Morning!!
Back with some more great ways to save them dollars! Courtesy of The Debt Free Guys today which I stole yet again off Instagram, lol…
THERE’S JUST SO MANY GREAT VIDEOS THERE from our community!! And much faster/fun to digest too – I feel like a dinosaur still just blogging away my thoughts here 😂
Anyways, see which ones you can adapt to your own life!
And hopefully it at least includes the first one (hubba hubba)…
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[Click the video to watch it on Insta (the dancing is spectacular! ;)), or peruse below for their write up + my two cents… If it reads weird it’s because it was shortened for Instagram.]
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We’re always looking for ways to cut expenses so we can put the extra into investing to build cash flow.
Here are 10 crazy ways we’ve saved money over the years:
#1. Naked Sundays in the summer. Stay home vs. spend on expensive brunches and entertainment. Stock up on food and drinks, plan fun things to do. [Reminds me of strip budgeting, lol… everything is more fun without clothes on!]
#2. Do a dry month. Cut as much as $400 from spending (less likely to dine out). Opportunity to connect with sober friends. [YES! Plus it’s a great break for your health too and shows you can really accomplish hard things if you need to… I’m currently in week #4 without a sip of alcohol and it’s not as bad now that I’ve gotten past that first week of hell! Lol… (but will probably stop at the end of the month as I enjoy it too much :)]
#3. Keep our phones for 5+ years. $25 to $35/month to rent = $1,500 to $2,100/year. Put on rewards credit card to earn free travel. [I’m still an old school Android Galaxy user myself, going on 8 years now, and only paying $30/mo… Sometimes I do need to shell out an extra $5 to bump up my bandwidth with all this new Instagram watching I’m doing, haha, but by and large it’s saved me thousands over the years and don’t have any plans on going back…)
#4. Choose a limited data plan. Use Wi-Fi instead. Saves $80/month. [Yup, see note above!]
#5. Stick to the same simple menu and grocery list. Planning meals makes shopping easier. Splurge from time to time (keeps it special). [Agreed! Mrs. BudgetsAreSexy does most of our cooking/shopping, but it’s usually the same core meals each week with one or two swapped around to keep it interesting… In fact, she just started writing out the week’s meals on a wipey board in our kitchen too so everyone knows what we’ll be having each day now. Which is great as it lessens the barrage of questions from our kids!]
#6. Grocery shop every 7 to 10 days. Less time in-store = less money spent. Build a menu around foods already at home or on sale. [I don’t think this is possible with a million kids, but yes – less trips is preferable :)]
#7. Semi-annual spending analysis. Opens eyes to unconscious spending/budget creep. Reminds us of goals and keeps us on track. [And if you really want to impress the pants off your significant other, put together a nerdy powerpoint on everything!]
#8. Make our own iced coffee daily in the summer. Up to $12 for iced coffee x 4 visits/week = $3K/year. Save by using a French press, storing in reused spaghetti jars. [Not here, lol… I do make my first cup of coffee at home while I’m doing “me” time in the mornings, but once the kids are out the door IT’S COFFEE SHOP TIME FOR ME!!!! Mainly for the ambiance and people and easier motivation to work though vs the coffee itself as it basically doubles as my “office space”. (And is significantly cheaper – just costs a cup of coffee!)]
#9. Bought/rented housing with 1 salary. Doesn’t mean can’t have a beautiful home. Allowed us to put away hundreds of thousands of $ in 401(k)s. [Yes yes yes! Living off 50% of your income does wonders for your flexibility and goals… You could even take it as far as stopping work altogether if you wanted to and just coast right into WifeFI! ;)]
#10. Drove a 2006 MINI Cooper for 15 years. $100/month car maintenance vs. $500/month car payment. Saved $50K (including the $8K spent on maintenance). [Makes me miss Frankencaddy so bad, ugh… No monthly payments is nice, but it’s even better when your car actually MAKES you money – heyo!!!]
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How about you? What funky tricks are you doing lately that saves you some green??
If you’re on Insta, let me know so I can stalk your life too! ;)
You can find me @jmoneyyyyyy.
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Thank you for the post. You are an inspiration.
Here is how I save money:
1. I buy second had clothe, and I never follow my any fashion. I only buy clothes when it wears out. I don’t buy because there is new trend.
2. I don’t own a car. I either walk, take a bike, or the metro. I am also a member of a car sharing community.
3. I try not to go to bars. Instead, I do pot lucks at my apartment. We have lots more fun and and it costs a lot less.
I really really want to try the no car thing one day! or at least 1 car for the entire family instead of 2… I tell myself that if I just lived in a more walkable community/city I’d do it, but still not sure if I’d be brave enough 😂 So I tip my hat to you!
I guess it depends if your family lives within 15 min. walk to some stores, services, park, safe routes for cycling and transit. That’s the benchmark used in the urban planning world for liveable neighbourhoods.
I’ve been car-free for most of my life…past 45 yrs. I didn’t like driving and gave up license when I was 21 yrs. I’ve been cycling as part of my lifestyle for past 31 yrs. In winter it’s transit, walking.
Grocery shopping includes a few key large ethnic supermarkets which are more cost-effective than same ingredients at a hipster store.
so much good exercise you’ve had too for all those years!!! love it!
The grocery store comment is funny, less time in stores means less money spent, I’m the opposite I use more time in the store (but only 1x per week) to look at nutrition facts and cost/weight, and practicing willpower looking at new products LOL.
But agree with Alain above, going car free and not buying everything new also helps not give into an overpriced consumer society.
I’ll also add use your library! You can rent a million things for free, including garden tools and laptops.
Yeah!! I just found that out too – that’s wild!! You can get all kinds of goodies there for free… Here’s a great post that Jim just put out on it: https://www.routetoretire.com/library-resources/
You still with Republic Wireless? I was a long time ago for a few years saved roughly $2k aver that time. They look very different now, just searched for them. We’ve got so many lines now I just do TMo, dont mess around with MVNOs anymore but I suppose you could do Mint Mobile, or Visible depending on which network works best where you live. Unless they grandfathered you I don’t see the wifi only data plan anymore.
Yup, still with them! But when they moved to DISH it got all sorts of wonky and my wife couldn’t take it anymore so she switched to T-Mobile too, lol… She now pays 3x what I do (!!), however her calls and texts go through seamlessly now while mine like to disappear 😂
So many other companies that INCLUDE 4G and 5G for $15/mo. Seriously check out mint they are on TMO. Although, I’m with you, when I was on wifi only it didn’t seem that bad. Almost everywhere you go there is wifi.
Okay – I’ll look into them, thx!
We do a prepaid plan from TMO, just over $30/month for two lines with unlimited talk and text & 3GB data each. We bought our phones outright and brought them onboard. I’ve been very happy with it and we save so much over a traditional phone plan.
Although it’s no longer a possibility for me due to moving further away from work, I lived without a car for several years and walked/biked/used public transit. It was great for fitness and the budget!
We’ve stayed in the 900 sq. ft. “starter home” my hubby bought in 2013. The mortgage is under $500 with property taxes and home insurance included. Utilities are fairly inexpensive as well.
I use the library for books, DVDs, eBooks/eAudiobooks, etc…saves so much money!
I have been pescatarian for over 8 years. Good for the budget, better for the environment, fantastic for animal welfare, and excellent for health.
Gosh you are killing it!!!
WHERE IS YOUR FINANCE BLOG??! 😎
Haha, guess I need to start one!
Thanks for this! I follow them on twitter as well, always a great take!
Glad you enjoyed it :)
Loving your blog name 💪