17 ways I live leaner
On October 16, 2013 In Lifestyle
I don’t talk about myself too often on this blog and that’s because I don’t want it to be about me. But you may know that I quit corporate a year ago and while I’ve always considered myself to be frugal, it’s challenged me to think even more about how I spend money and still enjoy life.
I really haven’t made any drastic lifestyle changes (I still like nice things/experiences ok!? 🙂 ) but I spend a lot more consciously than I did before… So besides having no overdraft, credit card, store card & car repayment debt, here’s what I do…
We all need to eat. So the 1st couple of points are around the subject of food.
- Plan well. I used to find myself in the grocery store every day. And when I was standing in the queue cursing myself I’d ask myself what I needed today that I couldn’t possibly buy yesterday. It’s a waste of time, energy, petrol and parking fees. Keeping a list on my phone ensures I don’t forget anything.
- Eat out less. I have a lot of work to do on this one but in our house it’s the #1 way we can cut down our monthly expenses.
- If you are going to eat out, find out when your favourite restaurant has specials/deals & make date night on that night of the week when they do half price sushi/cocktails etc.
- Tied into above, buy less convenience foods. You know, the stuff that you can just pop into the oven. It is convenient and we all need them some days, but it can’t be everyday…
- Pack lunches. Make a little extra dinner a few times a week. Pack meal size portions into Tupperware & freeze immediately. Defrost overnight for a tasty & fresh lunch the next day.
- Check expiry dates on food. Supermarkets are sneaky and pack the stuff going off sooner right in front. I’m that girl rummaging all the way to the back of the fridge for the salad that has at least 3 of 4 days to go.
Ok enough about food…
- Get loyalty cards for the places you frequent. If they don’t have, one ask them why. I was pleasantly surprised when a few weeks after me asking, one of my favourite coffee shops started their loyalty card.
- Relook your insurance cover. At the start of this year my insurance company sent a letter saying that our premium (household and cars combined) was going up 8%. I pushed back, it went to their retentions dept and we ended up on almost R300 pm less than our 2012 premium. That’s a R3600 saving a year!
- Dig out all those old gift cards. I know you have some lying around somewhere. If they’ve expired, try going into the store and chatting to the manager to get them to extend it. I got married almost 2 years ago and still had some gift vouchers we just haven’t gotten to. I tried my luck and 3 of the 4 stores helped. Then be sure to carry them in your purse so that you don’t forget about them again!
- Are you on the correct cell phone package? I cancelled a R450/month contract and now spend about R150 a month prepaid. Also, I researched what my preferred network’s lowest plan was & switched to that. I don’t use my phone unconsciously anymore. I WhatsApp/BBM my friends instead of SMS-ing. Skype has saved us thousands and isn’t just for when you’re abroad.
- Eliminate excess. Be able to account for every single cent. Recently we discovered that 2 old cell phone contracts we’d taken out a few years ago were still coming off as debit orders! Some magazine subscriptions are the same, “automatically renewing” (both digital & print – check!). At one stage I was subscribed to 13 magazines – seriously, who has the time?
- Read your bank/credit card statements etc. even if you just scan them to make sure they make sense. I have picked up amounts being debited twice and even an extra zero slipping in!
- Hang onto till slips. I have a special box that I put all “guarantees” in i.e. for appliances and high ticket items that have a 1/2/3 year guarantee. I keep all other slips for at least a month. If those new shoes break or that cream makes me break out, trust me it’s going back. I used to feel bad about this but stores get their cash back from suppliers anyway.
- Vacation in off-peak season. Just as an example, if you read my blog, you’ll know that I love Cape Town. However Cape Town in December will not ever happen again in my lifetime if I can help it. If you don’t have kids, avoid school holidays too. Ditto for long weekends & public holidays. Demand will be high at those times which means prices will be stupid.
- I’m over “stuff” (in general). It’s taken years but I don’t yearn for new shoes. I love the 100+ pairs that I already have. We don’t have space for our apartment for anymore “things”.
- My values have changed. When I was in corporate and had a bad day, I’d “reward” myself with “stuff”. I still have a lot of this stuff, labels still attached I might add. They just don’t give me the pleasure they used to.
- Balance. Here I mean you need to weigh things up for your own personal circumstances of your unique family & lifestyle. So if your time is more of a scarcity than money for example it may actually make sense to pay a bit of a premium/outsource some things if you get to bank some time.
I honestly feel like being frugal is a bit addictive. I have heart palpitations when my husband books us movie tickets as a surprise & doesn’t use our loyalty cards to get a discount (I obviously have some work to do here…)
Any tips you can share? I’m all ears and always looking for new ideas on how to save time & money, so do spill!
