For those of us who aspire to the frugal life, we often investigate every expenditure we make, and then think about how we can minimize this expenditure. This, in a nutshell, is what the frugal life is. For those who have only just begun trying to save money, you may have gotten so used to certain expenses that you don’t even realize how much money you are wasting. Here are a few common items that the vast majority of people spend way too much money on, and a few ways to completely cut out these items or approach these items in a different way such that you aren’t wasting too much money.
- Cable
- Food/drink purchases during work
- Magazine/newspaper subscriptions
- Gas and transportation
Cable these days is something of a dinosaur, and unless you are unemployed and have tons of free time on your hands, it’s likely that you aren’t making full use of your service of hundreds of channels. Some alternatives to cable are using the Internet to stream your favorite shows and movies for free, or signing up for Netflix, which showcases the best that cable has to offer. If you are a sports addict, then going to your local pub or a friend’s house to watch certain sports is another option.
You’d be surprised by the close relationship between stress and spending money. It wasn’t until I carefully examined my expenditures for the month that I realized I spent more during work hours than at any other time, including weekends. These small items that I’d buy like lunch, snacks, multiple coffees all began to add up such that they represented an expense that far exceeded even bigger monthly expenses like utilities. The best way to cut back on these items is to bring your own. Making coffee at home then bringing it to the office in a thermos or making your own lunch before going can stand to save you hundreds of dollars over a few months.
With the proliferation of millions of magazines, newspapers, and other sources of information like blogs on the Internet, there is really no reason to waste hundreds of dollars a year on paper subscriptions. Of course, there may be one magazine that you read cover-to-cover whose content is not available online for free, and if you truly feel that the expense is worth it, then keep that one subscription. If you are subscribed to multiple publications just out of force of habit, then consider cancelling them and finding their free online versions.
We all know that gas prices are outrageous, but still we buy gas on a consistent basis since we consider it a necessary expense. Of course, in some ways it is a necessary expense, but you’d be surprised by how many other options you have when it comes to cutting back on transportation and gas. An easy way to do just that is to organize a carpool with friends to work or your children’s school. Using public transportation, if available, is another good option, even if it takes a little longer.
Saving money on daily expenses isn’t rocket science. All it takes is carefully examining your spending habits and realizing which ones you can live without, and which ones you can cut back on substantially. Good luck!
Author Bio:
This is a guest post by Nadia Jones who blogs at accredited online colleges about education, college, student, teacher, money saving, movie related topics. You can reach her at nadia.jones5 @ gmail.com.
May I also add unnecessary use of electricity,such as leaving the appliance plugged even though it is turned off still uses electricity. ATM fees, extended warranties, and interests incurred on credit cards are other expenses we often ignore.
Yea, I agree that cable is not really needed anymore. Most of the stuff on TV you can follow online. Also agree about magazines and newspapers. You can get information as it happens, on the internet so why wait a day or more for a printed copy?
-Jean
Due to economic situation, people should change their lifestyle in order to maximize their salary. There are tons of ways to save money and using public transportation is one of them. At first, it might be inconvenient for you however you’ll get used to it eventually.
You are completely RIGHT about spending more when stressed. I used to work 12 hour shifts at a hospital. Before I even started those long days, I would buy two 20 oz Diet Cokes. I always justified the expense by telling myself that ” I am working an ungodly amount of hours ” and “my job is so stressful.”
Hi Nadia,
On the accommodation can you make big savings,
you can share an apartment with a friend,
you can switch to a smaller apartment,
you can move to an area a little further out from the city and get a cheaper rent, etc.
I have resolved to using bicycle to save my unneccessary ways of spending money and have even thought of shifting to only 1 newspaper.
We often don’t see the small things add up, this can be true for many things in our lives. Most people never actually sit down and add up the numbers. When I realized how much I was spending on lunch each month I started to add up the numbers for every other little thing I buy on a regular basis and I could not believe how much I was spending.
I’ve been going through a variety of websites that deal with money, finances and savings. All had great tips but I did notice that not one of them said anything about electricity! I did see comments about how to control your consumption but no one mentioned anything about checking what other providers are offering. I know this will NOT apply to everyone since every state is in some form of deregulation or close to it.
But those living in Texas, Maryland, Illinois, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey do have the option to choose who they want to go with. Ambit Energy is currently operating in those areas and is not only providing very good rates but also provides a lot more incentives to join them. There are 4 evident ways on saving.
First, when you join they give you a 2 night 3 day hotel package. So if you intend to travel, you’ll save a couple of hundred bucks right there.
Second, with your new rate you will save anywhere from 5% to 40% on your monthly bill.
Third, if you refer minimum 15 customers to Ambit you then get either free electricity or close to it. It’s been 11 months now and my highest bill was $17. The rest were under $10 because my credit from those customers is always much more than my actual bill so I just pay the taxes. So far I’ve saved over $1200. (I have all my bills to prove it)
Fourth, for every KW you use they give you a travel point which you can redeem on several travel packages they offer. The first one which you will automatically be eligible for is the 2 airlines tickets under $500 anywhere in the US, that can be redeemed when you get 25,000 which is approximately one years worth of energy consumption.
All in all, you can expect to save anywhere from $1K to $2K a year aside from the travel packages.
This is not a sales pitch, since this site is about savings, this is just another great way of doing just that!
There are many things that we use but are really unnecessary, cable is really a waste of money since as you said you can watch anything for free in the internet…
Regards Kostas
with rising gas prices , travellaing is becoming a costly affair
One thing that i spend alot of money is food. I tend to buy expensive meals for lunch everyday and i really spend alot.
Money has been tight lately so i’ve been brown bagging it. Also trying to cut down on expensive dinners on the weekends.
I love sushi, its an expensive habit.
Good Source! but i want to invest to my money in Mutual funds. Mutual funds are collective investments undertaken by commercial entities. They collect funds fro m individual and institutional investors and invest them in various stock options. The returns and risks are shared according to the individual contribution in the total sum.