Once I realized the value of keeping a budget, I was determined to cut any expenses I can. I have been budgeting aggressively since we moved into our new home in order to have savings left over each month. Forward to the end of 2022, this has served me well with the year-over-year inflation at record highs of 9% on groceries and all goods. This is my list of 10 home-saving things that I've taken in the past two years, some happy, some not so much (like my bad haircuts by my wife).
1) Dog Grooming
Annual Savings: $800
I started grooming my dog Ollie in 2022. In the beginning, I was okay with paying $65 per grooming, but when the price kept increasing to $100 per session, I decided I wasn't going to pay over $800/per year for dog grooming when my wife and my haircut were less. I had no idea how to groom a dog as I never grew up with one. But watching tutorials on YouTube, I realized it was not hard as I thought it would be.
Ollie is used to it now and will just sit still without any leash. It can get messy and time-consuming, but it is well worth the savings and time in having to go to the groomer.
2) Men's Haircut
Annual Savings: $300
This occurred as it did for many people who had their own haircut during the pandemic when we could not go out. It was novel at first and had fun growing out my hair in ways that I have never before, but eventually, I asked Trang to cut it. It was a surprise how little concerned she was. She did not even finish watching a 5-minute tutorial before she began shaving my hair with a clipper. Nonetheless, she continues to cut my hair once in a while when I am feeling lazy to go to the salon.
3) Cooking More
Annual Savings: $1200 minimum
(eating out less by two times a month)
Similarly, this occurred during the pandemic when we could not go out to eat at a restaurant. Yes, some people are diligent about meal-prepping but we could never get into that discipline and after a long day, it was an easy decision to order food. But with the added time at home during the pandemic, I made the initial attempt to learn, and since then, I've added a lot more dishes to my repertoire. Not only do you save money, but it is also cleaner and sometimes healthier.
4) Coffee at Home
Annual Savings: $2000 ($40/week, $160/month for two people)
My wife still uses Nespresso along with her Vietnamese coffee, but it is still cheaper than getting Starbucks every day. Pre-pandemic, we were grabbing coffee at Starbucks daily. $5 a cup didn't seem like a budget breaker until we made it a routine to make our own coffee more and see the annual savings. We still enjoy grabbing coffee at Starbucks occasionally either as a treat, but we are more conscious of the costs and try to limit when we can. (cold-brew-making routine that requires me to use more tools than necessary)
5) Cocktails
Annual Savings: $600 ($50/month at restaurants)
Cocktails were a magical beverage to me that I could never phantom making and something that I can only get when we go out to a restaurant. But after I visited an experiential cocktail bar in NYC with drinks that were more of a mixology using herbs and produce, I wanted to also open up my own cocktail lounge. It's every man's dream to open a bar, and mine was for cocktails. I started experimenting and planning out different recipes at home until the pandemic hit. It was scary seeing all the restaurants and bars close down and altered my plans a bit. But through this experience, I can now make cocktails when we want to relax, or for family parties. I also make them when we get takeouts to recreate our restaurant experience.
6) Supplementing our Take-outs
Annual Savings: $300
As mentioned above in supplementing our takeout with homemade cocktails, we also make side dishes or other pairings that we can easily create at home. For example, when we take out sushi or Chinese for dinner, we always make our own edamame or dumplings. For brunch, we can't resist good pancakes from Bongo Room or Benedicts but we can make our own eggs or a side of potatoes that prevents our wallet from being hit too hard.
7) Sharing Amazon, Costco, Netflix, HBO Max, and Spotify Accounts
Annual Savings: $300 (Half of the streaming services, and Memberships)
Yes, we are fully grown adults that make money, but that does not mean that we need to fork over our hard-earned money to the corporate giants to watch something periodically. My parents pay for Amazon Prime and we use their account to simply deliver things to our house; in return, we pay for Costco Membership and add them to a family account. My parents pay for an HBO Max subscription that's connected to our shared Amazon Firestick account loaded on both of our TVs. And in return, we pay for Netflix and Spotify accounts and add them to the family account as well.
8) Cutting Cable and Sharing YouTube TV
Annual Savings: $1200
Cable service is becoming less essential with all the streaming services and internet-based TVs. Similar to the sharing streaming services with my parents, our Amazon Firestick also has a YouTube TV subscription, so we are able to create our own profile. Like many people, I was getting tired of paying $100 on cable services just to flip through the channel for half an hour in the evenings.
9) Cutting Gym Membership and Building a Small Gym at Home
Annual Savings: $600
During the pandemic when gyms were closed, I purchased gym equipment from our sister company, Precor. Yes, it was a large initial purchase. But knowing my simple gym routine using dumbbells and a treadmill, I knew this could be a permanent solution even post-pandemic. I haven't had to go to the gym in three years although I am also one of the millions of idle treadmill owners.
10) Finding hobbies that are cheaper
Annual Savings: $600
Some hobbies can get expensive, but there are also many hobbies that are free and easy on the wallet. Trang and I started doing family Yoga sessions on weekend mornings, although this did not last long. We also like to take our Dog to hiking trails (See more on budget trips). Other activities that I enjoy are joining tennis leagues for a small fee that allow me to meet local players and play a match as much as I want for free at the local parks.
These savings may seem trivial when you pay for them one at a time, but when you calculate the annual savings, it becomes quite larger. We all have our own savings methods and strategies that we use. Hope you enjoyed my list and are able to use the extra savings to build wealth for the long term. Let me know your favorite money-saving tips that I can incorporate as well!
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