Answer These Three Questions to Save Big Money
The libarary gives me a cheap way to pursue all my interests.
About six months ago I made a conscious decision to buy fewer books. I love books and, when I heard of a book that interested me, I headed straight to Amazon.com to check it out.
Amazon had a prominent spot on my Firefox toolbar, so I could get there in one click. (And those nice people at Amazon let you order in one click too!)
Now my library’s website is on my toolbar instead.
I ask my library to send the books I want to my closest branch and they email me when they’re there. I zip in to pick them up when I’m out running errands. And the $4.20 in fines that I currently owe is much less than my Amazon bill used to be. Quicken tells me it’s about $90 less, in fact.
What else can you get cheaper?
The answer is everything. The internet is full of money-saving ideas. A lot of the content on this blog is dedicated to saving money. In fact, one of the most popular posts I’ve ever written is 25 Things I Do to Save Money. It’s still getting hits four years later.
A Challenge
What if you made it your mission to save 5% this year on everything you buy? How about 10%? 25%? What kind of difference could that make in your financial life?
Back in 2006 I decided to identify the things that we could eliminate, use less of, or get cheaper. I also decided to treat it like a part-time job, which is how The Family CEO came about. (By the way, it’s the best job I’ve ever had because I don’t have to pay taxes on my earnings.)
Of course, prior to 2006 I did lots of things to save money, but I wasn’t very purposeful about it. The shift in thinking to treating it like a job was huge. And it was a fun job. Like I said at the top, it’s not about deprivation. It’s about being intentional.
In the last five years we’ve gotten rid of some things, used less of others, and found cheaper alternatives for still others. All of this has freed up income to pay down debt. That, in turn, has freed up even more income.
Now we get to talk about what we want to do with that freed-up income. We talk about which debt to pay off next, how much to put away for retirement, and where to go on a vacation paid for in cash.
And all of that feels a lot more like abundance than deprivation.
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Dana:
May 4th, 2011 at 12:52 pm
My favorite is #3 – how can I get it cheaper? I *always* ask myself this question because my challenge to myself is to pay less for everything either though coupons, discounts, clearance sales, or any combination of the above. I vow never to pay full price for anything.
Angela@RecipesFromMyMom:
May 9th, 2011 at 6:36 am
We got rid of our monthly Blockbuster DVDs-by-mail membership which was running $12/mo. and now use Redbox instead. Little more running around to get movies but I’m ususally at the grocery store when I rent the DVDs anyway.
Great questions Julie! Now I’m always on the prowl for how to get it cheaper.
Julie:
May 12th, 2011 at 7:59 pm
Dana, you’re a rock star. I love your challenge to yourself.
Julie:
May 12th, 2011 at 8:00 pm
Angela, I make changes all the time to our Netflix subscription. I cancel it, restart it, cut back to online only, etc. I tend to use pay-per-view for the movies we watch, but my daughter is a big fan of Redbox.
No Debt MBA:
May 13th, 2011 at 8:41 am
We’ve been asking variations of these three questions for years now and it’s really paid off. Like you noted, a penny saved is really more like 1.5 pennies earned because of taxes. I’m focused more on the income side of things now, but with those three questions ingrained as habit it becomes very easy to manage your spending.
Ken:
May 13th, 2011 at 3:33 pm
Excellent post. I especially like the advice…getting things cheaper. I am married to an avid couponer wife whose ways I love.
Julie:
May 13th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
No Debt, I love “a penny saved is 1.5 pennies earned.” I’m going to remember that!
Julie:
May 13th, 2011 at 4:00 pm
Ken, how nice that you appreciate your wife’s efforts. Couponing is such a simple thing to do but the rewards can be great.
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