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| We all need to save money. Here are ideas I have learned from others that save $1000 or more. |
If you are working from home, self-employed, or only working part-time then you feel the pain of maintaining a lifestyle while building up your income. There's no worse feeling than that sense of dread about bills coming due, where you're earning less than you once did.
Part of the problem is that most of us live at our means. If you make $50,000 a year you probably spend about $50,000 a year. Although 3/4 of Americans save some money, most of us cannot handle a $1,000 emergency without borrowing part or all of it from a credit card, a friend, or somewhere else.
To put things into perspective, you need to change how you pay for your lifestyle without sacrificing quality of life. That may mean making some sacrifices, but smaller sacrifices hurt less than larger ones.
If you pay for a lot of TV channel subscriptions, that's a big expense you really need to ask yourself about. Why do you need so many expensive subscriptions?
Just 1 subscription might cost you $10 per month. That doesn't feel so bad. But you're paying $120 a year for that subscription. And if you subscribe to 5 premium channels? Now you're talking about $600 per year.
The list goes on. American businesses have learned how to make money without selling you anything - they just get you to subscribe to monthly payments.
Rule 1: Never Agree to Automatic Debits
This is a paramount rule for me. I refuse to give my credit card information to any company for anything other than incidental purchases. They may need a revenue model but I don't need an expense model.
If you cannot sell me something with a 1-time payment, or a limited number of buy now, pay later installments, I'm not interested in whatever you're selling.
I make 1 exception to that rule. I pay for an Amazon Prime membership because my family uses it every month to buy things, watch some shows, and to get discounts at Whole Foods. And we paid for an annual subscription rather than a monthly installment.
Rule 2: Never Pay for Anything You Don't Need
Another way companies get your money is to sell you upgrades to everything. If you're satisfied with whatever you have now, you don't need an upgrade.
The cell phone market is really bad about upsells. Every year we receive "offers" in the mail to trade in our old cell phones for the latest, greatest, most expensive models available.
There was a time when I didn't think twice about dropping $600 on a new cell phone. I thought I needed to replace mine every 2 years.
That might be a necessity in some ways, but no smartphone is worth $600 or $1000 to me. And then you need to pay for monthly cellular service. With smartphones, you're violating my 2 top rules for saving money.
Rule 3: Assume Every Secret Is Bullshit
I've signed up for newsletters, discounts, special offers, and club memberships just to find out what some insider secret was.
I've never been satisfied with the results. If someone is promising to teach you how to earn $2000 a month working from home, I guarantee you they want you to pay for information you can already get for free.
They make thousands of dollars by selling you bogus secret courses for making thousands of dollars. You don't need to pay anyone to learn that secret. You only have to decide if you're the kind of person who preys on other people's desperation.
I'm not that guy. I share my experience for free.
How to Save Money without Spending a Lot
The secret to saving money is to spend less than you're used to spending. It took me years to learn this lesson. That's years of my life wasted on paying too much for everything I wanted, and never only enough for what I needed.
I'm more angry at myself for falling victim to these schemes than I am at the schemers.
Let's start with automatic debits - monthly subscriptions. I realized I don't need a gym membership several years ago. I can exercise for free to running down the street, hiking on trails at the local parks, carrying things up and down stairs, and simply doing more for myself in every little way.
When a company insists I give them a card number, I use a prepaid debit card that only has as much money on it as I'm willing to spend. Inevitably when they try to charge me again they send me emails asking me to update my card info. And that's when I cancel the subscription I never wanted in the first place.
Sometimes you can delete the card information after you create your account. I'm not cheating anyone. I pay for what I buy. But I won't allow anyone to keep charging me for service or products I don't want.
Some people save thousands of dollars a year by giving up their monthly cell phone bills. That was a mind-blowing revelation to me. All you need do is buy a 1-year smartphone plan from a prepaid phone provider. If you really need a new smartphone, you can buy a new one for less than $200.
Even better, for years I heard about Roku and thought it wasn't for me. But then I learned that you can stop watching cable TV and still watch a lot of shows and movies for free. Seriously, we've had smart flat TVs for years and we never once explored the options they gave us with their smartness.
If you want local TV stations, modern antennas capture high definition broadcasts. Spend $50 or less on an antenna and watch high def TV for life. For free.
My dad took early Social Security retirement. He was ready to leave the workforce but he had to take a huge cut in pay. Last year he told me he regretted the decision. When you take Social Security at 62, they cut your benefits on the assumption they'll pay you for a lot of years.
Did you know you can get up to $16,000 more in Social Security benefits? All you have to do is wait until age 70 to retire. If your family has a history of living well into their 80s or 90s, that's a reasonable choice to make.
Many people enjoy working past 62 or 65. You can switch jobs. If you have savings, you can start a business or live on less income. If you don't have savings, what will you do if you are forced out of your job?
I like the idea of thinking about Social Security as a choice, not an inevitable end to a long career. When I reach 62 I'll have to decide what I want to do. Until then, I plan to keep on working. I hope I can still feel that confident at 65 and all the way up to 70.
If you're still driving to work every day, are you using Gas Buddy to find the lowest prices for gasoline?What about when you take a road trip? Regardless of why you're driving, you should always pay the least amount of money for gas.
In Conclusion
To get ahead in life you need to earn more money than you need and spend less money than everyone else is asking you to.
While you're growing your income you should diligently cut your expenses.
You can still watch TV and movies. You can still buy a new smartphone. You can enjoy life and relax when you need to.
But you don't need to pay someone for the privilege every month. The less you spend, the more you save, the better your options will be when you need to make important financial decisions.
