Some Cost-Cutting Tips Along Your Financial Journey - Now On Blogger!

Once you make frugality a lifestyle, it becomes fun to come up with different, common-sense, not over-the-top ways to save. Cost-cutting can help you develop an independent lifestyle. And it can certainly positively influence your income. 

Mindset

View all income as dollars earned – no matter the source. Just as every dollar spends the same, every dollar earned is the same, no matter the source of the dollar. There are no better dollars, whether you are an accountant, waitress or freelance writer. When income is viewed this way, flexibly, it’s easier to pivot when one source of income dries up. Because if that’s all it is, one source of income, you can come up with another. As far as cost-savings, the age-old trick of calculating how much you would need to work to pay for something, makes you value what you buy with your income.

If someone is successful, rather than resenting them, figure out how they are successful, even if they had privileges. Figure out what they did. Someone owns that property, did you know that they had to submit their mortgage documents twice?  Do you know what someone had to do to get a specific job?  If you make assumptions about someone’s success, you will underestimate the amount of work that it takes to be successful, every time. Don’t underestimate others. It can lead to failure. Trust fund babies?  There are plenty. Plenty who succeed and plenty who fail.

Success doesn’t fall out of the sky. Figure it out. The concept of side gigs isn’t new. Every time you scratch a successful person, in all likelihood, today, they have not succeeded by doing one thing, especially now that the work world is unstable for so many of us. 

Out Of The Box Thinking On Cost Savings

The forever rent vs. own conundrum:  should you own or rent. No debate necessary. Very simply, it depends on your financial and personal situation.  By remaining in place in a rental for a long period of time, you can simply work and save. A lot of people now move a lot with the expectation of something better.  Moving is expensive unless you are heading towards a guaranteed job. Remaining in place where you own or rent may be the real stability even when costs for both go up.

Cutting out entertainment is easy when there are cheaper alternatives. What is the cost equivalent?  If going to a concert is the cost of a mortgage payment or monthly rent or tuition, there is no question where the money should go to, if you really care about your future goals. Look to local libraries that offer discounts such as to area museums.

Do you need every streaming service?  Netflix with advertisements is a lower cost alternative – and a lot of the shows don’t even include the ads. Some libraries offer streaming services.  When you do use services, watch the expenses, in addition to using the paid ad versions of streaming services, buy your own modem to save on cable bill expenses, if you still use cable, or you can drop cable entirely. Call these services out on rising or unnecessary charges. You may negotiate with your cable and cell phone companies based on competitor offers. You can cancel or re-join memberships as needed.

A lot of every-day, personal services are available at home now, from at home massagers to facial devices to air fryers and electric grills. Take advantage of these devices to reduce costs. There’s a learning curve and a cost commitment, so take bringing these things into your life seriously, such as with a beauty device at home, instead of expensive dermatological treatments.  This trend means you don’t have to live without getting a massage, an espresso, a personal trainer or grill marks on a steak. Just do it at home. You are even saving the time and money of going to and from some location. And when you do, look for services that offer discount packages and website discounts.   

Shopping for savings is an art form. Make savings techniques automatic, such as shopping the weekly flyer, coupon apps and comparison shopping. Popular offers such as Bogos (Buy One, Get One free), Value Packs, generic products and buying in bulk, and timed offers such as gift with purchase, are go-tos for savings. Buying more of the items that you like or need when they go on sale is a great technique, especially if you are not a natural shopper. So is becoming an unabashed fan of store brands.  When you watch the savings add up, you understand the impact on your budget.

Time your wants to coordinate with sales. Train yourself as to when to shop. After Season Sales, Prime Day, Memorial Day, in between seasons, Red and Yellow tags.  Keep in mind that many things throughout a given year, online or offline, go on sale. Make a yearly calendar of your favorite sales. Set up a separate email account for your favorite shopping sites for special offers. Don’t forget free shipping codes.

Consider re-use or adding freegan-ism (when sanitary) to your lifestyle.  Re-use can take many beautiful forms. Clean and repair what you own, such as sneakers with new insoles, rather than replacing them. You get to exercise your creative muscles. Thrifting is a commonplace practice where you can achieve the goals of obtaining certain necessities, including a whole new wardrobe.

