The little things can really add up…..

It creeps up on you.  $5 here and $15 there – you just put in on your credit card and don’t really notice.  It’s called Lifestyle Inflation. I’m going to go through some examples that might shock you. They shocked me. But before I do that, a really, important caveat: Life is meant to be lived.  Finding the balance between saving and spending is very, very personal.  So we are going to park the judgey-judgement at the door for this conversation.

There is also a difference between being “conscious” and being “cheap”. Conscious is thoughtful, rationale and selective about spending. Cheap is miserly, stingy, irrational and moralistic. (“I’m better than you because I darn my socks”). Let’s be conscious.

Coffee

If you LOVE your fancy store-bought drink, if it is your one small dose of sanity, and you can afford the money and the calories, you should totally buy it. Every single day. If you buy a $6 drink three times a week, that is $72/month and almost $900 per year. I “need” coffee, but I don’t really care what it tastes like. I brew a pot in the morning and I bring a thermos bottle with me for my afternoon cup.

Lunch

Let’s say you buy lunch in the food court every day for $11 a pop. That is $220/month or $2600 per year.

Dinner

Meal delivery has become a HUGE business. I never order in takeout. If we’re tired and don’t have groceries, we’ll make grilled cheese.  I LOVE to eat out, but that’s a different part of my brain. Let’s say you order in a $50 meal once a week, that is $200/month and $2400 per year. There are so many great cookbooks out there. Abby and I just learned how to make sushi. The first time was a disaster, but then we got good at it.  $5 for noori, $5 for suishi rice.  Fun and delicious.

Entertainment

We LOVE books. But they are $20 a pop.  I have rediscovered the library.  We happen to have a great library right around the corner, and it has this amazing hold system.  You basically order the book like you would on Amazon.  The only difference is that they email you when it is there and you go pick it up (and then you have to return it). I just got the Elton John biography.

The bigger expense is the subscriptions. There are so many services out there.  Netflix, Disney+, Apple+, HBO, Spotify, News sites.  Let’s say you spend $75/month on streaming, that is $900 per year. I have subscribed to one for just ONE show. And then you forget to cancel it and realize that you have spent $100 to watch ONE show. Cancel EVERYTHING and then add back the ones you really miss.

Alcohol 

I’m drinking less these days. Not because of the cost, but because I get so tired.  (A few nights ago I was so exhausted, I was convinced I had some major illness.  But before I called 9-1-1, I remembered that I’d had a beer).This number was really hard to calculate. Say you drink 2 bottles of wine a week, at $15 each, that is $120/month and $1440 a year.

Cigarettes or vaping

It depends on how much you consume. Say $150/month or $1800/year.

So, to be a conscious spender, and cut down on the little things: