Ways to save money in 2026
Save Money in 2026 on Afternoon Live KATU News ABC
On January 8 2026, I had the privilege of making my first local TV appearance! In this segment, as a personal finance coach in Oregon, I discuss 6 ways to save money this year.
I was not allowed to mention some companies by name (understandably so!), so in this post I’ll list the specific resources I referred to in the segment. Plus, I share one bonus tip I did not share on-air!
1. Break up with "Big Mobile"
- 3 years ago my husband and I switched from AT&T to Mint mobile and saved $750/year (2 lines, data not unlimited but we pay for what we actually use, which is 5gb for my husband and 15gb for myself.)
-Other great options: Visible by Verizon, US mobile, Helium
- You often get the biggest discount paying yearly. Check their coverage map by entering your zip code, and consider starting out with a shorter agreement (ie 3 months) to confirm you're happy with the service
2. Ask your credit card company for a lower interest rate
-According to LendingTree, 80% of people receive when they call to ask!
-State your case, and see what they say. The worst that you will hear is “no”, but you’re more likely to hear a “yes”.
3. Use browser extensions to save online
-When you shop online, ALWAYS run a shopping extension to search the web for discount codes before you click buy now.
- Download free browser extensions like Paypal Honey and Capital One Shopping. For Amazon: The Camelizer to check if you’re actually getting a good deal (shows you price history). Rakuten also gets an honorable mention for giving cash back on select websites.
4. Audit your subscriptions
- According to a consumer reports research study, consumers thought they were spending on avg $86/month when in reality they were paying an avg of $219/month.
- Rocketmoney is a great free tool to help you uncover your recurring subscriptions, and the paid version will even cancel them for you!
- Check your app store: For iphones, go to app store>account (your photo)>subscriptions to see/manage your Active subscriptions. For Android, go to your Google Play store and follow a similar sequence: click on account>payments & subscriptions>subscriptions.
5. Set deal alerts for items you plan to buy
- Reduces impulse buying and saves you money by sending you an alert when the items goes on sale
- Deal alert sites: BradsDeals, Google Shopping, Slickdeals .
6. Abandon your cart!
- Opting out of immediately clicking "check out" does two things: 1. a cooling off period for you so you can be sure of your purchase and 2. a majority of retailers will send you a discount within 24 hours of you "abandoning" your cart to incentivize you to complete your purchase.
Bonus tip: Switch banks if you get charged maintenance fees.
- There is NO reason in 2025 that you should need to pay maintenance fees at your bank when there are so many free banking options to choose from.
- According to bankrate, the average yearly maintenance fees is $65 per account, but I see higher quite often
- Some fan favorites are Ally, Sofi, and Live Oak bank, all with solid high yield savings account options.
- Always ensure the bank you switch to is FDIC insured or if it's a credit union: NCUA insured.
- This one is the biggest task, but it beats throwing away hundreds of dollars for nothing over the years.
Disclaimer: Everything linked above are products I think are awesome and recommend. If you sign up using the link I may be eligible for a commission.
