This might seem stupid, but I have a new job and for the first time I'm making enough money to invest and actually think about the future. This has made me, strangely, frugal for the first time in my life, which has been amazingly liberating financially. I don't understand why I didn't worry about these things before when I was making less money, but here we are.
Anyways, with my newfound interest I wanted to see how much I could save by going through ALL my expenses with a fine tooth comb and I would HIGHLY suggest you do the same.
Here are some of the ways I will save over $8000 in the next 12 months.
Question: I'm looking for more ways to save now that I'm new to frugality (I don't want to be cheap and wasteful of my time!). Any ideas?
-------
Insurance - Saving $3003/year
It's VERY easy to be completely over-insured, by cancelling unneeded medical benefits for both my wife and I, and adjusting my car insurance I saved $3003 which I was absolutely astonished by. To be fair, the reason I could cancel most of these things is because it's now covered through work. But for many things I was double or even triple insured! Very stupid, but they sell you on these things you have to be careful!
Coffee - Saving $1680/year
My wife and I were both buying coffee every day at about $4 a pop. We bought an espresso machine on amazon (warehouse deals of course, 50% off brand new!) and to go mugs, and are now saving around 8$ a day 20 days a month. Minus machine maintenance and coffee costs (estimated at 20/month) we are now saving $1680 a year! The best part is because it's real espresso and a great machine I don't even desire my past ways.
Software and computing - Saving $880/year
I use Adobe Creative Suite for my personal blog and websites, but found out I was paying for a lot of software I wasn't using. So I downgraded my service and saved $30 per month or $360 for the year.
I switched web hosts for my websites and saved around $30 per month, or $360 for the year. It also includes free backup storage so I was able to cancel dropbox pro and save 13 per month, or around $160 per year.
Cancelled Spotify. I don't use it enough to justify it, but to be fair I started buying some Vinyl so this definitely cancels itself out and is not worth mentioning.
Don't have TV, so netflix has to stay for now. Wife watches it daily so it's a good value.
Phone Bill - Saving $600 or $1400/ year
I called my phone company and after a long call ended up on a loyalty plan that gives me 25% off for the next 2 years plus new phones for nothing. Because my wife and I both use our phones for work, this savings is around $50 per month or $600 per year (1400 if you include the phones)!
Interest Rate - $1440/year
I got my interest rate on my bad debt (line of credit) lowered from 12 to 6%. THIS IS HUGE and is saving me around $120 a month. I do not currently have credit card debt. Obviously as I pay this down this "saving" will go away, but it sure seems like savings for now. I don't miss payments, and it turned out my credit score had improved since the last interest level. If YOU don't call and reassess, they won't! So if you haven't called the bank to assess your current status recently it's really worth it!
TLDR: The little monthly expenses REALLY add up, so if you can chip away at them you could find youself thousands of dollars ahead! I'm now making more than before, AND saving a ton more so I feel like I'm making even more than I am. It's an amazing feeling and I don't feel guilty about buying myself something nice or going out for a nice dinner to celebrate a birthday, for example.
July 26, 2018 at 01:05PM
