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Re-Designing Your Life on a Lower Income
Almost 30 years ago Disaster Struck, and we went from two incomes to no income. At all.
We had to redesign our life, change the way we lived and the way we spent our money so we could maintain our lifestyle, because we liked our lifestyle.
If you're not familiar with that time in our lives, you can read about it here: Cath's Story.
We had to learn how to not just survive, but thrive, on less money, and when unexpected situations cause your income to dip, knowing how you can live on less money will take away a lot of stress.
Even if you're already a Champion Cheapskate, there are times when you'll need to live on a little less, and these strategies will help you learn to conserve what you have: your money, your stockpile, your garden, your time, whatever your situation.
Making just two or three of these changes might reduce your expenditures enough so you can successfully live on the lower amount you're bringing in right now.
1. Take your lunch. Taking your lunch five days a week can save you a very decent amount by the end of the month. Depending on how low your income has dropped, taking your lunch to work might actually be the only sacrifice you need to make. Some of you may already be doing this, so you'll be rolling your eyes. But if you are already taking your lunch, can you make those lunches cheaper? Can you choose cheaper fruit, pack one homemade snack, take your drinks including tea or coffee? Pack water bottles, or buy juice from the supermarket and decant it? There are ways you can reduce the cost of lunch, even if you already take it. Eating out, and that's what buying your lunch is, may cost nearly $15 a day. Lots of people tell me the don't eat out, but they do buy their lunch each day, then look shocked when I tell them that is eating out! Saving $75 a week, times four weeks in a month, means you're keeping $300 a month in your budget. If you can cut the cost your packed lunch by $3 a day, times four weeks in a month, means you're keeping $60 a month in your budget.
2. Reduce or change your mobile phone service. If you're between phone contracts, it's a good time to consider switching to a lesser-known carrier that charges less and gives you more minutes, data and texting for the price. Alternatively, change to a less expensive plan with your current carrier. There are so many around. I use Aldi for $19 a month and I get the same service area Wayne does with his Telstra work phone that costs $99 a month. If you're not sure about the cover in your area, do some research. Ask friends and colleagues which carrier they use. Get online and ask some questions. Compare carriers and plans to choose which one suits you best. And don't be afraid to contact your current provider and talk to them about plans that may be better suited to the way you use your mobile phone. Choosing a cheaper plan, and be realistic, do you really NEED what you have, could leave lets say another $30 a month in your budget (it could be more depending on your current plan cost).
3. Take a look at your subscription television service. Do you really need over Netflix and Stan and Paramount+ and Britbox and any other channels you might have at the same time? Consider reducing your subscription services for 6 months and see how it goes. There are plenty of free to air channels to watch, and YouTube can be a great source of entertainment too, it's not just for learning. Although it might take a few weeks to get adjusted to it, you'll most likely be pleasantly surprised that you can live with fewer viewing options and feel okay about it. Plus, you'll be keeping more money in your budget, which will ease off the money crunch for now. Cutting just one could leave another $25 a month in your budget.
4. Grocery-shop differently. Avoid more expensive cuts of meat unless they're on a great sale or a good clearance. Look at the ads before you shop. Make your shopping list for the week using items in the sale ads, list them by store. Check out greengrocers for fruit and veg and compare prices to the supermarket. Get the supermarket prices for meat and compare them to your local butcher stores. Buy deli meats from the deli, not the dairy cabinet - the mark up can be over 50% for a packaged deli meat. Stick to ingredients (remember: ingredients give you options) rather than buying ready-made and pre-packaged. Shop once, and if you forget anything, put it on the list for next week and make do with what you have. Use your loyalty program to earn discounts you can use for your groceries. All these strategies can easily cut $10 off your grocery spending each week, leaving another $40 a month in the budget.
5. Take advantage of free entertainment. The costs for going to the movies, paying to get in to museums or playing miniature golf or going to the local pool can really add up. Consider free or inexpensive activities, like going to the local park, riding bikes together or watching a movie at home as a family. If you prefer, rather than stop your leisure spending completely, reduce the number of times in a month you do such activities. For example, if you normally spend money for entertainment weekly, try cutting those expenditures to every other week. You could easily keep $100 in your monthly budget for a family of four if you choose free entertainment and activities.
Learning to live on a lower income is a challenge but it can be done.
Explore these five ways to alter your lifestyle by reducing the amount of money you spend in a month and you'll realise that you can re-design your life on a lower income and still enjoy living the Cheapskates way: debt free, cashed up and laughing.
Five simple changes, I didn't say easy, I said simple, you will need to actually make the changes to benefit from them, can keep up to $495 in your budget! That's more than six weeks groceries for a family of four following the $300 a Month Food Challenge! Saved, or kept in your budget, in just one month!
