If you want to achieve financial freedom, you have to save money. Only then can you build enough wealth to acquire assets that will generate passive income—enabling you to live your best life.

Believe it or not, tweaking a few of your habits can go a long way toward saving money. So in this post, we’re going to talk through some easy ways to save money that don’t require you to eat beans and rice.

1. Record Your Expenses

Before you can start saving money, you have to know how much you have coming in—and how much you have going out. This involves tracking and recording your expenses to identify your spending habits.

Fortunately, there are a number of apps that connect directly to your bank account and will organize all your expenses automatically (like Mint, YNAB, Simplifi, and more). Once you know how much you spend, you can get a firm idea of your margin and how to lower your expenses to increase that margin.

2. Start Paying Off Your Debts

The vast majority of people struggle with some form of debt, whether that’s credit cards or student loans. Unfortunately, offloading money to pay off these debts presents a big obstacle to saving.

You should try and eliminate this debt as quickly as possible. This includes paying off your car, credit cards, student loans—everything.

While your debt may be so large that you don’t consider this “easy,” you can at least get started. That way, you’ll cut back on how much you pay each month.

One way to free up money to pay off debts is to get help with your 401(k) employer match. Scroll to the end of this page to see how Matchly can help you get the best of both worlds.

3. Cut Basic Expenses

Believe it or not, you can open up a lot more margin in your budget by making simple changes to your lifestyle:

• Learn how to cook so you can eat out less frequently
• Cut cable and get a cheaper streaming subscription
• Reduce unhealthy habits like drinking soda, excess alcohol, or smoking (plus, you’ll also improve your health)
• Weatherize your home to cut back on utility costs
• Refinance your home (if you own it)
  

4. Find Creative Ways to Have Fun

Who said saving money means you can’t have fun?! The key is to find less expensive, more creative ways to enjoy yourself:

• Take a “staycation” by looking for fun opportunities within driving distance of where you live
• Plan “nights in” with games, movies, or a good old-fashioned dinner party (or better yet, a potluck)
• Go thrifting instead of shopping—find great deals without dropping hundreds of dollars
• Go to museums, farmers' markets, and other attractions in your city
• Find “concerts on the lawn” or “Shakespeare in the park”
• Become a dog-walker—you get to hang out with animals AND make some side money at the same time
  

5. Pick Up New Skills

One area where you probably overspend is by paying for various kinds of services that you could learn yourself. While some tasks call for a professional, there are others that you (or your roommate) could pick up:

• Cooking
• Cutting & dying hair
• Basic “handyman” tasks
• Flipping & restoring furniture

Who knows, maybe you’ll become so good at one of these things that you can turn it into a side hustle?

6. Automate Your Savings

The easiest way to save is to not think about it. Thankfully, most banks offer automated transfers between checking and savings accounts, so you can choose when, how much, and where to transfer your money.

Additionally, there are apps that put money into a savings account for every amount you spend. Some do a dollar-to-dollar match, and others round up each of your purchases.

Finally, contributing to your company’s 401(k) plan is a great way to automatically take money out of your paycheck and contribute to your future. Not only that, but you could end up claiming your company match, which is essentially free money.

Matchly is here to help you claim that 401(k) match. Use the calculator below to find out how much employer match you can get with Matchly.