As you’ve already learned getting your expenses in check can shave years off the accumulation years as your climb FIRE mountain. The multifold benefit of reducing expenses also sets you up to have optimized cash outflows when you FI(RE), as well as the added consciousness around the cost/benefit of each of your expenses.
Here are just 5 ideas to that helped me and perhaps would help you or at least spur some ideas as inspiration.
Subscription Services
Companies are always looking for ways to generate revenue and in the past decade or so have started rolling out more and more subscription based services to ‘guarantee’ income through recurring income. This is great for companies, but can get wasteful very quickly for the consumer.
Admittedly we may not be able to avoid all subscription services but do take the time to list out every service you’re paying a weekly/monthly/yearly recurring cost for. Once you’ve compiled your list inspect each line and ensure you’re getting maximum value out of it for the cost you’re incurring.
If you have two gym memberships, one for yoga another for cardio consider cancelling one. Do you make use of your Adobe creative cloud subscription? Are you getting food items sent directly to your home – are you able to eat it all without waste? Vitamin and supplement subscriptions – are you able to finish them before they expire? Do you even need them? Have you had comprehensive bloodwork done to understand your body’s deficiencies. Whatever the subscription, put thought into what you’re paying for and if you’re getting the most out of it.
Personally I’ve cancelled both my Netflix and Amazon Prime memberships. Netflix because I just wasn’t making use of it, I prefer spending time in other ways and Prime because it just promotes frictionless consumerism for stuff I just didn’t need.
I do have a YouTube Premium subscription but I did find a group of friends/family to sign up for the family plan at a substantial discount. I spend a lot of time listening to music and consuming various health, travel and investment content. I have a Whoop membership at reduced costs as I have a grandfathered plan as a founding member. Lastly, I have a subscription to Function Health, a service offering comprehensive blood testing to provide a wholistic view of how your body is functioning and any areas of potential concern.
As stated some subscriptions are deemed necessary but do – Look for deals! In addition to gathering friends and family to sign up en masse, discounts do come up other services as well. Audible, something I subscribe to usually has rotating $1/month for 3 month deals. Load up on your books during the discount period then cancel and re-sign up when the deal comes around again. I also subscribe to Hulu for my nephew, ever year on black Friday there’s a 1-year, $1.99/mo deal for new customers (but there’s a way around this). Deals – Go get ’em!
Eating Out
For those of you that live in areas of ever rising cost of living this one may apply to you. With meals now costing much more than they used to along with obligatory tip eating out can add up quickly. I get it, folks are tight on time and tired but there are ways to get dinner on the table without a ton of work. For example, a simple, but delicious pasta dish can be whipped up and meal prepped fairly easily.
Personally, I’ve changed my way of thinking – eating out is a luxury. Meals that can easily be replicated or imitated at home are, cooked at home but more complex dishes like lamb biryani would be an occasional splurge. Take out is budget friendlier than eating in, and mostly left to social outings.
For nights in cooking can be kept simple, a grain, a veggie, and a protein is all you need. This can be a chicken patty sandwich with a side of spinach. A pan fried pork chop with a side of baby bok-choy and portion of brown rice. Or a tofu, veggie stir fry on a bed of quinoa. Keep it simple and and it’ll be much easier to find the time and energy to avoid allocating discretionary spending budget toward eating out.
Get Rid of Unhealthy Vices
These can include alcohol, vaping, 420, cigarettes, gambling (yes including lottery tickets and high risk options trading) and anything else that drains your wallet and is detrimental to your overall mental and physical health. The cumulative costs of these add up quickly and do not improve your wellbeing or your financial wellbeing. Please find ways to quit if any of this is a part of your life. It may help to find alternate ways of outlet, through simple things like listening to music, exercising, going for walks, or just saving and investing. Find an addiction that’s beneficial to the long term you.
Unsubscribe from Mailing Lists
Everyone these days wants your data and attention. Almost all companies sign you up to their mailing lists either voluntarily or involuntarily. I recommend you unsubscribe from them, not only to declutter but to remove the unnecessary temptation of retail therapy. Deals on things you actually need are great and I encourage you to scourer the internet for coupon codes and discounts for things you deem needs or necessary wants but having an inbox stuffed with constant sales does nothing more than lure you to a company’s site to empty your wallet.
Consider Credit Card Reward Points
Not for the sake of spending, but to benefit from your necessary wants and core need expenses. Choose the best credit card that fits and aligns with your lifestyle. Whether you enjoy traveling or just want the highest cash back possible. Consider factors such as foreign transaction fees (or lack there of), point exchange programs, percentage cash back, and just general benefits that suit your needs.
Don’t shy away from cards that have hefty annual fees as well if you can extract more value than the fee itself. For example, at time of writing the Capital One Venture X card in the United States carries a $395US annual fee but provides a $300 annual travel credit as well as a 10,000 point bonus every year worth at least $100. In addition to Priority Pass lounge access, no foreign transaction fees, and credit for applications to trusted traveller programs like Global Entry.
A good resource for doing research is NerdWallet: https://www.nerdwallet.com/h/category/credit-cards
As you conduct your research try to avoid high interest retail store type credit cards or specific airline cards as your primary card if at all possible. They can make good secondary or tertiary cards but don’t be pigeon holed into one reward stream. Breadth is important.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I would not recommend this until you have all your existing credit card debt paid off beforehand. Also, spend only as much as you can pay off each month, points and rewards can fiscal responsibility is key
Before you go…
A word from our sponsor….Wait… we still don’t have any of those, but we do have affiliate links!
Let’s chat a little more about Function Health. I stumbled on this somehow through Peter Attia and his work around longevity and preventative health. At an annual fee of $499 it isn’t ‘cheap’ on the surface but if you double click into what’s offered – it’s fantastic value. Here’s a list of all tests included in the base rate: https://www.functionhealth.com/whats-included
On a personal level, these tests uncovered that I didn’t need to spend any money on supplementation of vitamins. My body has enough. So one less expense for me, while knowing my health is in order.
The only drawback is the amount of blood taken to gather results, I recall it was around 20+ pints. Drink lots and lots of water the night before if sign up.
