Are You Using Everything You Have to Save Money?

Pretty much everyone is always looking to for easy ways to save money and I’m no exception. The minimal effort part is the key, because I’m really not interested in doing any sort of extreme couponing. I don’t have the time nor do I have the space to store stuff which a lot of extreme couponing as far as I can tell involves buying in bulk and storing stuff which is just not feasible for me.

So I thought I’d go over some often overlooked ways to save money that require very little effort.

AAA Discount

About two weeks after I moved to North Carolina I drove 2 1/2 hours to Charlotte to go to IKEA for some furniture, knowing I would need to stop for gas on my way back.  I left my wallet at a second furniture store. Luckily, about 15 minutes after I left the store, I got a call from the store letting me know I’d left my wallet there. Had they not called I would’ve run out of gas on the way home and then been totally stranded because I knew no one in North Carolina at that point. I decided then and there to get a AAA membership.

There are a lot of places that offer discounts to AAA members. Sometimes it just takes asking if they offer discounts to AAA members. It’s one simple question and can save you some money.

Student Discounts

If you are a student or still have your student ID (and it’s not dated), you could get some sweet sweet discounts. I’m a little bit past at my age of being able to pull off using my old student ID but a student discount can mean cheaper movies, free access to museums, and a lot of other things as well. Most places will mention a student discount either on their website or posted somewhere, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Again one simple question can save you tons of money.

Apartment Complex Discount (to local events)

It’s possible that where you live could provide some discounts as well. For example, I live not far from in arena where a professional sports team plays. Turns out that every once in a while we get a discount on tickets to those games just by living in the apartment complex. You just have to pay attention to the emails from the apartment complex or from your work. Companies will usually email about the details on how you can get a discount. Simply paying attention could allow you to do something fun and save money at the same time.

Credit Card Benefits (museums) or Cell Phone Company Benefits

A lot of credit cards offer benefits besides just points or cashback. There may also be free access to museums or your cell phone company may offer buy one get one movie ticket free on Tuesdays. Look at the subscriptions and the credit cards that you have and find out what other benefits they offer. A lot of times they will have a discount of some sort to help you save money.

Related: Ultimate Guide to Affordable Entertainment

Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

OK if you have Amazon Prime and you’re not doing free shipping for every single order there’s something seriously wrong.

But Amazon prime doesn’t just offer free shipping, you can also stream tons of TV and movies for free.So don’t go spending money on a subscription to Netflix or Hulu when you can do that as part of the money you’re already paying as an Amazon Prime member. The same goes for listening to music, you don’t need a Spotify premium membership there is commercial free music available to listen to you via Amazon Prime and it doesn’t cost extra.

Related: Why I Changed My Mind About Amazon Prime

Wrapping it Up with a Bow on Top

As you can see there’s tons of ways you can save yourself a lot of money without having to put in a lot of effort. Whether it’s using the AAA discount, taking advantage of your student status, getting all you can out of Amazon Prime, or just being more informed about the benefits that your credit cards and subscriptions offer you. Saving money doesn’t have to take up a lot of time or require a lot of effort on your part.