With the tax season behind us, I thought I would share some of the things I do on an almost daily basis to spend less.
Draw up a budget
This first step is rather necessary as it highlights to you what you are spending on and how much you think you can allocate to the category. I'm not asking you to stick to it religiously though it would be great if you can. The idea of the budget is to create awareness for yourself.
Minimize eating out
When I was doing an annual budget for us, I was shocked to realize that apart from mortgage, food is the highest expense. When I thought about it, it made sense. Food is something we spend on 3 times (or more) a day, so naturally it chalks up to a rather significant amount even if you are not eating things like steak and caviar everyday. To save on this category, I've decided that we would brown bag lunch on weekdays and limit eating out to 2 meals a week unless there's a special occasion of some sort. If you spend $6 on average for lunch and dinner, and that is a very conservative estimate, you wind up spending about $100 a week per pax. This adds up to $5200 a year! So why not spend a little more time preparing your own meals? Doing so you can potentially cut your costs in half and better still, you get to control the ingredients you use and this may help you lead a healthier lifestyle. I admit this is a relatively easy for me to do because I enjoy cooking most of the time but sometimes when I come home after a long day of work I just want to veg out and get take out. I love eating out as well, sampling food that I don't know how to make or do not have the luxury of time to prepare. However, I truly think this is one way to cut costs significantly and it comes with positive externalities as well. If you simply hate cooking, I would suggest perhaps getting those meal plans that delivers healthy food to you. There are many options out there, so choose one that is appealing to you within your budget.
Patience in shopping pays off
I have a weakness for clothes and it probably doesn't help that fashion blogs I read are always touting new threads. To satisfy my desire to have new clothing on a frequent basis, I opt to buy from wallet friendly brands like H&M. Their fast fashion retail concept + low prices are huge draws. Aside from that, sign up for the mailing list at your fave stores. I realized that many brands offer coupons and sale on a constant basis. I learned quickly not to buy things at certain stores at full price. Be patient and some sort of discount will come your way. If by the time the discount is here and the item you are eyeing on is no longer available, dont dwell on it. You will NOT suffer internal injuries just coz you didn't get that dress you want.
Shop online
I would also advocate shopping online as opposed to shopping in brick and mortar stores. Many retailers offer free shipping outright or if you meet a minimum order. The added advantage to shipping online is that you can get cash back rebates from Ebates (link opens to a referral by me). This is a neat way to save some money on the things you were gonna buy anyway. For online shopping, check out retailmenot.com for various coupons if you do not wish to have your inbox flooded with promotional emails.
Use your credit card
Now, I realize this may not come off as a sound advice. I do not believe in having credit card debts as these suckers have the highest interest rates among all kinds of loans. However, using it wisely can help you save money. It is hard to find a credit card out there that will not give you reward points of any sort. I personally likes those that gives you cash back. Just like the idea on Ebates above, cash back is savings on things you are going to spend on anyway. This includes bills, groceries, gas, etc.
To illustrate the above 3 points, here's what I did for a dress that I love but cost a lot. By now, many people would have seen the dreamy DVF Zarita Lace Dress. The original price was $325 and I wasn't able to justify the cost despite liking it very much as I know it wouldn't get much wear. When I was out shopping that weekend, the sales associate at Bloomingdales told me they were having their Friends and Family preview sale and many items were 20% off. The dress was not on sale at that time but I decided to wait since I know the official F&F sale will begin in about a week. I was right! Given I've not signed up with Bloomingdale's, I quickly did so and received a 10% coupon for my 1st purchase. I also bought the dress via Ebates and got another 3% back. So, this $325 dress quickly whittled down to around $230!
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