While people make more money now than they ever have in the past, they are also spending a lot more than ever before, too. As a result, Americans have a real problem when it comes to spending money, as around 65% of them are saving little or nothing.

This is very concerning and people are always on the lookout for new and great ways to save money. In an order to help out those who are struggling, this article will look at four tips and ways to save money that you don’t often think about.

Use a Credit Union Instead of a Bank

While many people use banks, you might be throwing money away. Credit unions (like Dane County Credit Union) can often offer a much better experience than banks. In addition to a better customer experience, credit unions offer less fees, lower interest rates, higher saving account rates and more.

So how can they offer such good deals and low rates? Well, it all goes back to how they are organized. Banks are for-profit organizations, so they have to charge you extra fees in order to make money. On the other hand, credit unions are nonprofits, so they don’t have to charge you a lot. Tips Save Money

Don’t Let Luxuries Become Routine

If you are trying to save money, you need to lower your spending. While it is tough to lower your costs on things like rent and gas, you have to try reduce spending on things like groceries, subscriptions, power and other utilities.

In addition to that, you need to keep luxuries as little treats, and shouldn’t let them become something you always spend money on. Unfortunately, low-income families struggle the most with this as it is believed that 40% of them spend most of their money on luxury goods. Once these goods become a part of your routine, getting rid of them becomes even more difficult.

Learn To Be Handy Around the House

While we all do our best to prepare for emergencies and not let them get the best of us, that isn’t always the case. Unfortunately, emergencies happen, and we need to react. In particular, it is quite common for things around the house to malfunction or need to be fixed. Whether it is a faulty faucet, a creaky door or anything else. However, instead of paying a lot of money for an expert to come out and spend a few minutes, why not learn to fix some things?

There are plenty of online guides that can turn you to a handyman in only a few minutes. In addition to being handy around the house, it can also be a good idea to familiarize yourself with car troubles as well. Many troubles that your car will go through are extremely simple to fix and will cost you nothing except a few hours of your time and maybe a few dollars in parts.

Try to Buy Used When Possible

For some reason, many people have an issue with buying used some of the time. While you may think of buying books, video games and other small things like that used, you shouldn’t stop there. In fact, you can buy almost everything under the sun used, for a fraction of the cost that a new version would cost.

This would save you a ton of cash, without having to sacrifice comfort or quality, if you look hard enough. In addition to garage sales, there are many online classifieds sites that are great to find all sorts of different things from furniture, to clothes, to electronics and more.

In conclusion, there are several good ideas out there to help you save money, and this article features a few of the best and easiest.