35 Ways to "Live Below Your Means" & "Reduce Your Cost of Living" to Grow Wealth

sometimes these are good reminders sometimes they are new ideas but either way they are good ways to live below your means when prices are out of control and you're trying to widen that gap between your income and your expenses these are 35 of my favorite ways to head towards saving more money they may not all work for you if that's okay take what works for you and leave the rest something else might work best for someone else other than you so in this video we are going to talk about 35 ways to live below your means in order to grow your financial wealth number one is to label your leftovers this can easily be done with one of those little sticky notes you know the small ones that you otherwise wouldn't use for anything else because they're so small just write what it is that you have when you made it and then also if you happen to know what expiration date put that expiration on a date on it stick it onto the container and put it in the fridge things inevitably get shoved to the back of the fridge and this is one way to save money and remember what leftovers you had and use them before they go bad number two is to find cheap old-fashioned Hobbies there we always these days want to go for the newest latest and greatest thing and there can be such peace and simplicity and thought put back into some of these old-fashioned hobbies that maybe you saw your parents do or your grandparents do I'm talking about reading knitting crocheting little puzzles or even big puzzles remember maybe the last time you did this you it could have been an experience with a loved one and just the relaxing part of it how you were able to shut off your brain and not having it go at 100 miles a minute because you've got all these advertisements in front of you so embracing these simplistic hobbies are going to help us get back to more simple living number three is to organize a neighborhood swap meet or a friend swap meet what do I mean by this you could do this with kids clothes lows obviously ladies with we're cleaning out our clothes if we've gone up a size or two or perhaps one of us has had a child and we want to pass on some maternity clothes or just even home stuff that you're tired of create a time when you can get together with neighbors or a group of girlfriends in your neighborhood and do a swap meet I guarantee you that you will have a lot of fun and you will find a lot of good things number four do a packing lunch challenge so try this for one week if you're not used to it here's our challenge we're gonna pack our lunch for one week and see how it goes we're not going to eat out and if you can do it from there maybe you try it for one month and then maybe you realize that you actually do like leftovers better than going out and getting a soggy salad number five is regarding your budget I encourage you to make a new budget every month yes perhaps at the beginning of the year you kind of lay out a master plan of how you want your finances to go for the year and you indicate during those year that those 12 months the big expenses that you know are coming up but this is really going to be more of a refining thing because your months are going to change every month obviously there are different activities that come up different anniversaries or holidays but really looking at the month that you're in and planning ahead obviously during maybe the spring or the fall your utilities bills might be lower because the temperatures are pretty average out during the summer and the winter they're going to be higher so you need to readjust every single month and this gives you a fresh start and a better idea of what's going to happen in a more realistic budget number six is to have a debt pay off visual this is a great way to keep at the top of your mind what debt you're paying off for us we have a picture of a house and I have Drawn Lines on it our goal is to pay off our mortgage within the next two years and every time we get through another ten thousand dollars we color that off and it sits on the side of our fridge it is always there for us we started out at the bottom and we're already up to the roof line so hopefully we'll get that all filled in before we know it obviously inflation is dampering uh this our goal of getting there because it's using more of our income to pay for things as they've gone up however it's still our goal having that there even if it's a debt payoff so let's say you have five credit cards then have to print out a picture of five jars and have every time you pay off color in it's very satisfying to see it rather than just see it once a month you see it on a regular basis and it keeps it at the front of your mind number seven strive to keep your vehicle for at least 10 years I know this was definitely not me when I was younger I wanted a new vehicle and I got upside down in my car loans for a very long time there are Vehicles out there that do very well past 10 years so when we went and purchased our last vehicle one of the things we looked at was how long do the average owners of this vehicle keep it and lo and behold that is one of the vehicles that we got that keep this vehicle specifically for more than 10 years so the next time you go to look into a purchase try to see what you can get because this will obviously it's depreciating value a vehicle is but the longer you keep it the more you get out of it number eight is to always have a sewing