

Accrue Savings is a one-of-a-kind platform that allows you to save for your purchases and get extra cash rewards whenever you save. It offers access to an FDIC account that ties to a specific purchase, helping you to save for a product or service you have your eye on. 

With Accrue Savings, you’re in complete control of your savings journey. Brands can provide cash incentives to reward you for saving, helping you eventually make your final purchase a debt-free achievement.

Items to save up for using Accrue

• Couches
• Beds
• Mattresses
• Toys
• Watches
• Braces
• Engagement jewelry
• Travel 

According to a survey by C+R Research, consumers pay an average of $219 monthly for subscriptions. Subscriptions have skyrocketed today and are available for everything from streaming services to multivitamins — so it’s not difficult to imagine how these costs might add up quickly. 

To save money on monthly payments, take time to evaluate which you have and unsubscribe from the ones you no longer use.

Tools for evaluating subscriptions

To avoid paying for unneeded subscriptions, consider using tools that will track your expenses. Here are some tools for evaluating subscriptions you can use:

• Trim
• Rocket Money
• Mint
• Subby
• Simplifi
• TrackMySubs

Planning your meals helps you get organized before you shop for groceries. This way, you know exactly what you’re going to eat throughout the week and can stick to buying only what you need — curbing the temptation to add extra items to your cart and helping you save money in the process.

But meal planning offers a number of benefits beyond saving money:

• Reduces food waste: Buying food according to your meal plan ensures that nothing will go to waste. Perishable items like vegetables, fruits, and milk won't rot or spoil, and boxed goodies will finish before they get stale.
• Encourages you to use what you already have: When you create a meal plan, you can check what's in your freezer or pantry, then focus on only buying what you need. This way, you'll avoid adding impulsive purchases to your cart.
• Results in fewer grocery shopping trips: Popping from one grocery store to the other and picking items you don't need is a serious bite to your wallet. But, fewer grocery shopping trips allow you to shop strategically for meal ingredients and avoid picking what you don't need. As a result, you will save on your time, energy, and money.

Other creative ways to save money on food and drinks

• Buy in bulk
• Use coupons and discount codes
• Shift to store brands over expensive name brands
• Shop at wholesalers
• Cook at home
• Regrow food from roots and scraps

While credit cards are helpful tools for earning rewards, they can lead to debt if not used properly. Not repaying your credit card debts will not only affect your saving ability, but also your credit score. 

To avoid this, examine your credit spending behavior and ensure it's used to earn points — not to regularly finance major purchases.

Tips for using credit cards

• Only spend what you can comfortably pay off now: When using a credit card, you might spend more than you could with cash since you're not handing over physical money. Set some boundaries to avoid spending more than you can afford. Some credit card providers allow you to set up notifications when you make a purchase over a certain amount — $20 for instance.
• Track your spending trends: Tracking your saving and spending trends can help you to know where your money goes. By understanding how you spend, you can create a budget list of your fixed expenses, for instance, mortgage, groceries, and savings. As a result, you'll understand how much you can spend each month so you don't overspend.
• Cut down interest: Recent data from Lending Tree shows that America's average credit card interest rate is 23.84%, up from 23.65% in March 2023. To avoid paying more than you have to, ask your card issuer to lower the interest rate or seek out cards with lower interest rates.

Recent research indicates that doing projects yourself can save between 50% and 80% compared to using contractors, since you are the laborer and can always shop around for alternate materials. DIY also allows you to choose the cost of items for your home improvements — thus, you'll know what to spend on and what to drop.

YouTube provides a wealth of knowledge for DIY projects, from changing the oil in your car to changing a light fixture and everything in between.

DIY money-saving hacks

• Fix things around the house instead of calling a contractor. For instance, fix your pipes instead of calling a plumber.
• Sew and mend clothes instead of buying new ones.
• Install a water heater timer to regulate when a water heater activates and deactivates. This helps to save on your energy bills.

Cash back credit cards and rewards are another smart way to save your money. Many credit card issuers will reward you through points, miles, or cashback. You can redeem these rewards for travel, gift cards, or entertainment purchases.

However, you can also redeem your cash back to offset a large purchase.

Cash back programs to try

• Swagbucks: Swagbucks gives you cash for completing in-app tasks, for instance, watching a short video or filling out a questionnaire. Upon completing these tasks, you're rewarded with money to your PayPal account or a gift card from their partner stores.
• Rakuten: Formerly known as Ebates, the app allows you to earn money every time you make a purchase. It offers easy money-making and sends payments through PayPal or checks.
• Amazon: Amazon cash back is earned as points: You get a point for every penny you spend. You may use your points on the Amazon store or redeem them through Chase.

“Paying yourself first” prioritizes your savings goals by putting money into your savings accounts before you pay other bills. This might seem counterintuitive, but by putting money aside whenever you're paid, you'll be less likely to spend it on your daily expenses. As a result, you'll be prepared for large or unexpected emergency expenses.

How to pay yourself first

• Decide how much to pay yourself, and how often. If you’re just getting started saving, you may want to only put money aside once a month. If you’re a more aggressive saver, weekly or biweekly might be more appropriate.
• Create a savings account, preferably a high-yield bank account that will accrue more interest payments.
• Establish a direct deposit schedule to automatically drop your preferred amount into the savings account on a regular schedule.
• Don't touch the money once it’s in your savings account.

Impulse buying can be disastrous for your budget. A constant habit of impulse buying may lead to buyer's remorse and a lack of funds for more important expenses.

If you’re making impulse buys with a credit card and don’t plan to pay off the debt right away, it can harm your credit score — making it harder for you to get good interest rates on future credit-based purchases.

Strategies for avoiding impulse buying

• Put as much money into your savings account as possible so it’s not accessible for easy overspending.
• Establish a clear monthly budget for your expenses.
• Implement spending detox from online shopping, clothes shopping, and any other nonessential items — yes, including frequent takeout meals.

An emergency fund is a crucial part of financial planning. It allows you to deal with unexpected major expenses like medical bills or repairs without falling into debt. While everyone’s emergency funds will be different, it’s a good idea to keep at least a few thousand dollars aside in the event of an unanticipated expense.

Tips for starting an emergency fund

• Set a savings goal: Determine how much you want to save for emergencies. For instance, you may choose to save at least four or six months' worth of your expenses. If your rent is $2,000 and your combined monthly bills are $1,000, you’d want to aim to save $12,000 to $15,000.
• Use basic savings or money market account: Because you want to access money any day, choose an account separate from your personal finances, further reducing the temptation to touch it.
• Gradually increase your savings: One way to increase your savings is by increasing the amount you're depositing in your emergency fund until you hit your savings goals. Increasing the amount also helps to make the smaller deposits in your checking account less noticeable. 

Save creatively with Accrue

While saving money can be daunting, it can be much easier with the right money-saving tips. To get creative about your savings, examine your current spending habits and consider implementing more DIY projects, paying yourself first, and leveraging cash back programs.

You can also get creative about how you pay for the things you need. With Accrue Savings, we help you shop smarter when you save up with your favorite brands. 

Check out our partners to see how Accrue Savings can help you reach your purchasing goals and get started today!