If you're serious about financial freedom, paying off debt, building your savings, or making any type of improvements with your finances, you must be willing to do things differently.
Whatever you’ve been doing is what got you to exactly where you are right now.
Repeating this behavior will only lead to the same outcomes.
To see changes, changes must be made.
A few simple & short-term adjustments can lead to long lasting results.
Keep in mind that everything is temporary.
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I realize that these suggestions could give you an immediate reaction of 'No way, that one I won't do', and you'll rationalize why it's not an option for you. I felt this way at first too.
But I wanted to see improvements more than I wanted to rationalize my excuses.
For reference, I am a yoga teacher, a coffee addict, an on-line shopper who loves a good deal, and I’ve been working out at least four times a week for 20 years now.My point is, I feel your hesitation.
When I reflect on the last few years I get this overwhelming feeling of gratitude at how far I’ve come.
Sometimes I wonder how I was willing to make adjustments that felt so hard in the moment, with no proof that they would actually work.
But I was sick of my situation and excuses.I was done blaming my circ*mstances.And I was willing to do whatever it took.
I believe that so many of us are looking for one big magical solution with so much intensity that we miss the simple answers that are right in front of us.
If you feel as if you’ve tried everything with no luck, you’re in the right place.
In my experience, that’s when it all begins.
One. Stop buying coffee (at café’s)
I use to love treating myself to an iced latte or a freshly made coffee at least once a day. I still have two cups daily but how I get my coffee has changed. Today, almost all of the coffee I drink is made at home using my coffee maker or pour over.
Even if you’ve found the least expensive coffee in town, buying it daily for $2 is costing you around $60 every month or $730 a year.
Do you prefer a latte?If so, make sure you’ve budgeted close to $2,000 every year for this.Seriously, your budget should have a line item for ‘Latte’ at $170 every month.
That’s a car payment.
Instead, you could start buying a couple bags of coffee a month from the grocery store and put the difference into your savings account.
Two. Cancel your gym membership
I have been working out 4+ days a week for a couple decades so yes, I can speak to this.
I am also a yoga teacher and there are few things I love as much as I do the practice. I understand the power of being in a room amidst the energy of others and finding more motivation to finish a work out with the help of your buddies.
But here’s the thing. Your gym membership could be costing you $30, $50, $100+ per month. That’s $360- $1,200+ every year and if you have some work to do on your budget, this is a lot of money.
I have found every kind of yoga, pilates, and toning class I could ever want for free on youtube. Maybe you have a more specific workout and what you want isn’t available in this way.
In this case, you need to weigh what’s more valuable to you and the sacrifices you’re willing to make today for your future.
But don’t complain that you’re not where you want to be financially a year from now if you aren’t willing to be flexible in ways that feel hardest for you today.
Make some adjustments, go for runs outside, buy some inexpensive weights, join a hiking group, or explore your area. There are countless ways to get your body moving and burn some calories all while saving a few bucks.
Three. Unsubscribe from emails
I’m not saying you shouldn’t support the businesses you love. You absolutely should.
But before anyone else, you must support YOU.
When you are working hard toward your own goals you need to set boundaries that may not seem ideal but also won’t last forever.
I still can’t believe what a difference it made for me when I unsubscribed from a few newsletters myself.
I was falling victim to the sale emails I was receiving.
The marketing schemes worked, making me feel like I would miss out on once in a lifetime deals if I didn’t make a purchase right away. Occasionally I would give myself time to consider if I really ‘needed it’ by waiting until right before the sale was ending to decide.
More often than not, I needed it.
In time, I admitted to myself that if I didn’t know about the sale to begin with, both my rationalizing mind and my budget wouldn’t be analyzing this in the first place.
I remember telling my sister that I had just unsubscribed from three company’s newsletters.Clicking that unsubscribe button was harder than I thought it would be.
I told her as a way to hold myself accountable.Living with her at the time made me feel like my admission was now under a microscope.
This alone was validation that I had done the right thing.
Thankfully though, the absence of these newsletters in my inbox was quickly forgotten.I’ve even managed to save myself a lot of money from those once in a lifetime sales.
If the time comes that I feel good about supporting these companies and subscribing again, I will do so.But until then, I will continue to invest those dollars for my future.
Four. Meal Prep
I promise you, you’re a better chef than you think you are and your lunches, juices, & smoothies can all be made from home.
I day-dreamed about meal prepping for over a year before I finally did it.
For whatever reason, getting started on this was difficult for me. But once I tried, I couldn’t believe how simple it was, how much easier it made my week, and how much money I saved.
I even managed to get my weekly grocery budget to under $40/week by meal prepping.
I’m talking, $40 a week when buying organic (as often as possible) and maintaining a plant-based diet.No excuses.
When I’ve retired at a young age and I’m spending my days doing what I love, I am going to feel so grateful that I saved that lunch money instead of eating meals I’d never remember.
Five. Dedicate one day every week to a ‘No Spend’ day
Are you spending money every day?
It may not seem so at first, but I imagine, if you didn’t have access to your credit cards or cash for an entire day, your awareness to your spending habits may surprise you.
Maybe for this reason alone, you should try it.
Not spending for a day helped me less in actually saving and more in showing me exactly how dependent I was to it.
They do say that admitting you have a problem is the first step. ;)
Applying a few or all of these tips could save you a minimum of $1,200 a year.
That’s a lot.Especially if you apply that $1,200 to paying off your debt or adding it to your investment budget.
What are you doing today that your future self will thank you for?
What do you wish you had done differently five years ago?
What are you waiting for?
