A couple months ago I was looking to cut out some unnecessary costs in my life to save more money on a monthly basis, specifically I was trying to cut costs of gas, eating out, and streaming services. At the time I was using Netflix, Audible, and paying probably $150+ a month in gas and eating out. After some reflection and making some changes to my life I’ve managed to save $2,000 in the last 6 months. I know this isn’t possible for everyone but I thought I’d share some tips I’ve picked up along the way that have had a big impact:
-
Biking: riding my bike to university made a huge impact, I found I was only needing to fill up my car maybe 1-2 times a month versus the 3-4 before.
-
Coffee: brewing my own coffee at home surprised me in how much money I saved, before I would also get the drip coffee from a coffee shop probably 2-4 times a week and justified it to myself because it was the cheapest thing on the menu. Brewing my own and bringing it with me saved so much money.
-
Shopping: I found that the grocery store I shop at makes a pretty big difference. I started shopping at a store called Aldi and was shocked by the amount of money I saved combine with shopping there and meal prepping.
-
Libby: I decided I needed to cancel my audiobook subscription with audible because it was costing $14.99/month. I read on a thread here about Libby and my life is changed. All I needed was to put in my library card and now I can listen to all the audiobooks I want I just may have to wait a bit for some of them.
-
Kanopy; Canceling my Netflix was the hardest thing but probably the most necessary. I wasted so much time on it anyway. Kanopy through worked a lot like Libby and I’m able to watch up to 12 movies a month for free online through my library card. The selection isn’t bad and I’m no longer spending $12/month.
-
Clothes: I don’t shop super often but I found that I was spending way to much money on clothes when I did. I’ve really Marie Kondo my wardrobe and found that I really just wear the same 10 things all the time anyway. It really has helped me determine what I actually need and stop impulse buying. Side note: REI’s return section is really great for all my winter coats. I got a really great jacket and the tags list why the item was returned so I know if there’s any damage to it. My jacket was originally $295 and was listed at $100 because the original owner had just changed their mind!
Anyway I just thought I’d share some of these ideas and things that have helped me save money on a monthly basis. So maybe they can help you to!
December 10, 2019 at 04:43PM
