Are you looking to increase your financial assets in 2019, but are already stretched pretty thin and living frugally, and you don’t know how to scrape up extra money? I’ve come up with 7 Easy Ways to Put at Least $2000 into your Bank Account in 2019!
What do do with an extra $2000 in your bank account?
Once you’re found your extra money, I recommend putting it into an account that will earn you more money than a high interest savings account. What you do depends on your comfort level. You could buy a term deposit, also known as GIC in Canada. You could buy mutual funds through a financial advisor at your credit union or bank. Or you could enter the stock market (use an online trading account to DIY and save money) and either buy exchange traded funds or stocks. If you’re going that route, I’d say buy products that will pay a dividend income and watch your money grow! $2000 would be a nice addition to any of your savings goals.
Advice that works for you!
Do you ever read advice on how to find money by cutting out daily habits but they don’t apply to you? Tips like drink your coffee at home and skip Tim Hortons, Dunkin’ Donuts or Starbuck’s and put that $5/day into your savings account instead? How about quit your smoking habit and save $1000 a year? Or quit plugging $2 into the vending machine at work for a pick-me-up snack every day and save $500 a year. Or shop around for better insurance rates.
Some people only hit fast food restaurants and coffee shops a handful of times a year, they don’t smoke, and they’re not tempted by a vending machine. Not everyone buys insurance, and for those who do, maybe they’ve already found the best deal out there. Many financial experts offer money saving tips assuming people are employed, and recommend brown bagging it instead of buying lunch or car pooling.The advice is good, but not applicable in many cases.
So what makes me a financial advice expert? Life experience at being frugal. 9 years working in the head office of a credit union. Taking advice from experts. Putting my own tips into action. I’m an older, single woman who has never had a really good paying job, maybe a couple of bucks an hour over minimum wage is as good as it gets. This blog is not a source of income for me, though I can always hope one day it will be! I struggle financially. If any of this resonates with you, what I’ve found to help me can probably help you too!
I’m sure I’m not the only one who’d love to put an extra $2000 into my bank account in 2019. Let’s see if we can do this together!
Lose the landline phone
Ditching a land line is easy for those born after 1990 who grew up with cell phones. For others who grew up with a rotary phone and then one of those new-fangled push button phones, it’s a little tougher. Where I live Telus is the largest telecommunications provider for house phones. They used to be known as BC Tel, but when they expanded their services into Alberta, well, they had to ditch the province specific location out of their name to attract new clients. A Telus home phone plan is $35/month, approximately the same amount as an AT&T plan when you take the exchange rate into account. Disconnect it and save $420/year. Or $300 if you live south of the 49th Parallel. I find I don’t miss the landline all that much anyway. Most of my callers were telemarketers, scammers, or collection agents looking for my ex.
Let go of premium cable TV
Some cable companies charge upwards of $100/month depending on the premium plan selected. Most offer a basic cable plan for around $30/month. Depending on the plan this can be a cut of $50/month (maybe more!) to the cable bill and saves $600/year. Are you really watching all those extra channels anyway? I downsized to a basic plan and I get around 100 channels and there’s still nothing good on TV. A lot are channels I don’t watch because they’re in a foreign language or political meetings. I probably only have about 5 channels I watch throughout the week. My TV listings provide for about 1000 channels. I don’t need the variety. Some people get a basic plan and spend $10 a month for Netflix, and are still saving money. Others use the Amazon TV fire stick and subscribe to Amazon Prime to get movie access.
Exercise smarter and cheaper
We all know the trap, especially with the New Year’s resolutions. Sign up for a gym membership with a tricky quit clause in the contract, stop going, and you’re paying $25 or more a month for nothing. By February you’ve lost your drive to get up and go to the gym but you’re still dinged for the monthly membership whether or not you go. Losing money instead of pounds. Figure out other activities to stay on track such as walking the dog more often, bike riding, skiing, and yoga classes on Youtube. Save $300 year.
Reassess your cell phone plan
Rogers offers a $55/month plan with 1000 weekday minutes. Are you using them? If not consider their $35/month with 200 minutes. Keep an eye out for competitor’s plans for new clients. Sometimes a $40/month plan with 200 weekday minutes, unlimited weekends, free Canada wide calls, free International texting, and a data plan can be a better deal than what you have now. Savings $20/month or $240/year.
ATM fees
If you go to a different bank to pull money out of the ATM, or use one in a gas station or convenience store, you’ll be charged a fee. That varies by the bank and could be $3 or $5, the machine will tell you at the time of the transaction so you’ll have a chance to cancel before withdrawing funds. In addition, your own bank might also ding you another couple of bucks for using a “foreign” ATM. The solution seems as simple as planning ahead and making sure you have cash on you. Instead of using a bank, consider a credit union. In Canada almost every credit union is on the Exchange (look for that symbol on the machine) and you can make withdrawals and deposits for free at other credit unions across the country. If you find yourself needing cash at least once a week and withdraw from an ATM at a different bank you could be spending $20 (or more!) in fees. Plan ahead or get an account at a credit union and save at least $240/year in ATM fees.
Bank fees
Review your usage. If you have a balance of at least $3000 and use your debit card no more than 25 times a month, your monthly fee is probably around $9.95. Or you can get a “deal” at CIBC with that $3000 balance and get one, yes count it, ONE(!), transaction per month for free. More transactions than that costs $5 each. Really? What a deal! Not! How often do we use debit cards in a month to buy groceries, gas, a meal, clothes, and other necessities. That’s where the big banks ding you. Can you meet the strict minimum requirements? If not consider a credit union such as Coast Capital with the free chequing and free debit account. No minimum balance, unlimited transactions, no monthly fee. Savings $119.40/year.
Stop playing Lotto Max, 6/49, and other lotteries
Read the small print on the chances of winning the big one (at least $1,000,000). With 6/49 your odds are roughly one in 14 million and for Lotto Max roughly one in 28 million. Using a conservative estimate, say you buy one of each ticket plus the extra every week when you stop to gas up the car, spending $10. Stop playing and save $520/year.
Using the above examples, that’s a savings of just over $2,400/year. Money that could be set aside for an emergency fund, a vacation fund, the Christmas fund, or retirement savings.
Other Resources
Here are a few suggestions on how to save money or make more money. Maybe you can find ways to put even more than $2000 into your bank account in 2019! Yippee!
Let me give a shout out to one of my favourite web sites Living on a Dime for you to check out. It includes frugal living tips, recipes, house cleaning, and more. http://www.livingonadime.com
If you’re not good at organizing your money and want to track your spending, I’ve found a free Excel spreadsheet from Boomer & Echo that helps. https://boomerandecho.com/how-to-budget-download-free-budgeting-spreadsheet/ I’m not one for doing a budget, but I find this helpful for tracking my spending and figuring out where I can cut back and save money.
Here’s a slideshow on Go Banking Rates – 101 Ways to Make Money Without a 9 to 5, perfect for people who have a job and are looking for other ways to make extra money, or those who don’t have a job, and are having difficulty finding work. 101 suggestions to make you think. Try to put at least one of them into action!
The Penny Hoarder is all about helping you save money and letting you put more money in your pocket. Or your bank account!
Do you have other easy ways to save money and put more dollars into your bank account in 2019? Leave a comment!
