In my quest to become no longer broke asf, I’ve read many books about how to make money and/or how to become rich, even if it was in most cases just the preview from the Kindle Store.
I’ve also see a number of video tutorials on YouTube from various guru type people.
One common theme I’ve often noticed them seem to over-look is that while they regularly advocate spending money to make yourself money, they often never seem to mention how being more frugal on certain things can help you get rich too by leaking less out and leaving you with more spare change to invest.
Trust me, once you pay attention to how much you get through certain boring every day items like toilet rolls, liquid handwash, washing-up liquid, coffee, sugar and other things like that in certain pack sizes / price points you wouldn’t believe how much money they can cost you, and how much you can claw back by being a bit more cunning with your boring every day essentials shopping.
Take for instance Handwash. My Dad regularly insists on using 250ml bottles of Carex Handwash price-marked £1. I find we go through about 2 or 3 of these things a week, so effectively costs the household at least £2 a week minimum to wash hands after going to the toilet, which works out at around £104 to £156 a year.
I, on the other hand when I have to buy it in from outside tend to go for a 500ml bottle of handwash priced between £1 to £1.30 which tends to last around 5-10days in the bathroom, which works out at around £52 to £67.60 a year, a saving of £36.40 to £104 a year.
Try doing calculations like this on your own spending when creating a budget to live off.
Smart buying also applies to other things too, like shoes. You may think those £10-£15 walking shoes available on the British high street are a bargain, but I’ve found in the past that you’re lucky if you get 3 to 6-months use out of the ****ing things before they completely fall to bits, and I’ve since become a fan of Karrimor Walking shoes which I’ve found last around 2 years if you walk everywhere, and my current pair have made it past their 4th year and still going good now I can drive places I need to go. I’ve found they’re often on offer for around £35-£40.
Do you really need that Satelite / Cable TV subscription? It costs my Dad £41.50 a month to subscribe to Sky (£498 a year).
It only costs £5.99 a month (£71.88 a year) to subscribe to Amazon Prime Video, or £79.99 a year for full prime membership.
Episodes for most TV shows can be bought off Apple’s iTunes store for £1.89 for Standard Definition (SD) episodes or £2.49 for High Definition (HD) episodes, and Box Sets for full series, well they vary. Much like the Satelite/Cable subscription you get to watch the same things over & over again, but you’re only paying once for the privilege, and unlike DVD’s you can just download it again for free if the storage media you have it on breaks and needs replacing.
Anything live on TV in the UK you can get the bulk of via Freeview Terrestrial TV, Freesat Satelite TV or Sky Freesat TV and plug the gaps with Amazon Prime, Netflix (if you must), iTunes and other online services.
Do you really need a £400 Apple Watch, when a £60 to £75 Casio G-Shock will probably be more durable, tell the time perfectly, and probably won’t randomly become an obsolete expensive paperweight like my 1st gen Apple TV did earlier this year?
Get the Picture Yet?
Engaging Brain Before Spending Money = Saving Money to Spend on Making Money by Not Spending As Much on Things That Cost You Money Without Giving a Return.
