How to save money without dying trying to make small changes

How to save money: first steps

As I have gotten older a need has arisen that I never thought I would have: to have a 'little mattress', some savings (for what may happen, you know). I have been trying to spend less for a long time but have found that the zeros in my account were not increasing the way I had anticipated. The problem? Too many whims. So, a month ago, I started a foolproof plan to save a little more and get those savings that will allow me to sleep a little better.

Tracking my expenses

The first week of my plan began by making a record of my habits and all those times I pulled my credit card with too much joy. This first step, which I had never taken before, was key to identifying all those holes through which my salary was going without my noticing. I made a bullet journal ( a table that allows you to organize your to-do lists) in the purest style (I thought the cuter it was, the less depressing it would be) but the truth is that it works with an Excel or with paper and pencil.

The gym fee

The first thing I noted was the more than € 50 that I paid for a gym fee that, hopefully, I managed to go once a week or even every 15 days. He had always told me that although it was expensive it was worth it because it had a pool, but the truth is that I have gone swimming 4 times in 5 years. Too many people. Instead I had a great idea: to rescue the bike that I have in the storage room and that I have not used for three years. A set-up, a hanger to be able to have it at hand inside the house and the purpose of going out for a walk every Tuesday and Thursday after work.

The breakfast

My habit of turning off the alarm clock every morning so that I could sleep about 10 more minutes a day had burdened my old habit of eating breakfast before leaving home. For years, I have bought a coffee with milk in the cafeteria on the corner before entering the office, which made me spend an average of € 2.60 daily (I always went down for another in the middle of the morning). 1.30 x 2 = 2.60 x 20 days on average a month that I ate breakfast out, about € 52 a month that have returned to my pocket when I got this thermos (which is also cute).

From Yosoo, on Amazon, € 14.99

Dinners in restaurants

I love going out to dinner. It's one of the things that excites me the most, but I realized that sometimes I did it out of sheer laziness to start cooking (and then clean up the mess that I usually organize in the kitchen). So many weeks I ended up dining out for two or even three nights. I have decided to reduce the number to only once a week as long as it is with friends or family and to go out to dinner with my partner only on special occasions. So now instead of spending about € 60- € 80 a week on dinners, I spend only € 20- € 25.

Control whims

This is one of the things that has made the most effort for me. I am very into impulsive purchases without stopping to think if I really need something or not. During the week that I was studying my spending habits, I bought a notebook that I absolutely did not need at all and that I would surely be ashamed to use in public and a nail polish (they lose me) that was also in a color very similar to another that I already had. Total, more than € 20 thrown away. If you're a spender too, check out these money saving tricks …

The sweets

Do you know that irrepressible craving that comes in at 5 in the afternoon to consume sugar? That week as a creeper I had two sweet cravings that ended up costing me about € 5 invested in very unhealthy things. Solution: invest € 3 in fruit. As it also has natural and non-harmful sugars, I have managed to calm that urge. Saving money isn't too great, okay, but saving calories is.

Make a shopping list

Planning meals for the week had always seemed absurd to me because unforeseen events always arise but after finding several squash squash in the fridge I realized I was throwing food and money in the trash. Now I think more or less about what we are going to have lunch and dinner at home every day and I always have a dish that can be made with food that does not expire too soon and that can be used for later if something unforeseen arises (like the typical tupperware that your mother-in-law sends you or that celebration in the office). I also realized that when I stuck to the list, I forgot about other unhealthy whims that entered my eyes. My purchases have gone from cost about € 50 per week to about € 30.

Mobile data

It is true that we all live hooked on technology but I used Ivoox, Netflix and Spotify at all hours. I never remembered to download the contents that I was going to listen to at home to use in the offline mode and they ate my data at a rather worrying speed. When I wanted to find out, I received a bill in which they charged me a dough for the extra Gigas I had consumed. Now I am more careful and I make playlists so I estimate that I will be saving about € 15 per month.

