Best advice: Live Well on Less

Most of the articles online written about saving money have no relevance to most people. They are written for the middle-class person who is trying to squeeze more fun out of their already decent salary. This post will not have anything to do with “plugging money leaks” and it presumes that you don’t own a home (like most people my age). This is my advice on how to actually cut back on costs.

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Cars and Transportation

One of the best ways you can save a few dollars is in the automotive department. From buying a car, to car repair and even insurance, there are plenty of ways to save.

For car repair, make sure to use a local, independent car shop that can repair your car for much less than a dealer. This is especially true if your car’s warranty has run out. Parts and labor are both cheaper, and it can be a considerable savings, especially on major repairs. If you need a payment plan, make sure to ask in advance. Build and cherish this relationship because you can save plenty of money.

You can also do quite well with buying used cars. If you need financing, head over to a credit union to get a better rate. They will do better than the major banks, and usually better than anything you’ll get on the car lot. That being said, if things are dire, a buy-here-pay-here lot can be a lifesaver if your credit is in poor condition if you have no credit at all.

The key to a successful used car buying experience is to look for quality, have the car inspected, and read online reviews about the car. Often there will be a subreddit about the car or at least some online reviews. Look for known problems. You can have the dealer pull a CARFAX report on the car or pull your own for $50. Even a gently used car from three or four model years ago can mean major savings.

There are not many ways to save on gas, but I like to use the Gas buddy app to find the cheapest gas on my route to wherever I’m going. You can check local prices around where you live, work, and hang out and find the gas station with the best price.

However, if you live in a major city or an area with decent mass transportation, a bus pass might be just as good. Most places require a car, but if you can swing not having a car, there are savings to be had. Groceries can be delivered with a variety of services, and then there’s just getting to and from work. Make sure the bus or train schedule can work around your work schedule. It might add some additional logistics, but it can be worth it for the savings. This is doubly true if your job offers any sort of bus pass option. You can also use car sharing services and ride services to fill in the gap on transportation troubles. It’s less convenient, but it might be worth it to you for the cost savings.

Take advantage of any perks

This isn’t really true if you live in the service industry, but if you’ve got an office job, you might have access to some free or subsidized things that you don’t even know about. This can include gym memberships, bus passes, or other things bought for groups of people. Ask your HR person if there’s anything you’re not taking advantage of at your job.

You can also look to any clubs or organizations that you’re a member of for perks as well. AAA, the car club, for example, has tons of discounts. For the low price of $80 a year, I get hotel discounts and more because I like to have someone to call when/if my car breaks down.

This also might be true of your bank or insurance company. Open up their apps and look for things like “offers” and see if they are offering anything you might be able to use. Ideally, It’s something you already need or use. You might need to set up different accounts to take advantage of discounts, but every dollar counts.

Home

Trying to find ways to save on rent is difficult in all but the most rural locations. One of the strategies I’ve used to save on rent is to find the apartment with no view that no one wants, you’ll save on rent. For example, I lived in a great community because I took an apartment on the first floor, toward the back, away from the courtyard that faced the parking lot. I save $300 a month by taking the apartment they couldn’t move. When you’re renting, don’t be afraid to negotiate, either. Look up other properties and amenities and ask for a price you think is fair. You might be surprised at the rate that you can get.

Location is also key to saving on rent. Look for locations that are somewhat near your job but might be slightly out of the way. If you’re living in or near a major city, look for that unlikely suburb that is near enough to commute but away from more popular areas. Rents will usually be lower.

Some properties may offer income based rental plans, so look for those if you’re low income. It can be an opportunity to get into housing without having to pay the market rate. This is not a consistent feature of all cities, but it is something to keep an eye out for in some locations, especially any coastal city with progressive housing reforms.

Another great way to save on rent is to reduce down to just the space that you need. You might be at the stage of life where a small studio for showering and sleeping is just enough. It’s somewhere to start while you increase your income or climb the ladder. If you’re hunting for a house because you’re partnered and have dogs/children, the best thing you can do is to look at older properties that have been fixed up somewhat. This is another strategy that location is key. Stay away from the city center and the inner ring of suburbs, look slightly farther out, and then look for a deal. Single-family homes are often rented by owners directly, and occasionally a good deal can be found.

Daily Expenses

One of the biggest ways to save money in your daily expenses is simply to stay home. This is probably my least fun piece of advice. I had a time in my life where if any work got done, I had to get to a coffee shop. However, this added up quickly. Add in a few trips to the bar, and I was spending quite a bit of money.

