Rich over at Live-Lean.com sent me a YouTube video he made about an experiment he did where he lived in his car to save $1500/month! He thought it might be useful to me in case of zombie apocalypse but all I could think was: Holy crap. While it's similar to what we plan to do one day, live aboard a sailboat, I just cannot imagine doing it even if we could save that much. (I bet there are plenty of people who would say the same thing about living on a sailboat) It's all about finding what works for you and making sure you're taking a balanced approach to any goal.
There is such a negative stigma attached to living in your car like: Chris Farley's infamous SNL skit. "You'll eat a steady diet of government cheese and live in a van DOWN BY THE RIVER" (David Spade and Christina Applegate look so young in this video!!) I do think it brings up an interesting point though...that you can live on much less than you think you need. We get so caught up in things that we "cannot live without"...clothes, shoes, iPhones, cable, internet, eating out all the time, etc. that we end up living beyond our means which is super stressful (credit card debt piling up, living paycheck to paycheck).
Everyone's situation is different: if you are taking online classes, you may decide that it's more cost effective/worth the money to pay $40/month for internet than to drive to Starbucks for free wifi OR you may need to dress a certain way for your job, which can be expensive but it's how you get your paycheck...etc. But, if we can all take a look at what we're spending our money on, we may realize that certain things are not a priority.
For us it was cancelling Showtime, HBO and our YMCA memberships and moving from a 3 bedroom house to a 1 bedroom condo. We're paying about half the rent as our old place plus we got a free boat slip! We can now spend that money on paying off our student loans (almost finished with our next smallest one!) or traveling, both of which are much more important to us than Dexter or running on a treadmill when we have time to get outside and hike a trail. Many people would say to cut the smartphones too, but for us, that is a luxury that we're willing to give up other things for. We realize that we do not "need" it but it's something that makes our current lives a little easier and makes the cuts we're making in other areas of our lives not seem so harsh.
As I said at the beginning of this post, it's about finding what works for you and taking a balanced approach towards reaching your goals whether they be related to your finances, weight loss, or getting better at a sport. What are some ways you use to save money and reach your finance goals?? Let me know in the comments!
Good blog.
ReplyDeleteGiving up the pay channels was the first biggie on the list of unnecessary expenses for us too. We then found a smartphone plan that saved a few bucks a month, I started doing more cooking so my wife not having to cook on days she worked didn't mean we had to eat out. When I wanted more exercise, instead of joining a gym I channeled my energy into home improvements and yard work. Saved money in two places there.
We also make car payments to ourselves long before we need a car (When we can). That means we have a lot more to put down and don't up with 6 years of financing at some high rate of interest.
I like that idea of paying yourself for a car payment...we're going to need to replace at least one of ours any day now, we should start doing that. Thanks for the tip! Cooking has been a major money saver for us as well...and healthier :)
DeleteGood article and good message. It is important to evaluate your needs when attempting to create budgets for yourself. I think that many times people are too quick to judge budget suggestions because they say "this cannot work for me." I think it is good that you stress that everyone is different and everyone will have something that works for them. I wanted to let you know I featured your post on my weekly roundup at this address: http://www.sailingonthecheap.com/?p=466 . Thanks for the article and advice.
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