Use old sheets as packing material or to shield your plants in the winter. Save shipping boxes and mailers. Get cardboard boxes from stores for moving.  Re-use materials.  Bring your own bags.  Mend items instead of throwing them out. Looking for things to donate leads to charitable tax deductions.

The treats that can be found freegan-ing and thrifting!  China, lighted mirrors, coats, weighted scales, paintings, books – so many things to look for in the wild, if you know how to hunt for them. Estate and garage sales are underrated for clothes, art, albums, comic books, household items and furniture, practical things, like winter gloves. For thrifting and estate sales, go early and as often possible. Or, participate online with sites like ThredUp and Facebook Marketplace.

Reselling, such as selling on Ebay or at resell stores, provides you with a real time picture of how marketplaces work. You can develop your knowledge of brands. You can become more discerning about the value of items and less apt to buy and more apt to look for more practical or cost-effective options.

Participating in free contests, sweepstakes and surveys can take the lottery’s place, where there can be better odds. You can still get that feeling of changing or trying your luck without spending the money on a lottery ticket. Perhaps the odds of winning are better too.

On The Table

You can train yourself to cook a meal faster than grabbing a takeout menu.  Who needs DoorDash or Uber Eats?  There’s so much free content and supportive services that can teach you how to cook. Cooking your own food can be healthier too.  If you train yourself to cook, you’ll save restaurants for dishes you can’t make at home or special occasions or you’ll cut them out altogether. 

Let shopping the flyer or weekly specials shape your weekly meal planning. You can discover new brands while shopping the specials.  What’s on sale is what’s for dinner. Join loyalty programs at supermarkets and local chain restaurants.  Hack restaurant recipes and recipes online, techniques and trends to make homemade meals and drinks.

Shop for local, seasonal produce at supermarkets, since Farmer’s markets can be expensive. Use a $7.99 per pound rule, such as, you’ll buy no item no more expensive than $7.99 per pound. You choose the amount.  Learn to meal prep so you have proteins and veggies on hand for quick, tasty meals.  Cherry pick items from the grocery stores where you shop since no store has everything.

A Trader Joe’s salad costs less than a fancy take-out salad. Make the salad a casual dining experience by doctoring it up.  Blur the line between cooking and takeout. Buy a roast chicken but make all the sides. Make homemade stock out of chicken. You can make it less expensively and faster. Bring your water and your lunch on the go when you can. Calculating the cost difference between eating leftovers and getting take-out can help you keep on track with using what’s in the fridge.  Improvise with leftovers to make creative meals.

Split fancy store bought sandwiches into two portions, serve each with a piece of fruit, to save for another lunch the next day. Same with a piece of cake; split it in half.  Buy the still fresh, in-store, end-of-day sushi. Glory in this week’s Opportunity Buys, especially on produce.

Making your coffee or tea at home can become as sophisticated as coffee shop drinks with the right tools. A coffee machine with bells and whistles can be worth the investment if you’re home a lot.  It’s a great way to lose a sugar habit too.  Use coffee shops only for meeting friends, groups and clients. Waking up to fresh coffee or tea is like waking up to cost-saving techniques, necessary but a pleasure every day.

More Effective Cost-Savings

Using only or mostly drugstore beauty and health products is effective cost-savings, especially now that many stores are competing directly with higher end brands. It’s a dupe nation. Take advantage of the good quality dupes, read the labels, when and where you can. That expensive facial moisturizer?  You can get it for less and with couponing to boot. One thing to keep in mind about good dupes or good values over time: they are sometimes inexplicably discontinued. Get them while you can.

Savings with paid membership plans can add up when you know how to maximize them. With drugstores, keep in mind medical deductibles, to save for tax time, usually listed toward the bottom of receipts. Health savings plans from work are great, but you can still find savings if you don’t have one, such as buying prescription glasses online.