kit handy I can't tell you how many times this has come in handy having one at home but honestly this was one of the best things that I would learned as a young child is was how to sew even when I was in a home ec class in high school and we were I think we were making pajama pants was our project when we were learning to set so everybody had me making their pajama pants because I was taught how to sew I'm not nearly as fantastic at it as my mother but it is good a good thing to know the basics having a basic sewing kit available to sew up the random holes it's just so inevitable it's gonna happen I've even had to call down to a hotel once where I was out of town for a wedding and the zipper came off of the only dress that I had to wear thank goodness they had a sewing kit and I was able to tie it back on with a little bit of thread number nine is a viewer tip that was just left on one of my videos and I had to include it included because it seems obvious but it actually is genius and I hadn't thought of it and that tip comes from Gwen she does one subscription streaming service at a time if you think about it a lot of people will have multiple streaming services going at once but they typically are focused on maybe one or two series at a time they aren't usually flipping on every single streaming service throughout a week so so why not watch all you can under Netflix cancel it next month use the next one it makes so much sense go through and see if maybe you can implement this to save money as well now number 10 talking about television if you really want to go to the movies because sometimes it's just nice to have that experience go to a matinee the matinees may be on a Sunday morning 11 to 12 are definitely a deal number 11 is to have a spending diary for those who have ever had to track what they've eaten for health reasons trying to figure out what they might be allergic to they may have had a food diary where they had to write down everything that they spent why not have a spending diary this is just like tracking your expenses having a spending diary is going to do the same thing it's going to show you where your problem areas are where you might want to pay a little bit more attention number 12 always pay more than the minimum payment it will add up this is one thing that you can do when you're trying to get rid of that car loan when you're trying to get pay off your mortgage we certainly pay more than the minimum payment when you're doing credit cards and you have credit card debt definitely try not to just make the minimum payment because that will will keep on spending and that interest rate is extremely high number 13 is to ask a grandparent or someone of an older generation for money advice maybe it's even somebody that you admire their spending and saving habits you would be surprised if you sit down and you genuinely ask any of these older Generations or anybody who has had success with their finances they are absolutely willing to bestow upon you some great tips it is one of the best things that you can do to learn and to be able to advance your financial success as well number 14 is to designate one day a week same day every week as a no spend day this is Monday I don't spend any money on Monday sorry you will be surprised how much money you will save and what will happen is those very similar traits or habits that you develop from just doing that will start to spill over into other days number 15 is for when you're doing your meal plan when you have one particular ingredient you use it for multiple meals okay so when in particular I need to get carrots or celery for something I will use it in multiple things let's say I'm making a soup I'll use the celery or the carrots and I'll be honest usually there's way more carrots and celery in a bunch than my family of three needs so what I will do is then we'll have a side of steamed carrots add another dinner that week I will use that same bag of carrots multiple times you can do this with roast chickens I've talked about this if you want to take the chicken and maybe you have it with mashed potatoes and green beans the first night and then maybe you take a little bit of it and you make a chicken pizza another night or chicken tacos the following night number 16 I did not decide to do but my husband did he got tired of we have these pull out Pantry drawers he got tired of picking up cans every single time to figure out what they were so he started writing on top of the cans again seems obvious why I didn't do it before I have no idea but green beans say B chickpeas say CP right on top of the can what it is it makes it more visible and it definitely keeps you from buying duplicates number 17 get organized look I promise you it will save you money and organized mind and home knows what you have it is able to properly maintain its things and you save money as a result on the flip side a cluttered mind and a messy home usually boils over into unnecessary spending number 18 utilize Reserve funds you might hear these called sinking funds as well I prefer to call them Reserve funds for rainy days when you know they're going to come up but these are not regular expenses these are things that you need to plan ahead for insurance vacations school events that best visits Etc list these things out if they pop up during the year which they inevitably do you know when your insurance is due you know when your taxes are due you need to save every month it makes it so much easier