8 New Skills You Can Learn to Save Money

With all the economic havoc the pandemic has wrought, a lot of people are trying to reduce spending right now.

And while cutting the cord, skipping those morning lattes, or couponing can certainly help your efforts, there’s actually an even better way to save cash: Just learn some new skills.

It’s true: Picking up a few extra skills can help you reduce spending significantly. Plus, with all that free time most of us have while quarantining, wouldn’t it be great to learn a little, too?

Here are eight skills you might want to work on if saving money’s on your radar:

1. Car maintenance: Changing your own oil or air filters, washing your car yourself, or even adding some freon to your vehicle’s A/C could all save you big.
2. Cooking: Eating out can get costly, especially if you throw in delivery fees. Honing your cooking skills can trim those costs (and probably your waistline, too).
3. Sewing: Instead of throwing those old jeans out, learn to mend them, and save a few bucks. Who knows, maybe you can even knit a cozy sweater once the weather turns cold.
4. Gardening: Produce can get expensive. Try your hand at growing your own fruits and vegetables instead. A nice bonus here? You save yourself trips to the store, too. 
5. Home maintenance: Forget calling in a pro to power-wash your house, mow the lawn, or treat it for pests or weeds. Brush up on your home maintenance skills, and keep some of that cash in your pocketbook.
6. Grooming: Often sending Fido or Fluffy out for a haircut or nail trim? Consider learning some grooming skills yourself to save some dough.
7. Baking: Baking can be a fun and relaxing hobby, but it can also save you cash, too — especially if you learn to make your own bread. You might also work on your cake-making skills (especially if you have kids). We all know how expensive store-bought birthday cakes can be.
8. Fishing: If you live near a lake or body of water, you might take up fishing. It will reduce your grocery bills, keep you active, and maybe even reduce your risk of heart disease (hello, fish oil!) 

Use online educational tools like SkillShare, Allison, or Udemy to gain new skills, or you can even look to YouTube for tips from the pros. If you want a one-on-one mentor, you might consider tools like Coach.me or The Muse. These both offer professional coaching and mentoring services.