Money Saving Part 4: How to NOT spend to save money.

These are areas in which we personally don’t spend, where we see a lot of others do. It’s again, a personal choice! You do you, but sometimes I know it takes a different perspective to see things in a new light.

TOYS

I’m not talking about dump trucks for your son or dolls for your daughter. I mean grown up toys. And no not that kind either! ATVs, Campers, Four Wheelers, Side by Sides, Snowmobiles, Extra Vehicles, Motorbikes, Racecars, Golf Carts, Hobby Trailers, Boats, Jet Skis, I think you get my drift.

These things are all great fun I’m sure. I’ve been on many of them myself. We don’t have any of these, with the exception of an old golf cart we use for gardening. All these toys are very expensive to purchase and to keep running for use. The trailers to pull them and the gas to use them. It all adds up.

WEEKEND FUN

I love to have fun. I know it’s going to start sounding like I’m a fun hater. I’m not. I love going out and doing things on the weekend. My husband has to pull me back sometime and remind me of the costs.

I hear about a lot of people going to concerts. They aren’t for me. My husband either. When you add tickets, travel, hotels, food, and anything else you spend money on for a weekend going to a concert, you realize how much that is.

Going out on weekends. It’s pricey! Comedy shows, nightclubs, bars. Anything like that if you’re doing a lot of weekends you are spending a great deal of money. I hear it’s not the same as drinking at home. I don’t drink personally so that’s not something I fully grasp, but I get it. Socializing is great.

I don’t want to say never leave your house. We all need to get out and socialize, but maybe just budget yourself or keep yourself in check on your spending if you do plan a weekend event.

MONTHLY SUBSCRIPTIONS

Another thing we don’t spend much on is any monthly subscriptions. We don’t get more than one magazine to our home. We don’t do monthly meal kits. Anything really that’s a monthly charge. I saw an app advertised on Instagram that shared how you can use it to see what you’re subscribed to and how much you’re spending on it. Might be something to look into to make sure you’re not spending money you aren’t aware of.

We also notice we don’t use some TV services all year as we are busy outside in the summer. Therefore, we only use Netflix in the winter months. I had to convince my husband to keep Netflix still in March so I can continue my crime scene documentary obsession and my comfort favorite New Girl. It saves us money though to cancel for the time we don’t plan on using it and just start up again in the winter.

MEMBERSHIPS

We don’t have a gym membership but weights and a treadmill at home. That way we own the equipment forever and use it whenever we please. No travel to gym or costs associated with it.

Membership fees are often associated with any membership and sometimes those can sneak up on us. Another thing to keep in mind if you want to budget or evaluate your finances at any time.

I know none of this may seem revolutionary for saving, but I did notice it a lot when talking to friends. They seemed to spend a lot on things we don’t do and I know that’s perfectly normal but maybe some aren’t aware of the money that uses up. Again, it’s all about priorities. Maybe to you, you’d rather have your ATV instead of going on a trip. You love the gym environment instead of working out alone. You do what’s best for you.

Cancel plans

When things were getting really tight we needed to buckle down and find things to cut back on. We realized we didn’t both need smart phones since I was staying at home and we had wifi. So when we had to change my cell plan anyway I went with the phone that cost a penny. Yes, it was a slide phone. It was basically free and I didn’t need data anyways. Saved so much each month just on that.

Then we realized we didn’t need to pay for a monthly radio subscription so we cancelled the Sirius radio we had in the van. The regular radio would suffice just fine.

We also couldn’t believe how much we were paying for satellite television. So we cancelled that and just used Netflix. I think at that time it was just a disc sent in the mail. It was enough with some regular channels and movies.

We ended up saving over $200/month just by making those switches. A small sacrifice for a few years so we could save extra money towards bills.

Working same shifts

When you have small children at home who need 24/7 care there’s a lot more financial responsibility. Childcare is one. This isn’t meant to be a hot topic, but I know it can be. I just want to share what we did to make things work. When my husband and I first got pregnant I was laid off from my job. I only worked for about a year and a half after I graduated college. It was 2007, just before the financial crisis, and there were huge layoffs at the major bank I worked for. I was getting bigger by the day and was unable to find someone who would hire me close to my due date.

My husband was working out of state at the time so we just decided I would stop interviewing and get ready for the baby. Fast forward to child number two soon after our first and we realized we needed more income. We knew we wanted to be the ones to raise our children so I’d have to look for work on nights and weekends since I couldn’t make nearly what my husband brought in. This meant we worked different shifts and there was no need to pay for childcare. This saved us a lot of money.

I realize if you both work in well-paid positions then you might be best both working. Also, you may prefer things that way. It also depends on how many small children you have. It’s all fine and well and about what works for your family. I just know for us it’s been a great way to save money by not paying for daycare and also to make some money to help pay bills when things get tight.

I hope this is helpful and will be continuing with the series soon! Thanks for being here!