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It may seem a little hopeless to save when you’re barely squeezing by on minimum wage income.
Since the federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour, that’s only $15,080 annually before taxes (!) but at least 22 states have raised their minimum wage rules earlier this year.
It’ll definitely take time to save, but it’s not hopeless. You can do it, and we can help.
Here are some ways to get you started:
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3. Student Loan Debt Affects 44.5 Million Americans - So What’s Next?
The numbers don’t lie. 3 out of 4 millennials are in debt* and around 44.5 million** Americans are drowning in student loans.
While it’s comforting to know that you’re not alone, it’s what comes next that will set you apart.
The process of paying it down.
But if the thought of all those payments stresses you out, an option to consider is student loan refinancing with LendingTree, an easy-to-use loan marketplace.
Refinancing just means you’re combining your federal student and private loans that have multiple interest rates into 1 new loan from a private lender. This new loan makes it easier to manage with one monthly payment and one interest rate.
With LendingTree, your new interest rate is based off your credit score, so the higher your score, the better rate you can get, bringing down your monthly payments.
You can easily start browsing through refinancing options and click Apply Now to learn more about each lender.
If you have a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or PhD, you’re eligible to refinance. Don’t get swamped in student loan debt anymore and view your options!
4. Play New Games and Earn Branded Gift Cards
The more you play, the more rewards and gift cards you can get. That’s the gist of Mistplay, an app where you can try out new Android games to earn units/gems and make optional in-app purchases. Redeem units/gems for real gift cards, including Uber, VISA, Spotify, and more!
Play as many games as you want since you can earn more gift cards that way. Plus, there’s nobody to compete against! New members get a BONUS of 200 points just for signing up.
And yes, it’s legit and already has 10M+ downloads. Download the app for free and start racking up those gift cards!
5. Just Save Your Emails to Get Money Back (Avg Savings $240/Year)
If you never delete emails like me (unless it’s spam) and shop online, then you’ll always have a chance at getting some money back.
A free tool called Paribus gets you money back on select online purchases even after you’ve bought them.
Price changes happen all the time after checkout. And now you can get a refund of the price difference back at online stores that Paribus monitors! (For example, Target, Kohl’s, GAP, Best Buy, Walmart and more.)
They do this by checking your inbox for email receipts. (Don’t worry, they don’t open any other email and their tech logic only identifies emails that are receipts.) Once they’ve found a receipt that has at least a $3 price drop, they’ll alert you then contact the retailer on your behalf to get the money or tell you how to get the refund back.
Also? If your guaranteed shipment is late from Amazon Prime or Walmart, they’ll help you get compensated! Perfect for the upcoming holiday season when gifts in hand are important.
Your savings mileage will vary but Paribus is 100% free to use and all the savings are yours to keep. Your pair of shoes dropped $7? You get $7 back.
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7. Save an Extra $840 This Year to Put Towards Debt
Your mountain of debt may seem daunting and unscalable, but the first step is to just chip away at it. Consistently, as well as automating it.
Qoins can help you pay off your debt with just pocket change. (Interesting spelling but it’s an easy pronunciation of “coins” in case you’re wondering!)
Get started on your debt payoff journey:
- Connect your account(s) with Qoins (all data is encrypted)
- Let them know who to pay (they’ll send payments for you)
- Round Up: All purchases will be rounded up to the nearest dollar and excess change moved into your Qoins account to pay off your debt
- Smart Savings: Set your Smart Savings level for their algorithm to auto-save for you at a pace you’re comfortable with
Once a month, Qoins will use your auto-savings to send an additional payment on your behalf. On average, members save an extra $70 each month to pay down debt!
You literally set it and forget it. After spending five minutes setting up your Qoins account, the rest is automated.
Qoins is free to try for the first month and then it just costs $1.99 per month after as it’s an invaluable tool to help you pay off debt quicker. If you have a high-interest loan, it can save you serious money over time.
