1. Buy Furniture Second Hand
I buy almost all my furniture (and many other things) second hand. Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and our local thrift store are a gold mine for scoring huge savings! Aside from electronics, there isn’t much in my house that we’ve bought brand new. We get so many compliments on our home from people when they’re over and when they find out how much I’ve spent on furnishing it, they can’t believe it! Furniture and decor is so excessive and mostly unnecessary so I try to be a lot more intentional when I buy things. If I’m dying over a piece I see in a store that I need to have, I just go home and search on Craigslist or Facebook until I find a doppelganger – or better yet, the actual piece being sold by someone! This method has never failed me. Word of advice: anything you want from Target and Ikea is being sold for 30-50% less on Craigslist. It may take some time for it to pop up but I promise you if it’s from those stores someone has bought it and is or will soon be selling it!
2. Stopped Following Influencers On Social Media
There was a time when I spent 150% of my income on clothes and material goods to keep up with the latest trends that the coolest blogger told me to buy because I “needed” it. Those days are long gone. It gets so easy to to get caught up in wanting to buy what’s new and popular but it also sucks you into this world of careless spending. Remember that those influencers get those products for free! They can afford to hoard all of those things. I can’t 🙂
3. Unsubscribed To Promotional Mail
How many times have you bought a $10 shirt ’cause you got an email notification that it was 50% off and then wore it twice? My old readers may remember when this used to be a mostly ‘Frugal Fashion Finds’ blog, but my life and blog has thankfully evolved since then. I’m going to shatter your glass with this next statement: all of those $10 shirts end up costing you A LOT of money over time!
4. Started Taking The Bus
I finally caved and got a bus pass from work. It costs me $48/month (my work pays the bulk of it) and saves me big time on gas and parking! To put it in perspective: my parking ramp costs me $13/day which is $260/month! That doesn’t even include the gas it takes for me to drive 18 miles to and from work! If your work place offers this it’s a no-brainer to take advantage of.
5. I Limit My Entertainment Spending
I spend 0% of my money on alcohol or going out to bars. Going out less has a domino effect because it also subsided my motivation to shop almost completely since I have no reason to buy pleather leggings and a new moto jacket every other weekend. Tommy and I do dine out with our family pretty regularly (3-5 times a month) but we almost always go in groups and split the costs. To me, that is always worth it because of the time we get to spend with our loved ones. Our main source of entertainment comes from hosting our friends and family at our home. This way we don’t feel limited with our time and aren’t forced to spend money in order to continue enjoying ourselves. Pot lucks + board game nights have become a staple at our house!
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