I am pretty frugal/cheap by nature but I just want to share with you guys that honestly, the most impactful way to save money is to cut your big ticket upkeep costs. Those are the things that you pay every month. Overtime, you stop even noticing or questioning those and just have those naturally deducted from your credit card/pay. Even when you stop using those services, you forget to cancel the "subscription" and that's just money thrown away.
I am talking about:
-Rent
-Car/Transportation
-Monthly utilities
-Cellphone/phones/internet/gaming
"Well how do I lower those???" You ask. Well, every single month you should be asking yourself, are you getting what you pay for it? Are there alternatives? Have you considered alternatives? Why or why not?
Maybe your workplace changed locations and now you take the bus to work everyday instead of your car. So, you should be asking yourself, do you really need a car? How often do you actually take your car out in a given month? Is your monthly auto upkeep costs worth it?
Maybe you broke up with your gf/bf and you are living alone in a 1bedroom/2bedroom home. Have you considered moving to a studio apartment or even a cheaper apartment? Why or why not? A decision like that will result in huge savings that couponing/cutting coffee can't.
Maybe your workplace has free wifi so do you really need that 10g data plan? Perhaps you can do with 2gs instead? Always be on the lookout for cheaper cellphone plans. A simple decision like that will result in $30-$40 savings per month for the rest of your life almost!
My old car gave out and I weighed the pros and cons of getting a new car vs. just moving closer to work and walking. In the end, I decided to live without a car and see how it is.
I end up saving: $300 car payment monthly $120 insurance $150 gas $50 repairs
=$620 freed per month
($520 because sometimes I take the bus/uber to replace not having a car)
I also moved from living alone in a studio to a 4 bedroom house with roommates. My rent went from $1500 to $500.
I decided that having an extra grand in my pocket each and every month was worth putting up with roommates for a certain amount of time. Add to the fact that I am usually not even at home most of the time (sports, work, gym, activities)...it really doesn't bother me.
If you add the 2, that's $1500 saved every month.
I can slice and dice my little expenses however I want but no amount of penny pinching on coffees, couponing, re-using paper will save you that much money.
I could cut all my alcohol intake, all my restaurant goings, all my morning coffee runs, grocery couponing but no way will it add up to $1500 per month.
On a side note: I planned a trip around when my lease ends to when my new lease starts. I am lucky with this because A. I don't have alot of stuff and B. I am able to store it at my parents (if you can't...self storage)
It ends up being $500 rent + $100 utilities = $600 saved. No amount of checking flight prices/vacation packages everyday would have saved me that much money.
December 19, 2018 at 10:40AM
