saving money tips

This is a twist on the ol' change jar, but it works just as well. The concept behind a savings jar is simple but effective — you mindlessly drop cash into a jar and before you know it, you'll have a good amount of money that you can chuck into a savings account or retirement account. But if you replace loose change with $5 bills, you'll be able to accumulate money more quickly.

All you need to do is find a big fat jar and whenever you find yourself with a $5 bill, you should do your best not to spend it. Instead, immediately put those bills in your jar once you get home. Of course, this might be best for people who tend to use a lot of cash. For those who choose to pay for purchases with cards, you might not find your savings growing as quickly as you'd like. Do you have other savings tricks to share?

It's true: the little things add up. As anyone who ever had a piggy bank knows, small everyday actions can help you save big. Hoping to create a financial cushion for yourself this season? Follow these 15 easy tricks to help you save at least a dollar a day:

1. Hold the milk. In your coffee, that is. If you regularly stop at the coffee shop on your way to work, order it black to avoid any extra costs.
2. Go generic. At the grocery store, pick the generic variety of different foods to save big on pantry staples.
3. Keep the change. Sure, sometimes it's annoying to have change littering your purse or jangling in your pocket, but you'd be surprised by how quickly those nickels add up.
4. Swap soda for water. If you can't give it up altogether, vow to sip water instead of soda during at least one meal each day.
5. Trade CDs with a friend. Hoping to add the latest Rihanna song to your workout playlist? Reach out to a friend and burn CDs for each other to gather new music for free.
6. Fuel up for less. Unless it's required for your specific car model, nix the premium gas habit and use gasbuddy.com to find the cheapest gas in the area.
7. Find free WiFi. Work in cafés or libraries with free WiFi. Not sure which spots offer Internet? Use the Free Wi-Fi app to scope out local places with wireless access.
8. Practice your sewing skills. Skip a trip to the tailor and learn to do the simple adjustments yourself, like shortening a hem or taking in a blouse.

Keep reading for more tips to save $1 a day.

To err is human; to make budgeting mistakes, totally human as well. Most people are not aware of the little budget traps we get caught in, because life is so busy that it's hard to keep track of the smaller money details. But being careless can rack up higher bills. Pretty soon, you might be wondering where your money is going — you don't spend that much every month but your bank seems to be emptying itself on its own. Here are things you need to watch out for:

Buying things that are not on sale: Most items generally go on sale if you wait for it. Whenever I buy greatly discounted items at a big annual sale like Black Friday, an outlet mall, or on some flash sales site, I wonder why I ever bought items at full-price.

Not preserving your groceries: Even if you're good about saving on your groceries and avoiding the items that are greatly marked up in the supermarket, those savings will be worth less if you don't know how to properly preserve your groceries. If you're throwing away food, you're wasting money. Do things like only cutting fruits and vegetables when you need them, putting your bread in the fridge or the freezer, and making perishable items more visible in your fridge. For more tips on lengthening the life of your groceries, read this.

Never checking your bills for mistakes: Monitor your receipts, bills, and statements to see if there are any mistakes being made. Get into a habit of giving your receipts a quick once-over as soon as you receive them. This may save you money and it'll definitely save you the time and effort of having to go back to the store or calling them to deduct the mistaken charges. Now that big banks are trying to slip in more fees to the unsuspecting customer, you have more reason to monitor your statements. Be a responsible consumer — the sooner you catch on to suspicious fees, the more chances you'll have of getting your money back.

Leaving your electronics plugged in: It's easy to be lazy and leave your electronics plugged in because you figure you'll be using them soon. Electronic items still suck power even when they aren't turned on. In fact, they draw five percent of the energy in American homes, according to a study by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The amount of energy wasted is equivalent to the output of 18 power stations!

Read on for more budget drains.

I remember receiving my first paycheck postcollege – along with my first checking account fee. While you're a student, many banks will prompt you to sign up with a free checking account, but things change when you graduate. I was startled and annoyed at this fee, but little did I know the few years preceding college, I would rack up several others. Here are five important things you should be aware of when banking in your 20s.

• Know the fees associated with your account. Ask what types of fees to expect and how you can avoid them. They creep up, and your bank might not prepare you for new fees either. For instance, large banks like Bank of America are instating monthly fees for debit card usage. While charges are between $3-$5, it's still a pretty significant fee for debit card users.
• Your purchasing habits are stored. In the ever-connected modern day world, purchases made by debit and credit cards are stored and analyzed. This might not mean a whole lot to you in terms of your debit card usage, but companies could use the data to determine your interest rates for credit cards. Keep that in mind if you tend to make not-so responsible choices like purchasing huge items spontaneously or blowing your paycheck in a 24-hour period. Otherwise, opt to make more cash purchases.

Read more must-know banking types for 20-somethings.

It's great to cut back on the small stuff by skipping your morning store-bought latte and bringing lunch to work, but what's really going to make a huge difference is saving on the big items. In fact, cutting back on the small purchases can backfire on you because it can feel like you're depriving yourself and may cause you to revert back to old ways.

To make great strides forward, the key is to focus on the big picture, then work your way down to the little things. Start with your biggest expenses, which include housing and transportation, then work your way down to the smaller spending categories, like weekend entertainment. Get started on this top-down saving method with these tips from Forbes:

• Gather your statements: Gather your statements together from the last six months, preferably those that state your monthly expenses. This includes credit card, savings account, and checking account statements.
• Categorize them: Start categorizing your expenditures. For example, you can group them by groceries, utilities, rent, transportation, recreation, and more.
• Figure out your biggest expenses: Figure out your biggest costs every month and list them in order.
• Brainstorm ways to save: Now that you know which categories are your biggest expenses, brainstorm ways to save on them and tackle them from the top down. Perhaps you can find a roommate or rent a smaller room in your apartment building to lower your monthly housing costs, or maybe you can consider getting rid of your car and taking public transportation instead.

Before you start plotting to do away with your Starbucks habit, tackle your most expensive purchases first to make greater headway toward your saving goals. But remember to do what works for you and your lifestyle. How have you saved on the costlier expenses in your life?