Are you watching your monthly expenses rise and wondering how to save money without compromising on your values? Here’s a game-changing truth: sustainable living could be your secret weapon for serious savings. I know what you’re thinking – isn’t going green all about expensive organic produce and costly upgrades to your home?
There’s no question that it can be expensive. But many of the most effective money-saving habits are also the most environmentally friendly ones. You don’t need to buy expensive equipment or completely overhaul your lifestyle. Sometimes, the smallest changes can have the biggest impact – both on your bank account and on the environment.
That’s why I’ve put together this list of 25 practical tips that you can start using today, no matter where you are on your sustainable living or money saving journey. The best part? These aren’t just theoretical ideas – they’re tested, practical solutions that help you save money while reducing your environmental impact. From simple energy-saving hacks to smart shopping strategies, each tip show you that sustainable living can be accessible and affordable.
Personal Finance
1. Pay yourself first: set up automatic savings to a high yield savings account.
2. Debt is expensive! If you have debt, try to eliminate it as fast as you can. There are different methods for this, find the one that works for you. If you have trouble finding the motivation to tackle it, start with the smallest debt and pay that off. Another strategy is to pay the highest interest debt first. This may save you more money, but ultimately, the best method to tackle debt is the one you can stick with.
3. Put money into an emergency fund. If you have money saved up for emergencies you can avoid taking on debt and make smart sustainable choices when the need arises
Energy
4. Get to know your thermostat, because programming it can save you money while you sleep or are out of the house. And because it is ‘Set it and forget it’ this will take very little effort. And if you can get used to even half a degree lower (or higher in summer), you can save even more money.
5. When you need to replace appliances or light bulbs, replace them with energy efficient ones. In some cases, replacing them earlier can even be the most efficient option.
6. Unplug your appliances and chargers when you are not using them. Even when they are not in use, they use electricity.
7. Warm yourself, not the room. Instead of heating an entire room, you can use an electric pillow, use blankets, hot water bottles and warm sweaters.
8. Turn off the lights. When you leave a room, turn off the light, and consider having fewer lights on at night – this may help improve your sleep too!
Services and Subscriptions
9. Review your subscriptions, and cancel the ones you can do without.
10. For the ones you want to keep, if you tell them you want to cancel, they frequently offer you a better deal to keep you as a customer.
Shopping
11. Buy second hand. Many people replace their good quality clothes and furniture while it still has plenty of life left, so this can save you a lot of money.
12. Consider doing a No Buy day, week, month or even a No Buy Year. And check out your local Buy Nothing Groups! This will help you evaluate your spending habits.
13. Buy good quality items that are repairable. Even though they will cost more upfront, they are a solid long term savings strategy.
14. Borrow (or rent) instead of buy. If you’ll only use an item occasionally, it will be cheaper to rent or borrow it.
Transportation
15. For short journeys, for example anything under 2 miles, walk or cycle. This will save you a lot of gas money and is great for your health.
16. Consider carpooling for school and work trips. Travelling together will save you money and if you can take turns, time.
17. Plan your journeys in advance. If you don’t need to take multiple trips to get everything you need, you save on gas, unnecessary purchases and time.
Groceries
18. Make a grocery list, and stick to your list. This will help you avoid extra trips to the grocery store and impulse buying.
19. Plan your meals and consider meal prepping during the weekend. This will make those busy week nights easier to manage.
20. Instead of eating out or getting take out – eat at home – not only will it save you a lot of money, it is also much healthier.
Food
21. Eat more plant based meals. Meat is expensive! Plant based meat alternatives may be also be pricey, but quality plant proteins like legumes are not.
22. Bring your own water and snacks (in re-usable bottles and containers) to save money and cut down on single use plastic.
23. Buy seasonal. Fruit and veggies that are in season are usually cheaper (and way more sustainable!) 24. Buy frozen fruit and vegetables. If you want to enjoy fruit and veggies that are out of season, buy them frozen!
Digital Life
25. Embrace digital minimalism: Use cloud storage strategically, unsubscribe from marketing emails that tempt you to spend. This may save you money on cloud storage and reduce impulse buying.