You can avoid many phone and computer subscription services with free apps. Using free apps, such as Google Calendar, is an easy way to enhance your life. You can pay for a fancy note taking app or use Google Keep, or even just Excel to track expenses and investments. A lot of tools are free or are included with software. There’s a free app or website for it; Google Lens, Fetch, OCR Technology, Blogging and PDF converters online are just some examples. Major shopping and reselling sites are also your search engines to make price comparisons. Read and listen to free quality content where you can.

If you can afford to pay your credit cards in full every month, then you can play the points game. Take advantage of cards that offer cashback categories per quarter, special offers from companies and merchandise, travel deals and membership discounts.  Credit cards may allow for different methods of cashback, you can manage your cashback to reduce a credit card bill or apply it to your bank account, both savvy moves.

Planning trips around points is a lifestyle for some.  A good way to rotate credit card categories to maximize points, using them instead of them using you, is to stick to necessities such as groceries, gas and drugstore purchases. Purchase what you need without spending simply for points. There are credit card excel trackers for your cards and points online.

Accessing which credit cards you need at the end of every year is a good practice since deals change over time. When you close out a credit card account, make sure to check the remaining balance.  You may need to have a check issued to you if you have an account credit.

Some handy advice on discounts: ask for a discount as a first-time customer, ask to pay in advance, ask to pay in cash, ask for bundled packages. These techniques work when you view transactions as negotiations. Refuse to pay for sub-par work or a lack of service. Make realistic returns following store policies. Get reasonable store and online credit for mistakes such as receiving open packages. Be relentless about returns that aren’t right or don’t fit. In stores, you can get discounts on damaged or untagged items. Ask nicely for a discount every time you use a company’s chat service since you already have the representative on the line

Paying for expensive services the year prior can avoid yearly fee increases. Pay for transit cards in advance of fare increases. The 2025 price won’t be the 2026 price.  The 2026 price will most likely cost more, not less, or won’t be available at all. Think the opposite of buy now, pay later, when applicable. As an example, for mortgage payments, calculate the amount you would pay in rent, which may be considerably higher, and pay that amount each month, to pay off the mortgage more quickly.

Also, maintaining positive, long-term relationships with vendors, whether it’s simple transactions or an on-going working relationship, makes it easier to ask for flexibility and discounts. If you pay promptly, that vendor will get back to you when you need them in a pinch.

It’s not just your savings. It’s what you buy: seasonless décor, clothes in neutral colors, buying what works in your wardrobe. Consider flexibility when making purchases; how something fits into your life. Brands tend to be size consistent. If a shoe brand fits you well, returning to that brand may save you money in the long run. Using what works can be as simple as it sounds or may require research.

Elimination is the ultimate cost-savings hack. Eliminating entire categories, such as metal costume jewelry or alcohol, means cost-savings. Elimination lends to minimalism making your life simpler, better. When you eliminate entire categories, don’t be surprised if you don’t even miss them, whatever it might be.  Let’s face it, there’s a lot of things in your life that you don’t need.

Keep a container or trivet for bottles and tubes that are almost empty to make sure you finish them. Good to the last drop on bottles, such as dish detergent, adding water to the bottom of a bottle and shaking for last use. If you have remaining body wash, use it for hand washing in the kitchen. Everyday items like salt, witch hazel, rubbing alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and vinegar are easy to use, inexpensive and less toxic. Common sense with natural solutions adds up to cost savings.

Cost savings equals energy savings. Consider a no car or rent a car lifestyle if you can. Use LED bulbs, daylighting (using existing sunlight) and Smart Energy tools. Make sealing an apartment or building for weather a priority. Very few clothes need to be washed in anything but cold water. Roast multiple foods in the oven at one time. Cheat five heat degrees off of the foods you put in the oven and use the leftover heat after the oven is turned off.  Don't leave appliances plugged in, reasonably, known as vampire energy. Wear a sweater or sweatshirt and sweatpants sensibly to lower heating bills in winter.

Lastly, giving back makes you a bigger person, someone who is powerful enough to give of themselves, not just take.  Make sure to get receipts for your charitable donations. Keep in mind that, in many instances, you can get more from a charitable donation, rather than attempting to resell, since many items are not worth your time reselling. Giving back makes you the ultimate cost-saving hero or heroine as a part of your great savings plan.