25 Ways We SAVED $50,000 | Minimalist MONEY SAVING Tips

hey everyone and welcome back today I want to share with you 25 ways that Christopher and I saved $50,000 and since we moved to Charlotte just over two years ago we really have made saving a priority so today I want to share with you some of the best tips and techniques we use to save and my hope is that this will give you some ideas and inspiration as you may be looking to save and reach your financial goals so I'm excited to dive into this but if you haven't already be sure to hit that subscribe button below for more simple and intentional living content coming at you twice a week now let's get into this and start with the first tip and that is to sell what you don't need or aren't using and I love this one because it fits in so well with minimalism in decluttering and a lot of what I talk about here on this channel but selling what you aren't using really can be a powerful way of literally being able to save thousands of dollars I mean the past couple of years Christopher and I have done this a number of times Christopher sold an old computer he wasn't using just the other day we sold a lamp that wasn't really being used frequently enough for us to justify keeping and this really had to become a habit for us so as we identify things that we're no longer using and that we don't need rather than just donating everything we consider is this something that we could sell and be able to put that money towards savings and of course not everything you don't need or use is going to sell or is necessarily worth selling but when applicable this can be a great one okay number two has been an absolute game changer for us and that is to save first so whenever you get paid whether that's once a month a few times a month whatever that schedule looks like make the first thing that you do when you get paid saving money and when Christopher and I first started doing Yunus I was amazed at the immediate impact this one had we were able to save hundreds of dollars more a month just by savings first and living off of what was left over than we ever did when we were living first and saving second and this one just goes back to priorities when you make savings of priority you are naturally going to save more number three is to wait 24 hours before buying something and this one applies specifically to discretionary spending so things like spending money on clothes decor furniture and I think many of us at one point or another have struggled with a desire to buy things on impulse we see something we like and purchase it without necessarily thinking twice and especially if you're trying to save money those purchases really do add up over time and so our really helpful practice that you can begin to implement to cut down on the amount of impulse purchasing you're doing is just to wait 24 hours before buying an item this gives you time to think and reflect on whether or not the cost of that item is going to translate into tangible use and value so the next time you go to buy a piece of clothing or art by just waiting a day to reflect on whether or not you're actually going to use the item you're wanting to buy number four is a sneaky one when it comes to saving money but honestly this one has probably had the biggest difference in the amount per month Christopher and I are able to save it simply to increase your income and we'll talk about getting a side hustle or an extra job later on but for now I just want you to ask yourself are you being paid fairly for the work that you're doing we can often become comfortable in our jobs and complacent with the pay that we have but just think about how much more you might be able to save if you were getting paid more for the hours of work that you're already putting in just getting a raise of a few dollars per hour can translate into thousands of dollars worth of savings over the course of the year let's move on now though to number five and that is to own only one and you can apply this one to a wide variety of areas whether that's clothing whether that's makeup whether that's skincare or even food when we own more than one of an item things tend to go bad or not get fully used but by only owning one of an item not only are you able to ensure that you don't own more than you need but also you're able to ensure that you're getting the full value out of that item and so obviously this can't be applied to everything but just consider are there makeup items that you might be able to get away with only owning one of do you need multiple pairs of sunglasses get creative and consider whether or not you might be able to refrain from purchasing duplicates of items that you use on daily basis alright number six is to cook your own food and when we choose to make our own food rather than eat out we really are able to save a lot of money whenever we eat at restaurants we're paying a premium for our food to be prepared for us but if we're able to make our own food ourselves and just pay for the ingredients we're able to completely eliminate that cost number seven is a simple one and that is to be conscious of your utilities use make sure that whenever you leave a room you're turning off the lights when you finish using the TV you turn it off when you're washing dishes or brushing your teeth that you don't leave the water running these are all simple things that you can do not only to save money but also to be a more responsible steward of the earth's resources and so if you haven't necessarily been conscious of your utilities use up until this point whether that's water gas electricity anything like that I highly recommend developing the habit of not only being more aware of how you're using your utilities but also conscious to try to use them less number eight I know I've talked about this one a million times but I can't emphasize it enough create a budget and stick to it when you have a plan in place for how and where you're going to spend your money as well as save your money you're going to be able to reach your financial goals so much faster and if you don't already have a budget it is so incredibly easy to set one up I'll link below to every dollar which is the software Christopher and I use for our budgeting and it really is as simple as deciding how much you want to spend