This post explains how to quickly build up net worth without feeling deprived. If I can help it I simply don’t start a routine (which costs money) that is hard to quit. Below are 4 categories where I spend less than the average person. The reason I appear to be frugal in these categories isn’t because I want to save money, but it’s because I’ve never developed a desire for these consumer goods to be a part of my life in the first place.
Eating Out: The average Canadian household spends about $40 per week on restaurant food. I spend $5. This isn’t about the money. I just find it faster and more convenient to prepare my own food at home because most dishes I make take less than 15 min to prepare.
Coffee: The average adult consumes about 2.7 cups a day. A weekly cost of maybe $15. I spend $0 because I don’t drink coffee. I just don’t like the taste. Coffee is bitter *ick* 😐 It’s not about the money because I wouldn’t drink coffee even if it was free.
Alcohol: The average Canadian household spends about $858 a year in this category. I spent about $20 last year. A $16 weekly difference. I don’t like how alcohol makes me dizzy. Plus I haven’t developed a taste for beer yet. Again, bitter doesn’t agree with my taste buds.
Cable TV: $30 per month is on the low side of what people pay for TV. I pay $0 because I don’t have cable. I’m not trying to be a hipster. Even if I got 250 channels for free I still won’t watch TV because there are better things I can do with my free time 😀 Besides, all of my favorite shows can be legally streamed online for free anyway >^_^<
As we can see by the graphic above, by limiting these unnecessary expenses, which I don’t care for much, I’m on my way to save over a quarter million dollars by the time I’m in my 50s, which I do care for a whole lot (｡◕ ‿ ◕｡) Some people have developed a habit of drinking coffee and they get groggy and can’t stay focused without their daily fix 🙂 I don’t know what that feels like for them, and I hope I never have to find out. Maybe some people need caffeine for medical reasons, no one is here to judge 😎 My theory is that fast food, caffeine, beer, and watching tv, can all have the potential to be addictive habits which becomes harder to break over time. Of course for most people it’s no big deal. Maybe the thousands of dollars they spend on those routines in moderation is worth it to them because they have more needs, ie: family, better social life, fear of missing out, etc. Besides, just because I can save more money in these categories doesn’t mean I won’t spend the savings somewhere else 🙂
source: 9gag.com
That’s awesome! I do buy coffee and beer with my allowance but that’s about it but for the most part all my coffee is made at home. I wrote a post on my blog last year comparing buying coffee and lunch out and making it at home of 2 co-workers. The numbers were astounding. That savings machine is awesome too, thanks for sharing it. I’m going to go check it out now.
I’m not surprised 🙂 The margins on a cup of coffee at Tim Hortons is over 50%. Much more affordable to brew at home.
Time to push a great book I read many years ago on your blog readers – ” Your Money or Your Life”. It really isn’t always about the money… YOLO, so get out there and enjoy everything you can and allocate your time and efforts to supporting what gives you joy. Want to be a millionaire? Want to travel, and gather sand from all the best beaches in the world? or maybe find the love of your life and raise a family in suburbia? Plan for it by aligning your life energies and choices to achieving your goal. – Cheers.
Planning is huge. Most achievements that I’m proud to have accomplished is because I made a conscious decision to see it through 😎 Someone famous once said that a goal without a plan is just a wish 😉
Well said…
I think your last point is really the meat of it. Even if you avoid things that most people spend money on, it doesn’t do a whole lot of go over the long run if you’re spending elsewhere. Someone who doesn’t like coffee but had a gourmet tea habit isn’t saving much. =)
Gourmet tea combined with gourmet biscuits is an expensive combination 🙂 In the end we can’t our left over money with us so we’ll have to try and maximize the value of our spending as much as possible.
That’s a pretty cool picture; I’m going to go check it out to see if there is a video game option… 😛 I’m definitely guilty of the eating out vice but don’t have the coffee or alcohol vices. I recently found out that my siblings and I are allergic to alcohol! I have known that I always get super dizzy and heavy headed when I drink even a couple of sips, but we just recently found hives as well. Guess that helps with staying away from a vice. 🙂
Where’s the Ferrari? ..sigh.. 🙂
Great post as always. 🙂
Sorry to hear you are allergic to alcohol 😐 At least you can be popular for being the designated driver that everyone wants to go to parties with 🙂
I don’t drink alcohol period, allergic like Vicky says up above haha. I don’t have cable, just download shows from the net or watch some HD channels on the antenna. I drink free office coffee at work for those pick me up mornings, but I do go for coffee for socialization from time to time. I have a Starbucks card I reload on those deals $5 for $10. Eating out, well… I average around $150-200 per month I am not restraint to just $ 5 a week like you, Liquid. You’re pretty extreme on not going out to eat! I get sick of my own cooking if I eat it all the time LOL. I did bring leftover KD for lunch today, I was really contemplating on getting a donair though…looks like I’ll give in tomorrow.
I love my own cooking, so I think that helps me a lot heh. I can make a mean burger and different kinds of salads 🙂 You are already pretty frugal compared to most people I know. It’s also relative to what we think is important. Most people here probably don’t know yet that I spent over $3,000 building my own computer. I like shopping for computer parts and putting things together like how girls enjoy shopping for clothes and trying to find matching shoes with their purse. I use my home PC at least 25 hrs a week and have been using this current one for more than 4 years so to me it’s worth every penny. Most people however would not spend that much on a computer. I’ve fallen into the trap that Mrs. Pop mentioned; what I saved in one category I splurged in another lol.
So far I’m doing pretty well on not spending money on cable or shopping for clothes or anything like that, but I have been spending more than the average person on eating out and drinking. I blame summer and it making me want to go to restaurants and bars lol.
You’re still exploring and getting use to a new city. It’s okay to eat out and drink more because you’re doing “research” and “networking” right? 😉
Coffee is ick? UNSUBSCRIBED!
On a serious note… $16.5 is the average amount spent on alcohol a week? Wow that seems high (but believable). Another category is smoking. Still a surprising amount of people smoke these days.
We pay a lot of taxes on alcohol up here that you guys don’t 🙂 For example, where I live in BC, there is a 10% liquor tax. It’s the same story with our dairy products. That’s why so many Canadians near the border cross into the US on a regular bases to stock up on food, gas, and booze.
The joke is funny. The problem is that many people don’t put that money aside. Although they force themselves to stop some costly habit they don’t save that money.
Exactly, not buying something is different than not buying anything 🙂