14 Ways to Spend Less so You Can Do More
I remember the day Emily and I had less than $100 to our name. I remember renting that HUD Housing apartment for $275 a month. I remember fine dining being buying something from Taco Bell that wasn’t on the 29 cent menu. Fortunately, times have changed.
Maybe someday I’ll share about my philosophies about providing for my family. Until then, here’s the other side of the coin. Financial security begins with discipline. For Emily and I, we’ve made the decision that giving 10% or more of our income to the church and then saving 10% or more will come first. With that, we’ve had to be disciplined with the remaining 80% or less.
We’ve had a family budget since the early days of our marriage. We still have a family budget. Here are some current examples of how our family is intentional about spending less so we’re in a better position to do more:
- Avoid eating out. It costs us anywhere from $25 (Chik-Fil-A) to $50 (Applebee’s) to feed our family when we eat out. When we eat dinner at home, it’s only about $6 per meal for our family of 6.
- Buy used cars. We haven’t had a car payment for seven years, but I’ve never owned a new car either. We’ve committed to having no debt with the exception of our home.
- Pay off credit cards every month. Avoid interest expenses at all costs. That means planning ahead for emergencies and saying “no” to the stuff we really don’t need.
- Eliminate the telephone landline. This probably saves us about $400 per year now. We just use our mobile phones at home. We also shop around to save money on cell phone plans, insurance, utilities, etc.
- Refinance your house. If you’re planning on staying in your home for a year or more, now’s a great time to either lower your monthly payment or reduce the term of your mortgage. Either way, you’re paying less money on interest. That’s the goal.
- Use Vanguard for investments. Start with money market accounts then graduate to stocks and bonds. Saving money can become fun especially when you use a company like Vanguard that helps you save more of your money by keeping investment costs low.
- Shop at T.J. Maxx. You can get name-brand clothes at a fraction of the cost. One of our favorite dates now is hunting through the racks at T.J. Maxx looking for bargains on clothing.
- Use the library. Books, music and movies are essentially free. Ask for Killing Cockroaches. If they don’t have it, they can get it through the interlibrary loan program.
- Vacation off season. We shop VRBO.com for a condo that ends up being cheaper than a hotel room right on the beach. The same condo costs four times more during the peak season.
- Share date nights. Watch your friends’ kids one week and then let them watch your kids the next week. That means you have free babysitting twice a month.
- Carpool and share rides. We save gas and on vehicle wear and tear (and time) by sharing rides with neighbors and friends. With four kids going in four different directions, that adds up.
- Use sale ads and shop with a list. Our family of 6 spends less than $500 per month on combined groceries, paper products and health and beauty needs. (And with a face like mine, H&BA’s are essential.)
- Be responsible. Avoid late fees in every area, drive the speed limit and don’t buy double of something because you forgot you had it.
- Don’t own a pet. Even the fish that won’t die is costing us money we could spend on something else. Your kids don’t need a dog to learn responsibility. That’s a lie.
These are decisions we’ve made. Our decisions don’t need to be your decisions. However, I would encourage you to build a similar list and stick with it. Discipline in all areas of life leads to freedom. Because we’re disciplined with our finances in lots of areas, we have freedom to spend money in some areas that you don’t.
If you think President Obama and our government are going to bail you out, you’re in for a rude awakening. The bailout will never arrive. That’s not a political statement. That’s reality.
By practicing the disciplines of giving, saving and spending less, though, you can win financially.
The key word in all of this is ‘discipline’. I’m getting married in less than 6 wks. We have ZERO debt which is AWESOME! But the eating out part owns us! I still haven’t figured out if eating in for 2 ppl is less expensive than eating out for 2.
Good List Tony!
Matholemu — We’ve been married almost two years, and had the same question as you. ” I still haven’t figured out if eating in for 2 ppl is less expensive that eating out for 2.”
Of course you can eat fast food every night and it’s probably much cheaper than eating at home. But to have a quality meal, that is good for you there’s no question in my mind that eating at home is cheaper. Plus, we only eat for two…but often cook for 4 so we can take leftovers for lunch the next day! Hope that helps!
Awesome list, Tony. It’s cool to learn that some of the things you mentioned we’re already doing. We’re down on our savings right now, because we used some for an emergency, but that will build back soon. We also have a plan in place for a couple bank loans — one will end in August. We’ll then use the payments from it to cut the remaining time on the other item in half. The funds from that one will then go onto the principal of the mortgage while funds from the other will go into savings. (Hubby needs a new-to-him truck)
One thing that has really helped us is having his paycheck direct-deposited. Then the funds go directly to those payments and we don’t “miss” them. The funds we get to use are direct-deposited into a different account.
And we LOVE VRBO.com! It’s great whether you’re going away to the beach or just want a weekend away nearby. Having a place where you can prepare simple meals instead of paying premium to eat out makes a vacation very affordable. (We’re looking at a end-of-the-year trip over around Edisto Beach with our grown sons & their families – a home ON the beach for $1000 for the week split three ways is amazingly affordable for all of us.)
@matholemu – I promise you that cooking at home is cheaper, even for two, unless you’ve found out that you and your fiancee can eat for about $4.00 each. It’s all about planning and discipline. We try to plan those evenings out and save for them. Here’s the neat thing: sandwiches made at home then eaten on a blanket at a park at sunset is “eating out” and very inexpensive.
Outstanding list! For me, a written spending plan prepared every month BEFORE the month begins and cash envelopes for all of my impulsive spending categories has also helped me spend less, save more, and give more away!
I love all of these suggestions. We follow these words of wisdom for the most part….and own a beautiful house and are on the way to pay it off. I am a stay at home mom with 2 little ones and my husband is a Pastor. So the excuse that people don’t make a huge amount of money, so they can’t stay out of debt, isn’t the truth. All things are possible!
Maybe you could share your personal philosophy on taking care of your family in our upcoming Coaching Network.
…my wife and I just did the Suze O challenge…don’t eat out for 30 days. Since we are empty nesters we were out 4 nights a week. It was great! and we actually lost a few LBs
nice list.
question: i totally get the no land line at home. do you have internet service at home? please tell how you’ve handled that.
Great list – and a word about refinancing your home: DO IT NOW! These rates, at 40 year lows, WILL NOT last. My rule of thumb – if I can recoup all my re-fi fees, points, etc., within 18 months, it’s worth it.