NYC Frugal Tips
Manhattan NYC is very expensive. Although I make a fairly substantially large income from varying businesses, I am still VERY very frugal. It is a game to me. I can't help it, I enjoy it. Here's what I do, you are welcome to take my tips or even give me suggestions. I'm not counting in any business expenses.
RENT- This one I cannot avoid. I was "convinced and hoodwinked" by my previous girlfriend into getting a really nice apartment, only to break up a few months later and be stuck with this fat ass rent. I refuse to move out because I love this place so much. Solution? I eventually got a new girlfriend, we split the rent and a lot of the home expenses.
Coffee - Although I love coffee so much, I really just need the caffeine content. I'll either buy my own coffee grounds from amazon, or I'll take a caffeine/theanine capsule occasionally. If I really need the energy and productivity I'll take 100mg (a half) of Modafinil prescribed by my doctor for free. OCCASIONALLY, I'll get a $1 iced coffee from taco bell, they're the only ones that seem to have it this cheap haha. You wont EVER catch me at starbucks or Dunkin, F that what am I rich! haha. My bank Capital one usually has a coffee shop inside, where if you use your capital one debit card you get 50% off. I'll usually flash them my capital one debit for the 50% off, but use my chase sapphire reserve for the 3x points on it, double win.
Clothes - I love clothes as a guy. However I cannot get myself to spend on clothes because I already have clothes. They need to be really torn and tattered or holy for me to replace them. I'm embarrassed to say this, but I'll find great clothes of brands I like on ebay or poshmark, second hand. RARELY will I buy new or in person. I HATE paying retail for anything. My parents always insist on gifting me something for bday or xmas, I'll always suggest shoes and underwear. The other day I walked by a Levis store, my GF makes fun of me for always having a hole in the crotches of my pants, I don't know why but this happens to all my pants; anyway checked out some sales, they had 70% off PLUS an extra 20% off for signing up to their rewards card. Too good of a deal at 90% off, I bought some new good quality jeans and pants thatll last me for years.
Alcohol - I've been abstaining from alcohol here and there. Dry January has been extremely productive to me that it makes me never want to go back. I truly don't really miss it. Living in Manhattan, I live near hoboken NJ where there's a beer distributor. Once a month, Id buy a few 30 packs just to keep stocked at home at cheap prices. When I used to throw "parties", I used to buy cheap liquor and pour them into expensive bottles. I began doing this when I realized so many ungrateful people would come to my place, and drink my stuff dry. Well now ya get the cheap stuff ya freeloaders.
Going Out - Prepandemic. I LOVED going out. In manhattan, you have the best of the best in terms of bars clubs and restaurants. Expensive though. Solution? Be friends with bartenders and club promoters and club owners and managers. Pre-covid, Id hang out at this bar called Hidden Lane. My best friend was the head bartender, and my friends worked there as well. Id drink for free all night and so would whoever my date was, Id just tip the staff. Then, I'd go out to one of the clubs with my promoter friends. For those that don't understand this "promoter" term: Nightlife Clubs will literally pay a fat salary to these promoters to bring out beautiful girls and keep them at the "table" and the club would provide free bottles of vodka, tequila, beers, champagne, and even food sometimes. My promoter buddies would text me "hey man come out and help me tonight, so many girls at my table I can't entertain alone". As a single guy, this would be a no brainer, drink for free all night w/ my friends AND get to be around beautiful single women. Being in the city, Id citibike (bike share) to the club or bar, and uber or lyft back.
Food - I don't believe in going cheap when it comes to groceries because the food you eat is your HEALTH. With that said, Trader Joes is insanely cheap. There are only a few things I'll buy organic and buy lean meats, but everything else is for the most part cheap. I'll spend $50 a week, $100 a week for the 2 of us.
CAR - The beauty of living SMACK dab in the middle of Manhattan is not needing a car. I wont even take the subway. I literally citibike everywhere, my annual $160 a year membership is free because I participate in a program called Bike Angels, by inadvertently rebalancing bike stations, Id earn perks rewards and free membership. At the start of the pandemic, I bought myself a 15 year old little mini cooper so I can go on road trips and trips to the beach since things were closed. I paid $2200 for the car, another $1700 on maintenance and preventative maintenance, and $30 a month on insurance, and very little on gas since it's a 4-banger, I hardly use it, but Its there when I need a car as we love to escape the city.
