Save Money: Small Changes Yield Big Payout
In today’s economy I’ve been looking for ways to save money and I’ve decided to give up these money wasters. Admittedly, I won’t be perfect but even if I give them up half the time I will save $7281 per year.
#1: Giving up a storage unit will save me $1308 per year.
For four years now we’ve paid $109 a month for a storage unit. That’s almost $5000 that we’ve used to store items that we don’t use. We cleaned it out, had a big yard sale, and donated the rest to charity. Admittedly, we lived in an 1100 square foot home with no basement so we have very little storage, but we’ve decided that we are going to adopt the philosophy that if we don’t have room for it, we don’t need it. Because we gave up the storage unit we will save $109 per month or $1308 per year.
#2: Giving up daily Coffee Drive-thru’s will save me $1825 per year.
This is one of the hardest things on this list for me to give up because I love McDonald’s and Time Horton’s coffee. Because I don’t particularly care for Starbuck’s or “fancy coffee drinks,” I don’t spend nearly as much as some people on coffee drive-through’s but I do go twice a day, before and after work, which adds up to about $3.00 per day. In addition to the coffee, I sometimes buy a cookie at Tim Horton’s or a cheeseburger at McDonald’s which is another $2.00 per day for a total of $5.00 per day or $1825 per year.
# 3: Giving up eating out will save us $1802 per year.
It’s hard to believe, but I don’t particularly enjoy eating out but we do it anyway. We think it saves time, but in reality it takes longer to eat out that to cook, eat and clean up after a simple meal at home. For three of us (2 adults and a 2 year old) it costs an average of $35.00 when we go out to eat at a sit-down restaurant. We typically go once per week for a total of $1802 per year.
# 4: Giving up Fast Food Drive-thru’s will save us $1506 per year.
I don’t like fast food at all but I sometimes succumb to their lure. My 2 year old prefers a home-cooked meal and the only thing she will eat at a fast food restaurant is French fries. I often say that almost anything I cook at home has to be better for me (and cost less) than a drive-through fast food place. We used to average about twice per week at an average price of $15.00 for the three of us. That equals $1560 per year.
#5: Giving up our home phone will save us $480 per year.
We both have Android smartphones which have Internet, a great camera, a good video camera, text-messaging, Sirius radio, and they both even have the capabilities to have become a wireless server for up to 5 computers.
We have a home phone that we never use and I’m going to cancel the service. I don’t even answer it 75% of the time because it’s always a telemarketer calling. I need to check out how that will affect our security system and I keep putting it off. I’m pretty sure there is some kind of panel they can put in now for cell phone connection to the security system. For $40.00 a month that’s $480.00 a year.
#6: Giving up our fitness center membership will save us $900 per year.
I keep telling myself I’m going to use our YMCA membership but I only use it about 3 times a year. I’ve started a fitness regime which is free and will benefit our entire family:
Walking my dogs 2-3 times per day.The dogs love it and so do I. It’s my thinking time if I go by myself by my 2 year old loves to go too. She sometimes goes in her stroller or my Mei Tai style baby sling but she loves to walk too. We talk about a lot of things on her walk and people stop and talk to us. It’s good for her language and social development. It’s also been good to get to know our neighbors.
Mowing my grass
Keeping my flowers weed-free and watered
Cleaning my house on a regular basis
Making sure my toddler gets at least one hour (preferably two) hours of exercise per day.
Playing with my toddler and teaching her gross motor skills like ball play, basketball, gymnastics, dance and others
Decluttering my house
Washing my car by hand