than stressing out at the exact time when you need to go in emergency find that chunk of money if you can divide it up into 12 months then it makes it so much easier on you number 19. this one hit us more recently and it is by basic appliances so when we moved into this house about five years ago we bought Maytag washer and dryer nothing bad about Maytag but we brought bought the front load that was a little bit more advanced electronically nothing but trouble over the last five years and it finally went kapoot Coupe real quick so you know what we did we went and bought the basic washer and dryer I'm talking click click click crank the basics top load and I am a happy little camper these things haven't Advanced as well but I don't have to worry about all the bells and whistles of things going out I've even heard from some of you who have said that Appliance people tell you don't buy that other stuff buy the basic ones number 19 is for those of you that love a good sale and clearance aisle all I have to say is I know it's exciting but just because it's on sale or it's on clearance doesn't mean you need it and it doesn't mean it's a good deal that's all I have to say about that number 21 you may hear some frugal tips talk about be careful about buying in bulk because it may not always be worth it if you can't use the thing in time before it expires I definitely recommend if this is the case think about friends or family that you can split these things with for instance you know you go and buy the ketchup or the mustard you may not use three big bottles of ketchup or mustard from Costco that come in the the TR the three set right split that with your friends and family they can pay that portion to you you all get a good deal and you're not wasting the money and you're able to utilize your membership better that way number 22 is to have a large pile of what I call towels reusable towels in the kitchen when I bought a set of about 30 towels and 15 of them are the bigger hand towels and 15 of them are the smaller kind of rag towels hand towels I use those so often and it saves number one on paper towels and using them but also when messes happen they are right there at my hand I don't have to go searching in my bin of you know things that I use for cleaning these are things we use all the time we end up using them for napkins sometimes or to clean up messes that are on the floor number 23 is for your fruits and vegetables do not keep fruits and vegetables in the same drawers not only do they need different humidities but fruits give off ethylene gas which actually helps them ripen but what it does to vegetables is it breaks them down they will not last as long number 24 is be honest with yourself about your wants and your needs I can talk myself into a lot of things many of us can rationalize pretty much anything but being honest with yourself being almost apparent to yourself and having to say no not today is definitely a skill to master so try to stop talking yourself into making a decision that you know is probably not the best we've got 10 more number 25 be the money manager that you would hire to manage your money what think about that who would you hire to manage your money what would that person be like what would their characteristics how would they be diligent about managing your money and try to embody that number 26 instead of going out with friends rotate hosting game nights this is so much fun I feel like I would rather spend time with friends at somebody's house because you're not rushed it isn't too loud the music is crazy at these places and you definitely don't overpay you get to enjoy some yummy food from friends have some laughs be as loud as you want and enjoy and have a good time number 27 has to do with your 401k and you can roll this over into savings as well but just to gradually increase it you may be very averse like I want to keep my money no I need it now I don't want to wait till I don't I don't want to do that well okay start off with whatever percentage you're already saving at least have the amount going that you get the match to so if they match three percent at least be putting three percent in but as each year goes by let's say as open enrollment comes around if you have that increase it by one percent after three years you've increased it by three percent after five years you've increased it by five percent at some point you're going to cut it off it may be 15 or so maybe you do one percent the first year two percent the second year three percent the third year just try it number 28 is research research research and and this in particular I'm talking about researching alternatives to expensive budget items that you feel like you want to reduce so this could be cable TV so researching streaming service options and what might be good for you in your local area checking it with other people and see what they've thought of that service cell phone I mean obviously these are expensive the the coverages can vary research the carriers in your area see who's offering what there are always good deals to be had so it might behoove you to switch making sure that you obviously have researched the carrier number 29 is to be aware of DIY this one bit me in the rear end a few years ago when I tried to make my daughter's Halloween costume zoom and it ended up being way more than I ever would have paid just buying a brand new one obviously there are ways you could do this for a lot cheaper but sometimes diying