Nobody wants to live within their means, but that is the financial reality in order to have financial stability. Even wealthy people can easily blow through their income. Ken Cage is a high-end repo man. He confiscates expensive assets for banks, such as private jets and luxury yachts when owners fail to pay for a few months. Cage’s best advice, “Don’t let your ego make financial decisions. Purchase what you can easily afford, don’t try to impress others and lose sight of financial reality.”
Most people equate frugality with denial – but the middle-ground is to find a cheaper substitute. This is a topic too vast to explore in a blog post, but it is easy to research for your specific needs. Use an internet search wording similar to, “How to ______ on a budget,” or “Affordable way to ______.” You’ll find endless articles, advise, and candidates for you to consider. Here is one example: Most people have a smart phone and the average person pays $120 per month. To drop that bill by a potential 80%, you could evaluate if these substitute carriers match your needs: mintmobile.com or cricketwireless.com. Instead of paying $70-$120/month, you could drop your bill to $15 per month and pocket over $600/year.
Substitutes run from DIY gifts, room makeovers, to filling out your wardrobe for cents on the dollar. Everybody has to eat, but the further out in time you meal plan, the more you can save. You can prepare your meal components and then freeze them until you’re ready for them. You can knock out preparing a bunch of meals at a time and then have portions of them once-a-week for a month. This will save you time and money to batch your preparation, buying cheaper in bulk when they are on sale. Everybody wears clothes, and it is likely that you may be able to find a local thrift store for clothing. I know a mother that outfits her family from quality brands at the thrift store but also makes a part-time income buying baby clothes on their 50%-Off day and then re-selling them on eBay for a profit. If there isn’t a local thrift store, more of them are online such as ThredUp.com. Most people need transportation, and lots of people use lease or loans to purchase a car that is more expensive than they can afford. Meanwhile, there are online communities of people that specialize in finding vehicles that you can drive for free. They do research to determine that a particular car model, a certain number of years old, with certain milage, and they are able to drive it for a year or two and then sell it for around the same price that they bought it for – making their use of it nearly free. (Many times these candidates are luxury cars that are 5-7 years old.I know one person that almost pulled the trigger on doing this with a 12-year old convertible Bentley for a year. Although it was in perfect condition, he was too afraid afraid that a single repair at the dealership might cost him over $2,000).
So before you go straight to denying yourself for lifestyle spending, do a little research to see if there is a substitution that will fit your needs. This way you can keep the enjoyment and satisfaction while making it affordable to your budget.