Lets be honest here guys, many of us are penny wise, pound foolish. We're talking about saving a few bucks a month here and there, while ignoring the big ticket items.
- Impulse purchasing: Buying unnecessary supplements on Amazon, clothes, etc. I used to read a lot of lifestyle blogs which encouraged me to buy shit I don't need. Now I almost never go on Amazon, and I never buy new shit unless it's absolutely necessary.
It's a good idea to always consider whether buying something new is a big difference in cost versus buying something used. An easy example is a car. It's nearly the same time to research and find a reasonable price on a new car as it is to find the same car even just 2 or 3 model years old and the one 2 or 3 model years old will have huge cost savings. Other items there may be little difference in cost savings and your time investment will be vastly different.
Most of our economy works by playing off our insecurities and encouraging us to buy stuff that won't add any value to our life. Looking back on a lot of the stuff I've bought which I thought would add value or status to my life was largely pointless.
Huge benefit to minimizing your life. Having less stuff around immediately gives you a sense of peace that is pretty incredible. Less stuff to spend time searching through, organizing, or moving around is a big boon.
The one exception I make is clothes, but I only get what's needed. A blazer, a few high quality dress shirts, high quality jeans, chinos, nice shoes, and a nice watch are all that's needed to look great wherever you go. It's a big outlay at first, but should last years, and you only need to replace items as they wear out. People treat you better if you look better, so it's worth it to me.
Many of you have recommended asking yourself "How will this add value to my life?" before purchasing. I think that is golden wisdom right there.
Especially true in all cases
- Going out: Over the years I must've wasted thousands of dollars on bars and restaurants of marginal value. This is a massive expense for the young single guy, and, in my opinion a huge waste. In my experience, most people go to the bar and then stay and talk with the exact same people they went out with, no attempts to meet new people at all. If you're gonna do that, just split some alcohol with close friends, crash at someone's place and spend 1/4 the money. In a pinch, pregame at home and get a water between drinks. Either way, alcohol is a massive expense.
As I've stated before, it's a huge cost savings to buy premium liquor/beer at budget stores and pre-drink at your place. In many cases it's cheaper to buy everyone of your friends a couple rounds at your house AND share an uber than it is to go to the bars and buy even one single round of well/rotgut liquor for them. If you give them a couple rounds at home, you may even drink for free the rest of the night.
Going out to eat is also expensive, and it's easy to run up a bill that's north of $20, for something that could be made for $3 at home. Many guys talk about hating getting ripped off in taxis by being overcharged $3, yet they rip themselves off $17 every time they go out to eat.
Whenever I make any purchase now, I think about what value I'm getting, and if I'm ripping myself off. Instead of eating in the nice restaurant, can I get the same experience at a local place? Can I make the same meal at home with little effort? Unless you have to spend a lot more time and effort to save an extra 50%, it's almost always worth it to seek value.
- Housing: This is often the biggest expense for something most people only get to enjoy for less than a 1/4 of their waking life. It's worth paying a little extra to significantly cut a commute or be closer to the action. A huge chunk of money can be saved by having roommates.
Once the big expenses are taken care of, it's easier to focus on the smaller savings. After a while though, one reaches a point of diminishing returns. Always good to get in the habit of seeking value though.