Weed - I like to be very productive and weed doesn't allow that for me. However I occasionally hit my bowl or weed pen, just once or twice before a movie on a friday night. A gram will last me literally MONTHS.
Credit cards- My favorite topic! Credit cards can be a double edged sword. Use them wrecklessly and the 16-24% interest will murder you. Use them correctly, and they are your best friends.
I use the chase 'trifecta'-
Chase biz ink preferred for wifi bills, cell phone bill, shipping, social media ads and get back 3x points per $1.
Chase Sapphire Reserve (the main card)- for 3x on food , dining, transportation, drinks, parking, tolls, etc. I also get 10x on lyft, 15% off lyft, $60 a year on doordash, airport lounge access, and a bunch of other features, $300 travel credit a year, etc . It's a $450 a year card, but after crunching numbers not only does it come out to free, but the benefits greatly outweigh the costs.
Chase Freedom unlimited- on everything else not mentioned above at 1.5x per $1.
Chase Biz ink unlimited - on everything else business related.
Chase allows me to combine all these points together and if I use them through Sapphire Reserve's portal, they are worth 50% more! If you are even slicker you can transfer them to airline transfer partners and find even cheaper flights and better deals. This has allowed me to never have paid for a flight for me or my girlfriend in years, in probably like 6-7 years.
VERY IMPORTANT- I keep it on autopay, ALWAYS pay your balances off in full. NEVER ever pay interest. i always say id rather lose a finger than ever pay interest. I have autopay on a safety measure, I actually pay the balances off once a week usually on fridays and mondays , so I can watch my weekend damage, but also to keep my balance always at zero to keep any balance from being reported to credit bureau's. This keeps my credit score at 800+ which in turn allows me to get very cheap lending for business purposes.
TAXES - Another important topic. Without going into too much detail. I'm able to create LLCs and SCorps for my businesses and holdings, allowing myself to pretty much expense a good portion of my expenses. I even file as a loss in some cases for some businesses, according to my accountant's strategy. When I "trade up" properties , I avoid paying Capital Gains taxes by deffering into the new investment property , I also max out my IRA for a free tax savings. Taxes are a place where people spend the majority of their income. I have friends that make 300k a year, but really they make 150k a year due to their restrictions to play with tax loopholes as wage earners. Taxes suck.
Buy ONLY TO REPLACE- This is a little out of place after taxes but I am human and prone to sin and purchases, but I've taught myself to buy things ONLY to replace the current one I have. I want the new iphone (biz expense), ONLY if I trade in my current one. I want the new mac mini m1, again only if I sell my current one on ebay or marketplace, I want the new v11 vacuum but only if i sell my current v8, etc you get the point. This way the trade in value of the "older model item" goes towards paying of the new model item. I also get to live very minimal and own only what I need and no clutter.
Monthly Streaming Apps- Netflix is now $18 a month! F that, we use my girlfriends fathers account. HBOMax and Hulu I group share buy and pay $3 a month. Amazon Prime is the only one I buy annually at retail, I actually do use prime shopping and video though. Youtube is my most prized app. I learn so much from youtube that I need and deserve the ad-free premium. I refuse to pay $15 a month for youtube, so I'll use my sisters college email for a college discount of 50% off. I don't ever listen to music, but we use my girlfriends spotify app on all our echo devices.
Unrelated tip- your internet provider charges you for renting you your router/modem. It's usually $15-20 a month! Buy a compatible used router/modem on ebay for like $20, BAM $240 annual savings.
LIQUIDS- by this I mean shampoo, conditioner ,hand soap, body wash, dish soap, all purpose cleaner, windex, etc. I buy all these by the gallon on amazon. If you do the math it comes out to pennies per FL OZ. I keep them in nice dispensers instead of buying and replacing one time use store bought dispensers. Same for TP and paper towels. I buy in bulk- I try to get TP down to 33 cents a roll, and PT down to 82 cents a roll.
It's possible to live frugally and still enjoy life. I think one of the most important things is what you do with your free time. You can either sit around and waste time playing video games or whatever your vice is or you can teach yourself new skills constantly that can be useful and worth money in the real world. Money left over from savings goes into stock portfolio, ROTH IRA, index funds, investment properties, or reinvest in my businesses. Skills pay the Bills!
January 26, 2021 at 11:49PM