W
Latest Comments
Thanks Wisaal – great post – I love loyalty cards and memberships where discounts apply, these days I cook 3 to 4 meals on a Sunday so that i spend less time cooking in the week and spending unnecesarily. I’m a thorough bargain hunter – i bought a stunning coat at a thrift store for R120 and all it needed was a good dry clean – as Cape Town Winter approached, I was feeling hot to trot in my “new coat” 🙂
Nice one lady….really great piece:-). I give credit to you when I explain to everyone how much money I get back each month because you helped me understand the value of loyalty cards. I ain’t spending my money in a store unless I can get rewarded or get a fraction of it back:-). I will be sure to follow up on the insurance and phone plan tip:-)
Great Post..Good ideas there.
Love the article, if you think you’re frugal – then i take it to the next level. So since starting as a self-employed individual, i’ve had to rethink a lot of things in my life. One thing i used to spend a lot of money on was the gym. At one stage i had 2 gymclub memberships, a personal trainer, belonged to a yoga studio and went to dance classes every saturday!
1) GYM -I now have membership to one club & one gym. I realised that as much as i had national coverage at VA, i went to one gym about 80% of the time. So if i go home to durban for a few days – i will walk / run, enjoy the outdoors.
2) Yoga – i bought a yoga book, and practice at home!
3) Food & Groceries: Where possible, buy bulk. I will go to Makro to buy bulk. For example one tin of tuna at PicknPay is 13.99 and a six pack @Makro, equates to R11 per tin. I also buy less from Woolies & will go to a PicknPay or Checkers!
4) Driving: i drive far less especially on weekends. If i need to go somewhere – i will now go to the nearest Mall vs my Favourite Mall. I also walk to the gym – makes sense right? So i save on petrol & get more exercise.
5) Avoid temptation – I only go into a mall if necessary, so i am not exposed to the great clothes & gadgets out there:-) So i buy far less than i used to.
6) Travel – i hate the bus, i really do, but it has become a necessary evil. So, I travel via bus versus flying (if i go to dbn) – trick is to travel on thursday vs friday (less crowded) and travel overnight!
I could go on for days:-)
Great post! A few years ago I was forced to take stock of my finances, which meant we had to “live leaner”. I was amazed at how many completely unnecessary expenses I had…the pool service, the garden service, a full time housekeeper etc – I was paying people to do things that between my kids and I we really could manage to do for ourselves. I have since cut back and can now live comfortably (and with way less financial stress) on a third of what we used to. It’s also been good for my Princes who now have a far deeper appreciation for everything they are blessed to have. My #1 tip: Credit KILLS!
Tips I have started doing:
Wash my own dogs – saving of around R700 per month.
Bulk cook and freeze – I cook twice a month now and have a full variety of “ready meals” eg : bolognaise, chicken ala king, savory mince, beef stroganoff, chicken soup, beef stew, curries, oxtail, mac ‘n cheese – then all I had do when I get home is cook some rice, pasta or mash – dinner done! Saves on dishes – saves on cooking time – saves on groceries AND you know exactly what you are eating.
Shower instead of bathing – makes one really enjoy a bath when you do have one.
Get DSTV switched off when you are not at home.
Set the home printer to eco print all the time.
Great post! In addition to all the above, I would add:
Plan your meals and cook in advance, this also helps with the shopping list so you only do it once a month but also ensures you buy all that you need
Check your medical insurance as well, sometimes you pay for a more comprehensive plan and changing a level down might give you exact benefits at a lower cost to you
Ask for discounts at some of the smaller shops or with some of the service providers and they might actually give it to you
When going to the malls pack your own bottle of water or juice and some fruit and take that along – it will save you on all the cold drinks, milkshakes and other stuff that you would feel hungry and eat
Love this
Love this article Wisaal. And what about factory shopping? A friend of mine gave me a little handbook which lists all the factory shops in my city. There are so many things I can save on (furniture, food, clothes, etc). As parents we often spend a lot of money on kiddies birthday gifts. I discovered that Bargain Books have very interesting gifts for kids and very inexpensive!
Great post Wisaal. I totally agree with all of it. I hate all the consumerism that surrounds us, tempting us to buy things we don’t actually need. One thing I might add, instead of dining out it dining in. Dinner parties with friends are a great option if you have friends who like to cook. I believe that the more you earn, the more you need. Once you don’t have a steady salary, its amazing how much less you really need!
Thanks for all of your feedback guys!
This post had been sitting in my head for so long I’m glad I finally got down to writing it. I loved all your feedback and will be compiling it into another follow up post!
W