actually ends up costing you money so really look at what you're trying to DIY and think about if you could just buy the thing for less number 30 is to search for coupons I'm talking going online find the manufacturer's website sending them an email telling you them you love their product I guarantee you to you they would love to see a happy email and they would very happily send you if you included your address some nice coupons also don't hesitate for instance we bought some Pop-Tarts some strawberry iced pop top Pop-Tarts because sometimes people just need Pop Tarts okay so no judgment here but you know what happened one of those Pop-Tarts you know the packet of two opened it up and there were no sprinkles nope just icing no sprinkles so you know what we did we emailed the Pop-Tart company Kellogg's and you know what happened they sent us two coupons for two free boxes of Pop-Tarts it was fantastic just saying never hurts to ask number 31 is one of my favorite hacks and it's off season clearance shopping online okay so here's my hack when you want to find some good deals I can't stand going to a department store and going through the clearance racks uh it gets on my nerves to go to Marshalls or TJ Maxx and to search through the things that are all different and try to find what I like I prefer to see things that are like there's 30 of the same thing and it's just the different sizes I don't know my brain just likes that better online so much easier especially this for kids clothes so what I do is I go to the clearance section and I search the size that she will be in the next season because obviously it's going to be you know summertime clothes in the winter and I search the next sides and I know she's probably going to be and you could pretty much usually gauge that and you filter it down so if you're looking for shorts and shirts you filled with shorts and shirts you filter it by that size and guess what it gets rid of all the stuff it gets rid of all the stuff that's not those things it's fantastic use this to your advantage because you can definitely pick up clearance items online for extremely cheap maybe you can also double that in with some coupon code that you can find so there you go there's my hack favorite thing to do online clearance shopping use the filter button number 32 is to have fun money in your budget just put some fun money it doesn't have to be a lot it can be a nice coffee during the week it can be getting your nails done once a quarter it can be just going out and buying some yummy dessert on the weekend but have some fun money and the reason is because burnout is real and if you have a large goal or a large amount of debt that you're trying to plow through it is very very consuming and tiresome to constantly live this way and not give any right have a little bit of something to look forward to it doesn't have to be expensive number 33 it's almost growing season I know here it is almost growing season I can feel the spring coming go ahead and start thinking about a garden try to think about how you could Garden even if you don't have a lot of area what might work for you is there a container garden that you could do is there a Garden on your perhaps you're on a second or third floor apartment are there hanging container plants that you can do perhaps you are do have the availability to put in a carbon bed there is something so in fun about growing your own food you will end up with more food than you would be able to eat so maybe you can add that point learn about canning and preserving food for the off season or you can share it with friends and family number 34 is to learn to cook from scratch this is one of my goals for this year I really want to get more into scratch cooking so if there are any cookbooks that you recommend or even YouTube channels that are really about home-cooked scratch cooking let me know put that down in the comments below this will save you money it will keep some of the bad stuff from all the preservatives out of your food and it's just I'm so excited to to incorporate that more in my my daily life number 35 yes it's an air fryer talking about food this is one that if you look back years ago on one of my things that I won't buy the airfryer was on that list and then one day we just broke down and bought one it is one of those things that I thought was an unnecessary kitchen gadget nope an air fryer is amazing I tell you what my daughter loves chicken nuggets in that thing it makes crisp french fries I make delicious balsamic glazed brussels sprouts in it and you can go out to eat and actually bring your leftovers home and you don't have to heat them up in the oven turn that big thing on or even the toaster oven or the microwave which makes them soggy you wouldn't believe the life that an air fryer breathes back in to some restaurant leftovers now if you have any great tips on how to lower your cost of living live below your means put those down in the comments below I would love to hear them don't forget to check out this video or maybe in this one before you leave give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it and I I hope to see you again here soon

Channel: JENNIFER COOK

Views: 104,431

Keywords: frugal living, frugal living tips, frugal living ideas, frugal living habits, cost of living, living below your means, saving money, save money, saving money tips

Id: aCf0gjiEfss

Length: 22min 2sec (1322 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 19 2023