Hi everyone, newcomer here and first time poster.
After overconsuming for about 10 years, I recently went the frugal way in order to get my finances on the right track and also retiring early.
In July, I moved into a 1 room apartment to save on rent and utilities (effectively cutting about a third of the cost), decluttered a lot of the junk I accumulated (clothes, shoes, decorations, useless stuff I kept, souvenirs, gifts I received, etc.) and I was now onto my budget.
Effective this month, I reduced my phone bill by 40% by reducing my phone Internet from 10 GB to 7 GB (from $100 to $60). I still use Internet on my phone during my commute (I use the bus/subway) so I didn't want to remove it, but I justified the decrease in price and GB.
Then, I also reduced my home Internet from 20 Mbit/s and 250 GB to 10 Mbit/s and 150 GB, another $10 savings. Overall, it will save me $600 per month, while still being able to do all the same things I was currently doing. I still don't know why I was paying so much when I didn't use it to the maximum.
Then, I reviewed my budget, limited what I can spend on hobbies and shopping, cancelled superfluous subscriptions, and I should be saving around $200 per month just from those little steps.
That's $200 more dollars that will go towards my debts, then my retirement funds.
Browsing /r/frugal, /r/declutter, /r/simpleliving and other subs similar to those really helped me see through my bad habits and seeing the changes I could make in life.
So I just wanted to share the steps I did to reduce my consumption and also reduce the money I would typically spend on "modern" needs.
My next step: reselling my expensive crap and collectibles. I already removed all the cheap junk and clothing from my apartment.
Thanks for reading. If you also have some tips, you are welcome to share them with me.
August 18, 2017 at 04:44PM