Even if you're not having to live on a lower income, it's worth looking at implementing at least some of these strategies.
We had to redesign our life, change the way we lived and the way we spent our money so we could maintain our lifestyle, because we liked our lifestyle.
If you're not familiar with that time in our lives, you can read about it here: Cath's Story.
We had to learn how to not just survive, but thrive, on less money, and when unexpected situations cause your income to dip, knowing how you can live on less money will take away a lot of stress.
Even if you're already a Champion Cheapskate, there are times when you'll need to live on a little less, and these strategies will help you learn to conserve what you have: your money, your stockpile, your garden, your time, whatever your situation.
Making just two or three of these changes might reduce your expenditures enough so you can successfully live on the lower amount you're bringing in right now.
1. Take your lunch. Taking your lunch five days a week can save you a very decent amount by the end of the month. Depending on how low your income has dropped, taking your lunch to work might actually be the only sacrifice you need to make. Some of you may already be doing this, so you'll be rolling your eyes. But if you are already taking your lunch, can you make those lunches cheaper? Can you choose cheaper fruit, pack one homemade snack, take your drinks including tea or coffee? Pack water bottles, or buy juice from the supermarket and decant it? There are ways you can reduce the cost of lunch, even if you already take it. Eating out, and that's what buying your lunch is, may cost nearly $15 a day. Lots of people tell me the don't eat out, but they do buy their lunch each day, then look shocked when I tell them that is eating out! Saving $75 a week, times four weeks in a month, means you're keeping $300 a month in your budget. If you can cut the cost your packed lunch by $3 a day, times four weeks in a month, means you're keeping $60 a month in your budget.
2. Reduce or change your mobile phone service. If you're between phone contracts, it's a good time to consider switching to a lesser-known carrier that charges less and gives you more minutes, data and texting for the price. Alternatively, change to a less expensive plan with your current carrier. There are so many around. I use Aldi for $19 a month and I get the same service area Wayne does with his Telstra work phone that costs $99 a month. If you're not sure about the cover in your area, do some research. Ask friends and colleagues which carrier they use. Get online and ask some questions. Compare carriers and plans to choose which one suits you best. And don't be afraid to contact your current provider and talk to them about plans that may be better suited to the way you use your mobile phone. Choosing a cheaper plan, and be realistic, do you really NEED what you have, could leave lets say another $30 a month in your budget (it could be more depending on your current plan cost).
3. Take a look at your subscription television service. Do you really need over Netflix and Stan and Paramount+ and Britbox and any other channels you might have at the same time? Consider reducing your subscription services for 6 months and see how it goes. There are plenty of free to air channels to watch, and YouTube can be a great source of entertainment too, it's not just for learning. Although it might take a few weeks to get adjusted to it, you'll most likely be pleasantly surprised that you can live with fewer viewing options and feel okay about it. Plus, you'll be keeping more money in your budget, which will ease off the money crunch for now. Cutting just one could leave another $25 a month in your budget.
4. Grocery-shop differently. Avoid more expensive cuts of meat unless they're on a great sale or a good clearance. Look at the ads before you shop. Make your shopping list for the week using items in the sale ads, list them by store. Check out greengrocers for fruit and veg and compare prices to the supermarket. Get the supermarket prices for meat and compare them to your local butcher stores. Buy deli meats from the deli, not the dairy cabinet - the mark up can be over 50% for a packaged deli meat. Stick to ingredients (remember: ingredients give you options) rather than buying ready-made and pre-packaged. Shop once, and if you forget anything, put it on the list for next week and make do with what you have. Use your loyalty program to earn discounts you can use for your groceries. All these strategies can easily cut $10 off your grocery spending each week, leaving another $40 a month in the budget.
5. Take advantage of free entertainment. The costs for going to the movies, paying to get in to museums or playing miniature golf or going to the local pool can really add up. Consider free or inexpensive activities, like going to the local park, riding bikes together or watching a movie at home as a family. If you prefer, rather than stop your leisure spending completely, reduce the number of times in a month you do such activities. For example, if you normally spend money for entertainment weekly, try cutting those expenditures to every other week. You could easily keep $100 in your monthly budget for a family of four if you choose free entertainment and activities.
Learning to live on a lower income is a challenge but it can be done.
Explore these five ways to alter your lifestyle by reducing the amount of money you spend in a month and you'll realise that you can re-design your life on a lower income and still enjoy living the Cheapskates way: debt free, cashed up and laughing.
Five simple changes, I didn't say easy, I said simple, you will need to actually make the changes to benefit from them, can keep up to $495 in your budget! That's more than six weeks groceries for a family of four following the $300 a Month Food Challenge! Saved, or kept in your budget, in just one month!
Even if you're not having to live on a lower income, it's worth looking at implementing at least some of these strategies.