11 Things I Don't Buy To Save Time and Money
I have a list of things I don't buy anymore that may help you to trim your budget, if needed.
I tend to be more extreme than many others, but you can start by making small changes.
I've listed the easiest things to give up buying that will help you financially without missing out on things you love.
1. Soda
That was my jam; I used to have a couple a day. Then you're reliant on the extreme sugar high and the caffeine high, and you're trying to balance yourself out all day.
It's just terrible for you. I never have soda anymore. It's just a complete waste of money for something bad for you.
2. Sale items
I used to be bad about going shopping as a recreational activity. It's kind of therapeutic, and you go shopping, you find something on sale, but you end up with a bunch of junk that you don't need.
It can be so many different things, getting food that's on sale that you don't even like but was on sale. Getting clothes that you know don't fit all that well but you think it's so cheap I'm sure I'll wear it sometimes.
I've changed it, so if I want something, I will pay a little more for it. I won't always wait until it's on sale and spend all that extra time trying to get something on sale.
3. Not buying brand-new
All the furniture in our house, besides the mattresses and box springs, are from second-hand stores, Craigslist, Facebook, and others.
So I try not to pay full price or get anything brand new when I can get anything used for usually about half the price. It's excellent, high-quality stuff, probably better than I would get if I got something new.
We don't have to pay full price for anything. It saves us a lot of money.
4. Decorations
We have very few decorations throughout our house, right? We haven't been decorating too much because a lot of times, it's just clutter, and it's just extra stuff to dust.
It doesn't mean anything, so I'm trying to ensure I'm not buying stuff simply as decoration. If I have something that means a lot to me, I will put that out and have that decoration. I like to see things I've built or memories attached to them.
5. Souvenirs
I still get some things when we're traveling, but I try to ensure it's functional. I also want to have whatever reminds me of something that happened on that trip.
This can be a slippery slope where everything could have a purpose behind it, but I'm trying to make sure that it's something that's going to be useful. For the most part, I've pretty much stopped buying souvenirs
6. Certain foods
There are a few things that we've changed about how we buy our food. We almost never go out to eat anymore. That's because it takes much longer and is more expensive than making food at home. You have to drive there, you have to wait in line, you have to order, wait for them to make it. And you are then driving home.
We've also stopped buying junk food and trying to avoid processed foods as much as possible. We buy a lot of fruits and veggies and good quality meats. Even though it's not the absolute cheapest food possible, it's a lot cheaper than going out to dinner, and it's a lot better quality, so you feel better and a lot healthier.
7. Flights and hotels
I still travel occasionally, but I'm no longer paying for flights. How I do that is travel hacking or credit card churning, where you get a credit card that has a huge signup bonus.
You hit the minimum spend to get that bonus; you take all those points and do it again with another card. It's very safe to do as long as you have enough money to cover all your expenses.
You can get a decent amount back on all your everyday spending, so that's how we paid for all the flights; it got us free flights to Belize and free flights to Florida using points and signup bonuses.
When we travel, we always stay at Air B&B's to save money on hotels. We love Air B&B's; it is much cheaper and a better experience, but it depends on where you travel.
It's nice when you need somewhere to crash and get a room for 40 bucks instead of spending 150 bucks at a hotel when you're just going to crash there. We'll no longer pay for a hotel unless, again, it's with points, and that would be for free.
8. Haircuts
I have never paid for a haircut in my entire life, and I plan on never doing it. You can learn how to cut hair easily by Watching YouTube. For the most part, your hair will not be all that bad. Friends and family cut their hair, and it looks good. It saves a lot of time and money.
9. Cable
I've never had cable, and I never want to. I hate wasting time watching commercials. The average cost of cable in the US is around $200 a month, and the average cost of people's utilities in the US is around $200 a month.
I've never seen that value in having a TV. If we do want to watch anything, we have my Xbox, and we can watch some stuff through that, but there's no need to have TV.
10. Razors
Over the past year, I have stopped shaving entirely, and before that, I was shaving once a week. I don't think it's worth the money you spend on razors and the time you take daily to shave. I've stopped doing it entirely, and now I trim my scruff however often I want, and it saves me a lot of time and money.
11. Wi-Fi
Right now, we're kind of hacking that. My next-door unit has Wi-Fi, and that's where we have our Air B & B, so that pays for it, and then we kind of steal that.
Things I don't buy
Usually, it doesn't work well in our house, so we have to go over there. I work over there often because it has much better Wi-Fi, but I like not having access to it and having to go somewhere to use it. I waste a lot of time if I always have access to it.
I hope you found my list of things I don't buy anymore helpful. Let me know what things you have stopped buying down in the comment section below. I love to hear your thoughts and ideas for living a minimalist life.
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