If you want to go out or just feel the need to do so, then pick a couple of weekends a month to go out and set a budget for the night. One of the best ways to do this is to take out the cash you’re going to spend on beers or drinks and when the cash runs out, you run out the door.

Another way to save money on daily expenses, to make sure to buy quality products. It might seem like it’s more expedient to buy the cheap thing and save money at the moment, but if the product is wearing out sooner to require you to buy another one, than no money has really been saved. Buy quality and buy long-term.

This idea also extends to buying stuff you might need for your home. Heading over to the thrift store can get you much of what you need. Another great way to find stuff inexpensively is online marketplaces on Facebook and Next-door. I’d wanted a Kitchen-aid mixer for years, but the $300 price tag was a big steep. I found a very gently used one on Facebook marketplace for $100 even. It was a good find. I also like to drive the neighborhoods in the summer looking for furniture that might have been put out. With some small repair skills (YouTube is handy) an old chair can be new again. Even if you just cover it up with a sheet or blanket, you’ve got something nice.

If you have friends moving out of town, see if any of their old stuff isn’t making the trip. It can be a great way to upgrade kitchen gadgets, get some new sheets, or take some furniture off their hands for little or nothing. Some of my best finds were from people I knew or just met who were moving and just needed the stuff gone. They win by getting rid of it, and I win by having their old stuff.

Groceries and Food

This has been a crunch since the pandemic. Food inflation is here and here to stay. One of the best ways you can save on food is to do some comparison price shopping at different stores and see who is cheaper. You can get into couponing, but often the best deals are through the store’s own clubs. Start downloading all the apps for the stores you like to go to and get all the deals that you can. Don’t forget to check clearance racks at the grocery store (which is why shopping on Wednesday’s is good) and you can find wonderful things that are already marked down.

It also helps to shop during the week, prices tend to be lower. If you’re going for grocery delivery, you can easily compare stores on Instacart and then select the store with the best stuff at the right prices.

Buying in bulk is nice, but unless you have plenty of people to eat all the food, it can be unpractical. If you want to buy in bulk and need help with the volume of it all, see if any of your friends want to chip into a Costco membership and split some things you guys need together. A massive bag of trail mix can easily be split down into smaller sandwich bags for easy use and transport. If you’re in a roommate situation, this can be even easier.

Another way to save on food is to check out any farmer’s markets in the area. Especially, for fresh vegetables, you can save money here too. If you’re looking to save on meat, start googling for any local butchers or butcher shops. Check prices and see if you can get any deals for buying in bulk from them. If you have friends and a freezer to store it all, you might consider buying half a cow or pig and splitting up the meat among yourselves. It can be a great way to get what you need at lower prices. There are also online delivery services for meat and vegetables that are rejected by normal grocery stores but are fine to eat, and those can be great with the bonus of home delivery.

Save Money and Have Fun

It’s worth noting, while we’re on fun topics, that going through your subscriptions and deciding which ones you really need can be helpful to save some money. If you’re paying for Hulu and you don’t watch it that often, then it might be time to drop it. Most people are good at this, but if you haven’t looked at your subscriptions in a while, it might be time to think about which ones you want to keep around.

One of the best ways to have fun and save money is to invest in park passes. Whether it’s for an amusement park or state and national parks, this can be a great way to have fun, get the kids/dogs out of the house. Make sure that you’ll use the pass enough to actually save money. If you buy a pass and can only go one or two times, then it’s probably easier to just pay the admission.

If you’re looking for free or cheap events, nothing is better than your local library. Libraries are the closest thing we have in the US to a community center, and they are great for reading groups, tax help, job help, and posters of free events in the area. They are also a great place to hang out too!

If you want to save some money on books/streaming services, the local library can help you again. Their TV and Movie collections can be excellent. Dust off that DVD player and enjoy some media for free. Many libraries have apps for ebooks and audiobooks, so if you want to replace your audible membership with something cheaper, you’re home free with the local library.

The local library can also offer cheap services for copying and printing. There’s no need for you to own a printer with all that expense when the library will let you print and copy stuff for just a few cents.

Keep an eye out for tool libraries too. If you’re fixing stuff up on your own and need a special tool, a tool library can be a great way to avoid buying something you won’t use very much.

Enjoy the Savings

The most important piece of advice I can give is to make sure to enjoy life. Saving money can become a weird obsession that can be inconvenient and time-consuming. But with a few of these tips, you can save some money and make living in late-stage capitalism just a little easier. Go out, save money and have fun!