There are a lot of easy ways to save money, and most of them are right under our noses. Some of them aren’t that hard to do, but we find ourselves unwilling to do them because we’ve gotten used to certain luxuries. To counter this, you need to just reduce and not remove.
Learn to DIY
You have to wonder why a lot of people are losing their jobs to outsourcing, but the answer is simple – labor costs too much. You may not realize it, but paying for already-built things costs a whole lot more than doing it yourself. Order a pizza, and you’re not just paying for the pizza, but the guy who cooks the pizza, the ingredients for the pizza, the guy who delivers the pizza, and the gas used for delivering your pizza. Sometimes, you even have to give a tip. Now, if you get into buying flour and ingredients, you can make your own pizza at home for less cost than you think. In fact, a homemade pizza costs only a couple of dollars which even beats out that instant processed crap from the supermarket…. talk about an easy way to save money!
This goes the same with building things. Need a piece of furniture? Build it yourself. If you have a plumbing leak, learn how to fix it. If you need a couple of solar panels to reduce the electric bills, build your own.
Spend to Save
Frugality isn’t about not spending to save money, but spending only on things that you will need. Sometimes, you may need to spend your money on things that can either help you make more money or help you save more money. For instance, building your own solar panels can be cheaper than buying them, but you’re still going to need to spend some money on the materials for them. If you need to start cooking at home, you may need to purchase bigger refs, rice cookers, and the like.
No Big Names
You’ll want to stay away from branded products as much as possible. This doesn’t mean you have to skip buying cereal if Kellogg’s is the only one you eat. Start going for lesser brands and generic items and produces. Your jeans don’t have to be Levi’s. Your shirts don’t have to be Abercrombie or Bench.
Cash Instead of Cards
Don’t bring credit cards to the mall or grocery, as it always leads to a failed resistance to temptations and impulse buying. Bring cash instead so as to limit your expenses. Better yet, find free coupons for whatever you need to buy. When done right and done enough, you can even get close to getting a free grocery checkout.
Once you’ve gotten used to limiting yourself with just bringing cash and coupons, you can start bringing your credit cards into the picture just so you can purchase frequently without being bombed with bills and overdraft fees. Besides, frequent purchases with low cost items can allows you to pay them on time no problem, and this helps with your credit score. If you’re more extreme, you can do what Clarke Howard does and that’s throw your credit cards into a freezer bag, fill the bag with water and toss it in the freezer.
Cut Down
We all have certain luxuries that we can’t give up, but you have to make sure you cut down on some of them. For instance, if you’re a video gamer, you have to wait some time for the video game prices to go down or get a discount on Steam. If you’re fond of online games, try to find free games that are just as fun as those that require monthly subscriptions.
There’s no reason you shouldn’t spend your money on things you need, but keep the money spent on the need and not the wants. Saving money isn’t about keeping them all in your wallet; it’s about spending money the right way.
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