Creative Ways to Save Money

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Here are several suggestions of ways to save money for Giving for Gospel Growth.  Do you have more suggestions?  Let us know by emailing us here.

  1. Commit to drink only water at a restaurant. On average, one person could save $5 a week or more. That’s a minimum of $260 a year, just for drinking water!
  2. Be a coupon clipper. By taking the time to use coupons, you could save as much as $30 per week. Thirty dollars a week is $1560 in one year!
  3. Wait for a movie to come out on DVD instead of seeing it at the theater. One trip to the theater can cost over $25 with popcorn and candy for two. If you cut out two movies per month, that’s almost $500 annually. You can also save money by picking up DVDs from the library rather than renting or purchasing them.
  4. Give up a habit. For example, gourmet coffee, plus tax, each day, costs nearly $1,000 a year.
  5. Reduce or cancel cable or satellite TV service. Depending on your current service, this could save as much as $110 per month, totaling $1,320 per year.
  6. Skip a meal each week as a family for prayer and fasting. Skipping one meal a week at an average of $20 per family to devote to prayer and fasting is $1,040 a year.
  7. Continue a bill payment. If you will be paying off a car, school loan, or other large purchase in the next year, commit to continue to “pay the bill” by redirecting the money to the building fund. A $100 payment per month over one year’s time is $1,200.
  8. Give a gift of stock. When you make a gift of stock, there are two main advantages: 1) you can write off the current value of the gift (current stock value) as a charitable deduction on your income tax, and 2) you don’t have to pay tax on the appreciation that built up while you owned it. The church receives more than if you had sold the securities and donated the after-tax proceeds.
  9. Commit your income tax refund to the Lord.
  10. Commit an estimated raise in salary to the Lord.
  11. Adjust your vacations. For one or more years, do something close and inexpensive like day trips, picnics, or take a three-day vacation instead of a week to save on the airfare and hotel costs. This can easily save between $1,000-2,000.
  12. Put off a discretionary major purchase, such as a car or new carpeting for your home, and redirect the money to the building fund.
  13. You may want to consider re-financing your home at a lower interest rate. The amount you save on your monthly payment could be used toward the building fund.
  14. Find out if your employer has a matching gifts program. Typically, if a company has a program, for every dollar an employee donates to a charity, the company also donates a dollar to the same organization. Matching gift programs are a wonderful way for employees to make their charitable dollars stretch farther at no additional cost to themselves. Simply ask your company’s human resources office or benefits administrator for a matching gift form and instructions. You may be able to effectively double your contribution.
  15. Commit to a dollar increase in your giving every week. Start by giving one dollar the first week, then $2 the second week, then $3, then $4, etc., praying all along that the Lord would show you a way to add that next dollar and increase each week. If you were able to continue for three years, you would give $12,000!