Most of us love to hear a great pay it forward story. Someone bought groceries for the person behind them. Or someone wanted to cover the cost of the drinks for the person next in line at the Starbucks drive through. For someone on a tight budget themselves, you may still want to feel like you are paying it forward but can’t afford to spend a lot. There are lots of other ways to pay it forward in ways that you know the dollar amount you are offering.

Donate Blood

A great way to “give back” if you are able to is to give blood. It is always needed and for someone can mean life or death to get it. Plus it doesn’t cost you anything.

Give Up Your Spot

Another way to help out that won’t cost you anything is to give up your spot to someone else. If you see someone who is in a hurry, or maybe a mom juggling a couple kids, step back and offer them your spot in line. It may not cost you anything but to someone else it may mean the world.

Fee Someone’s Meter

I love the idea of making sure a total stranger doesn’t get a parking ticket by putting a little money in their expired, or almost expired meter. You may not always see the person you are helping but you can know you possibly saved someone a big parking ticket.

Vending Machine Fairy

Another way to make someone’s day is to leave a few quarters by the vending machine. This can be at the office or anywhere you are out and see a vending machine.

Bigger Tips

A server at the restaurant or bar you go to usually doesn’t make a lot of money. If you want to help someone out you can add an extra $5-10 to your tip. It could make their day!

Do you have ways you like to help out and give back without spending a lot of money?

I’m always on the lookout for some great tips to help us save money. And these tips are some of the best ones I have seen around.

Keep a Budget

Whether you are shopping for groceries, clothing or anything, always have a budget in mind before you start shopping. And having a budget will stop you from all the impulse buys that tend to add up quickly. If it’s not at the top of your priority list you likely will not want to spend your budgeted money on it.

Track Your Spending

If you do not keep track of what you are spending your money on, you may never fully understand where your money goes. If you track how much you spend on Starbucks each month or pay attention to how much you spend at the grocery store, you may find areas you can cut back on to save money and keep your budget in check.

Have Goals for Saving

Without a plan for how much you want to save each week, each month, or how much you want to save in a year, how will you know if you are saving anything? Set goals for how much you can realistically save out of each paycheck and start adding that to your savings each time. Or you can have saving goals to buy something specific like that new car, mattress, flat screen, or whatever you have on your list. If you set savings goals you can buy what you need without adding more debt.

Incentive and Discount Programs

If you have stores you shop at often, ask if they have any incentive or discount programs that you can sign up for. Most allow you to sign up for free and in most cases you will earn rewards to be used like cash once you meet certain spending goals. This is a great way to save at places you shop often.

Save Loose Change

Don’t dismiss all the loose change that tends to show up everywhere. Find a jar or somewhere to start saving it up and you’ll be surprised at home much you will save in a year. Use it to treat yourself to something you might normally not buy for yourself. Or save all year and add it to your holiday budget!