in certain categories and where you want to save each month number nine is to buy secondhand or DIY things that you need and while yes I do like investing in some high-quality and new items I would say about 50% of my closet and our furniture as well may be our possessions just in general have actually been bought secondhand or DIY I have repurpose clothing we've refinished furniture it's been a fantastic way for us to save money as well as live a bit more eco-friendly so my suggestion with this one is not to be afraid of buying things secondhand but also to get creative and think about how you might be able to give items you already own new life and number ten is to eliminate unused subscription services and let's be clear I do think that subscription services like Amazon like Netflix all have their place and they can be useful if you're actively using them but far too often we're subscribed to services that we don't actually use or at least don't use them often enough to justify having them so what I'd recommend is just to take inventory of all the subscription services you are currently subscribed to and just think through when was the last time you used that subscription service and do you think that the amount that you're paying each month or each year actually justifies the cost of that service number eleven is to get a side hustle and I alluded to this one before but a great way to be able to save more money is to take on an extra job and to be honest I'm not always the biggest fan of the word side hustle it can sometimes promote a somewhat unhealthy culture in my personal opinion but consider how you might be able to get paid to do what you love maybe you're a fantastic photographer or artist maybe you do computer programming for fun think about how you might be able to use those skills and those passions that you have to earn additional income that you can put towards savings number twelve is to save on entertainment and there are so many different ways that you can do this I know that here in Charlotte there's a website called Charlotte on the cheap and I know that many cities have a similar website where it's essentially cheap or free options for entertainment within your local area so the next time you are wondering what to do in the evening or you were about to spend a lot of money in on event tickets just take a step back and ask yourself is there something that I can do where I can have just as much fun while spending a lot less money and I promise you if you get creative with this one you will be amazed at how much you can do for free or for just a few dollars next number thirteen is waiting to upgrade and so many people have this mindset of always needing the latest and greatest of electronics and other gadgets they'll upgrade their phone as soon as the newest model comes out and the same thing goes for their laptops their tablets their cars and the list goes on and while I have no problem with upgrading electronics as they wear out or as I need something that better serves my needs I don't see the point in needlessly buying new electronics when what you have works perfectly well especially when we're talking about saving money electronics are actually one of the worst purchases we can make because of how quickly they depreciate number fourteen might not be realistic for everyone but that is to go down to one car consider whether or not you actually need multiple cars and perhaps you can go down to just one this is something Christopher and I did when we first moved to Charlotte we moved into the city with two vehicles one for each of us but after about a month of living in the city where we were closer to groceries as well as restaurants and other stores that we might want to frequent we realized that we weren't actually using that second car enough to justify keeping it so we sold it and it was not for a lot of money it was definitely a college car but we were then able to save every month on upkeep and insurance which really has over the course of the past few years saved us hundreds of dollars all right number 15 is to invest in quality and this one applies whether you're buying something secondhand or brand-new you want to make sure that the item that you're purchasing is going to last when we buy something that's poorly made or bad quality we end up having to replace that item far more frequently than if we were to buy one item that was well made and that would last for years if you're able to find those durable high quality items that are going to last you can take them with you throughout your life rather than have to replace them after a season or two number 16 is to shop smarter and something that I've noticed is that in most cities the grocery stores kind of fall into different tiers you have the low cost here somewhere in the middle and then this premium tier of a very expensive grocery store and if it helps you can think of it as a scale ranging from Albany to whole-food and if you're trying to save a lot of money in a short period of time or you're trying to make saving your number one priority shopping at those budget-friendly grocers like Aldi year Lidl can be an incredible way of saving a lot of money but if you're just generally trying to save money my recommendation is to try to find that happy in-between where you can balance saving money while also getting great quality foods number 17 is a bit of an interesting one and that is to limit your purchase of alcohol and here's the thing while I do drink I recognize that alcohol is expensive and honestly unnecessary so well yes sometimes I do purchase alcohol as a treat or to celebrate a special occasion most of the time whether it's for my home personally or when I'm out I'm going to refrain from buying alcohol because it's expensive and realistically I don't need it depending on how much you buy beer wine or cocktails this can result in you literally saving hundreds of dollars a month number eighteen is to use shopping lists and stick to them I know that personally when I go grocery shopping without a list I end up browsing the aisles and picking up whatever catches my fancy I might buy some of the things that we need but I'll also buy a lot of the things we don't need and so I really consciously developed that habit of whenever I go grocery shopping writing