Home spa

The monthly facial cleaning and the massage every two months cost me € 35 and € 60 respectively. Now I have bought a good face scrub and a body scrub, some candles, a soft bristle brush, some Lush bath bombs … and I run the spa at home for much less. I have not yet made the initial cost profitable by selling all those products but I estimate that I will have it for a long time so I will immediately save about € 50 per month.

Movie nights

Going to the movies has become a luxury, especially when you want to see movies on the same day they premiere. I already pay a fee on Netflix (which I am not going to do without in any way) so I have decided to stay home to get more out of my subscription and only go to the movies when there is a title that really interests me (and if it is possible one day that there are discounts).

Prepare the tupper

It was one of my worst nightmares: coming home at night and having to prepare food for the next day. There were days when I was motivated and I would do it or take the leftovers from the previous day's dinner, but many others (I counted that at least two or three times) I ended up going out for something or using the menu of the day from the restaurant below. I realized that in addition to spending, I was eating poorly so I looked for ideas to prepare quick and healthy tuppers and now I always take food from home. I save about € 30 a week.

second hand books

Everyone has their vices and one of mine is reading. Until now I bought a couple of books a month and their prices ranged between € 10 and € 20. I searched the internet and discovered that very close to my house I had a second-hand book store and when I entered it seemed to me that it was the very paradise. The books cost between € 2 and € 5 and are in very good condition.

Swap meat for legumes

You have to eat protein, we know, but it doesn't always have to be in the form of meat or fish. Legumes are actually much healthier (and cheaper) and they also provide us with this nutrient if we eat them with a little whole wheat bread. It is not that I have become a vegetarian or anything like that but I have changed two of the three times a week that I ate meat and fish for legumes and the savings have been noticed. In addition, with a pot of chickpeas you can make many dishes so you don't have to repeat yourself until you're bored. It is difficult to do the math but I calculate that part of the savings on the shopping list comes from here.

Have fun at home

My partner has always liked board games but I felt the need to get out of the house every weekend. Dinners, cinemas, etc. I thought that stopping doing all those things would imply that I would not have such a good time but now we invite our friends to our house and get some letters or a Party and the truth is that we have better fun than watching a movie because we can talk and laugh all together.

DIY

We all break things at home, when it is not the cistern it is a piece of furniture or a vase. Resorting to professionals or new things is fine for when there is no other choice but if we want to save a little we have to go into reuse and DIY mode. Fortunately, YouTube is full of tutorials that teach us how to do anything at home. For example, I was fed up with an Ikea furniture that I had had for years and it no longer fit with anything else. I bought paint, some new handles and printed some illustrations of flowers and birds taking as inspiration this chest of drawers and now I have new furniture without spending almost anything. I must have saved myself a buck just on this.

How to save money? That was the question that had been around my head for months. I had never worried about having a 'little mattress' on the bench because of what might happen in the future but as one is getting older, the responsibility must have fallen from the sky the same day that I blew out the candles.

My mother had always given me the rattle with the subject but she always told me that she did not give me any more, which is the false excuse that we all usually make. Then the answer appeared to me as a fall of: make a bullet journal , a spending diary, and see exactly what I was spending my money on.

How to save money without dying trying

I made my precious bullet journal and began to write down all the money that I spent during a week. It didn't take long for me to realize that my laziness and consumerism were sabotaging me. In a single week I had spent about € 150 without batting an eye on things I didn't really need. I saw that, for example, by not getting up 10 minutes earlier every morning, I was spending € 52 a month on coffee. I also realized that paying the gym fee was not profitable for me because I did not find time to go more than once a week so I decided to give a second life to the bike that I had collecting dust in the storage room.

Food treats were also taking a good part of my budget. The gluttony attacks in the form of junk food and sugary products cost me a lot (plus they are not recommended in terms of health). Dinners away from home took about € 60 a week so I decided to reduce them only to when I meet friends and in this way I save about € 40 a week.

Doing the math I saw that I could save more than € 300 a month without my social life being too harmed. From time to time, the budget gets a little out of hand and I end up spending more than expected but it is not like before and I have managed to have a small mattress that can be used for unforeseen events, to take a trip or perhaps to be able to pay the down payment on a house in a few years.