Count the change from 0 to $100,000
By: Hilal Di
Tags: Savings, Saving Money, Annual Savings, Spending, Lower Costs

Coffee

If you ever take away my coffee, you will see what an unpleasant, sassy person I can be. Luckily the last time I ran out of coffee was six years ago.

That alone should indicate that I am in no way going to encourage you to stop drinking coffee. If this drink brings you joy, buy it now.

BUT.

I dislike Starbucks coffee (sorry, not sorry). I like the muffins, though.

If you buy coffee/pastry 1–2 times per workday at an average cost of

2*$4 *5 *49 (3 weeks a year off) = $1960 (4% of the average annual US salary) $1470 without the pastry.

Drink smart, not less. You know what … drink more:

I enjoy good coffee. I like to take my time making it, smelling it, and drinking it.

If you are like me I would recommend a one-time investment and buy a cheap $20 coffee grinder along with a $20 pour over coffee maker.

Now you can make your own coffee at home (you want to drink it outside? get a thermos)

The fun part is that you are saving money AND getting more. You can find the coffee blend you like the most and grind it on the spot without waiting in line or the barista getting your name wrong. Yes, you know who you are.

Numbers: you can buy a 12 Ounce bag for $10–$20 depending on how fancy you want your coffee to be this should last you a little less than a month so let’s put your monthly coffee budget at $40

Annual spending: 12*$40 + $20 + $20 = $520

Saved: $950

Don’t want to make your own coffee? Buy Nespresso capsules for $792 a year (2 cups a day), still saving $678.

Food

I will not talk about going out for dinner/drinks with friends. That’s up to you how you prioritize what you enjoy. But if you can make it to the happy hour at your favorite place and get half off … why not?

If you do not have time to cook because you have too much on your plate (pun not intended) because of work/studies/utter lack of cooking skills, no worries, skip to the next section.

YouTube is full of useful videos to watch for easy meals, cheap and healthy meals, meal prepping.. all the buzzwords you can find, so use it, maybe?

Aim for 1–2 days a week of eating in.

Estimated savings $8 a week

Annual Savings: $416

Insurance/Phone/Internet

These expenses are something you should check once a year. Set a yearly reminder to call your providers. Do a little searching online to know if you are paying above average for these. If you don’t know or didn’t check, chances are you are overpaying.

Unlike Food/Coffee, there is no way you support local families and businesses when it comes to phone and internet providers.

These are big companies that want your money plain and simple, so the least you can do is make sure you don’t overpay, which will help with saving money.

Always check your options. There is still another company that offers the same services and for the same quality but at a different price.

You can negotiate your insurance rate, especially if you are a careful driver without any past accidents.

Annual Savings: $200–$300 depending on your circumstances.

Commissions & Fees

I get twitchy just thinking about this …

Have you ever asked yourself, “How much do I pay in commissions every month?”

If not, then go check. Why on earth does my bank have so many fees for things that are supposed to be automated? In the year 2020, and somehow, banks didn’t fill in the paperwork to catch up with big tech.

My rant about banks aside, always check your fees/commissions and try to negotiate lower costs, threaten to go elsewhere if they don’t comply. It is easier to deal with if you know that a friend of yours pays less.

Please, if you can avoid late credit card fees, please do so. They don’t deserve your earnings, and it’s another step forward for saving money.

Credit card companies already take 1–3% per transaction. Why should you pay more? The interest rates on some credit cards can get up to 17%. There is no need to pay those if you have the option to pay them off.

The same goes for utility bills. It’s easier to setup automatic payments and forget that they even exist.

Annual Savings: anywhere between $10–$100

* YOU ONLY DO THIS ONCE

Wholesale & Bargain Hunting

Honestly, if you have the closet space, I don’t see any reason not to do this for non-perishable items.

These include soaps, shampoos, toothpaste, cleaning equipment, deodorant, and yes, toilet paper. If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that when things get serious, people stockpile toilet paper…

Let’s say buying wholesale or items on sale will cost you $0.5 less on a single thing you use and finish every month.

Honestly, doing this saves time and headaches. After all, you can take your time to find the right place to buy things for cheap, or buy a bunch because you accidentally found them on sale, and now you don’t have to think about them for the rest of the year.

Annual Savings: $0.5*10(items)*12 = $60.

Please note that when you run out of an item that you’ll need later tonight, you will most likely not care where you get it, even if it’s in the overpriced kiosk next to you because it’s the most convenient.

Your real savings will be much higher.

Budget

Yes, I said it.

I won’t ask you to give up on the things you love and bring you joy. However, I will ask you to be aware of how much you are spending on specific categories.

All you have to do is use any of the budget apps online or open a simple spreadsheet that you fill in every week to have a sense of what’s going on.

Good categories to track are:

Food

Rent & Home

Pets

Nights out

Groceries

Utilities

Car/Transportation

Services (Netflix/Spotify/etc.)

Clothing

Extra

Obviously, some of the above categories are going to be the same throughout the year. Still, having a sense of how much each type costs you is right for you. It lets you appreciate the time/money you had to spend to get it.

This might not help with saving money if you don’t enforce a budget. Still, you will notice a behavior change when considering buying things you might not need.

I noticed a drastic drop in spending after tracking my expenses. It might be the same for you.