out a list of what I need so I'm not coming home with superfluous items that realistically I might not actually ever eat number nineteen is that we don't have debt and this has been a very conscious decision on our part that has enabled us to put more towards our savings each month and I won't go into too much detail on this one right now we'll save that for another video but not going into debt and living within our means really has made a tremendous difference in our financial picture number twenty is limiting how much you frequent coffee shops and this was something that I had to learn the hard way if you often frequent cafes or coffee shops I'd encourage you to take inventory of how much you're actually spending per month on beverages while I love the vibe of coffee shops as well as the coffee and tea they serve but I realized that it's not the best place necessarily for my money to be going each month and with this one I've taken an approach more of reduction than OPA elimination I'll still go to a coffee shop a couple times a month by going twice a month rather than twice a week I am able to save a lot of money per month which does add up in the long run number 21 is a big one and that is to track your spending and oftentimes we don't actually know where our money is going each month we tend to think in our heads that we know approximately how much we're spending on different categories each month but if you sit down and look at your financial statements what you find might surprise you by tracking your spending you're able to see exactly how much you're spending and where your money is going which is going to enable you to react appropriately to perhaps cut in areas where you might be spending more than you think that you are we're getting to the end here in number 22 is to use up items fully and I think we often tend to use half of products or even most of products and then kind of get exhausted with trying to squeeze the last little bit out of toothpaste or try to use up a moisturizer fully but in order to get the full value out of an item and make the best use of your money it's important that you use items up fully and this applies to so many different aspects of our lives whether that's using clothes till they are worn out whether that's using toiletries and come as medics fully or even condiments and different foods making sure that we're not creating food waste okay sometimes battery just died so if I moved that's why I also totally lost my train of thought but essentially if you want your dollars to stretch as far as possible and really get the full use out of an item it's important to use it up Foley number 23 is to stop shopping sales and when we develop that mindset of being a bargain hunter where we're always looking for a deal it tends to open us up to a lot of impulse purchases as buying things that we don't need and hear me on this one there is nothing wrong with buying something that's on sale the issue is when you're buying something because it's on sale whenever you go to buy something that's a discounted price I encourage you to ask yourself the question would I buy this item today if it was full price if the answer is no think twice about buying that item chances are it would be an impulse purchase or it's something that you don't actually need okay number 24 is a bit of an unusual one and that is to opt for nature related vacation when you're staying in a big study typically not only do you have to pay for a hotel or air B&B but you're also paying to eat out for most meals as well as any kind of attractions you do are going to tend to cost money but in contrast with many state and national parks they're going to encourage you to bring your own food to try camping versus staying in a hotel as well as to just enjoy nature without necessarily needing to have all these add-on attraction so this is just a small thing to keep at the back of your mind but as you're planning vacations by opting for a more nature related travel you can probably stand to save quite a bit of money and then finally we've come to number 25 and that is to share entertainment and we were talking earlier about subscription services but one that I come across the subscription services that I like and I'm going to use regularly what I'll often try to do is split the cost of that service with a friend or a family member so for example my sister and I share in Netflix and Disney Plus accounts and the food nagels us to save money on something that we would already be purchasing and no this might not look like a ton of savings in isolation only saving five or ten dollars a month but when added together and taken over time that decision to share entertainment or services really can add up and enable you to save hundreds or even thousands of dollars alright well those are the 25 ways that we've been able to save over fifty thousand dollars in the past few years in my hope is that this encourages and inspires you to reach your own no savings goals for a significant chunk of this period of time Christopher and I were actually making quite a bit less than the u.s. national average income and so know that this is something that you can achieve as well yes it takes dedication yes it takes perseverance but it's possible I hope this video was helpful for you and that you enjoyed it and if you did be sure to give it a thumbs up and let me know that you want to see more content like this also be sure to follow me on Instagram I am at Ashland Eaton on there and I'll have that linked up in the description box below that is everything for today's video though thank you so much for watching and I'll see you in the next one

Channel: Ashlynne Eaton

Views: 520,460

Rating: 4.9228401 out of 5

Keywords: ways to save money with minimalism, minimalism and saving money, minimalism and money, how to save money, minimalism, minimalist, finances, ways i save, money, with minimalism, ways to save, minimalist finances, how to start, saving money, save money, buy less, tips for saving, budget, impulse buying, personal finances, saving money minimalism, minimalist money ideas, stopped buying, budget tips, money tips, budget hacks, money hacks, declutter, ashlynne eaton

Id: Bx-UyFVUu8g

Length: 17min 40sec (1060 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 24 2020